Ian Marsh - The GROGNARD Files

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INTRO: News about a new PBM ‘zine that we’ve inspired – Bones of the Lost God – if you like Phil’s monsters, he’s put some of his art on Red Bubble.

GAMESMASTER’S SCREEN (with Ian Marsh): Ian Marsh returns to talk about his editorial-ship at White Dwarf and his involvement in Games Workshop. He also talks about Dr Who and his TimeLord game, before bringing us up to date with his latest endeavours.

DAGON (with @dailydwarf): @dailydwarf gives his usual insightful analysis of literary criticism covered in Dagon ‘zine.

ATTIC ATTACK: Blythy joins me in the attic to talk about ‘zines and comments provided by listeners. I mention Monster Man, a new podcast that is being developed by James Holloway, check out progress at his site.

OUTRO: We’re making a ‘zine – sign up at Patreon – before the end of September 2017 to get a copy.

Thank you to all our Patreons for your continued support; without you, we would not have been going for so long.

If you would like a PDF of the last GROGZINE you can get it at Drive Thru RPG and The Complete Daily Dwarf too. All proceeds will go to YSDC to support the community there.

In the latest GROGPOD we discuss ‘zines in general and DragonLords in particular. Our guest contributor Ian Marsh edited the zine with his friends Mike Lewis and Marc Gascoigne and was remarkable for its irreverent coverage of the hobby. Its self-deprecating tag line “Yet Another Fantasy & Sci-Fi Roleplaying Magazine” reflected its satirical tone that earned it the reputation of the Private Eye of RPGs. There were 22 issues published with short print runs so it’s difficult to get your hands on copies. A dedicated collector like Ed in his Shed would turn his nose up at prices of £50 to £150 asked for on sites like eBay. The final issue is difficult to find as it had a short print run. Ian says that it was particularly eccentric and wild as he knew it was the last one.

You’ll find PDFs and copies of the covers if you search long enough, but I thought it would be good to feature some illustrative content, provided by Ian, to support some of the discussion we had on the GROGPOD.

Warning high nipple content. This was Dragon Lords after all!

Screen Shot 2017-07-26 at 21.08.50 — Ducks and nipples were a recurrent subject of Dragon Lord’s artwork.

Screen Shot 2017-07-26 at 21.41.40 — “Dragon Lords of all they survey … ” touring the world, as far as their grants will take them … (by the way, the caption should read Ian, Mike, Marc!)

Parodies of contemporary adverts were always great fun. Some were very controversial, such as the ‘Cit a bout’ miniatures featuring figures from the Israel/Palestine conflict which prompted complaints from Citadel

Screen Shot 2017-07-26 at 21.16.34.png — The Scroll of Ol-Sen and the Curlers of Livingstone – a collection of magical items in The Rubbish Bin – a response to White Dwarf’s Treasure Chest.

“Nagging at the gods …” it’s fine, there’s no way anyone will be offended and write in about this article. Unleash the ‘tongue parry’.

dl19_vop_doorknockers — Ian Gibbs, who would later contribute Vop to Imagine, wades into the Nipple campaign

dl13_cover_pete-martin — Artists like Peter Martin developed their skills in Dragon Lords, he later contributed to White Dwarf during the Ian Marsh years.

Screen Shot 2017-07-26 at 21.36.50.png

My favourite covers were those done by April Lee as they always featured moments of drama.

Screen Shot 2017-07-26 at 21.42.44.png — Nipples and …

Screen Shot 2017-07-26 at 21.42.15 — …ducks!

Tag: Ian Marsh

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