When was Knights of the Dinner Table first published?
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In "Shadis" #2 (March/April 1990), Jolly Blackburn began to run a comic that
he had written called "Knights of the Dinner Table", which depicted the humorous interactions of a gaming group. When Blackburn published that first "Knights" strip, he thought that he was just filling a blank page but when he tried to replace it with more professional strips beginning with "Shadis" #6, there was an outcry; because of that outcry "Knights" soon returned. Blackburn also published "Knights of the Dinner Table" as a comic book, the first three issues of which appeared from his company Alderac Entertainment Games over the next year (1994-1995). As a result of diverging interests with his partners, Blackburn left Alderac in 1995, with "Shadis" #21 (December 1995) being his final issue; he kept the rights to "Knights of the Dinner Table". Blackburn formed a new company called KODT Enteractive Facktory, which was to publish the "Knights of the Dinner Table" comic monthly. While he was working on getting that new company together, Blackburn received a call from the editor of TSR's "Dragon" magazine, asking if the "Knights of the Dinner Table" strip was now available; although Blackburn originally planned to continue the strip in "Shadis", he accepted the offer and "Knights of the Dinner Table" thus began appearing beginning in "Dragon" #226 (February, 1996). While working on "Knights of the Dinner Table" #4 (1996), Blackburn concluded that he really did not want to go it alone, and David Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company. In November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over the course of a local con, and Blackburn decided that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner. Starting with issue #5 (February 1997) "Knights of the Dinner Table" was the work of the "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Jolly Blackburn, David Kenzer, Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson.
Knights of the Dinner Table
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Knights of the Dinner Table (KoDT) is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result in unfortunate, but humorous consequences in the game. The name is a parody of King Arthur's round table reinforced by the truism that roleplaying aficionados often end up sitting round their host's dinner table as it is the only one large enough to accommodate the party (4 to 8 people typically).
Knights of the Dinner Table
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"KoDT" first started in the second issue of "Shadis" magazine in March 1990 when then editor Jolly R. Blackburn decided to draw a simple strip of his own to put on the last page which he called "Knights of the Dinner Table". The first comic only contained B.A. and Bob. Over the next three issues Blackburn continued to draw his own comics (adding in Dave and Brian), but by the sixth issue he had acquired other comics and replaced "KoDT" with them. Readers, however, demanded the return of the "Knights" strip. It was brought back in the eighth issue and lasted into the 21st.
Knights of the Dinner Table
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The first monthly issue was published in June 2000.
Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated
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Several games based on the comic have been published:
In 2000, a monthly spin-off comic was created, titled Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated, AKA "K.ILL." The comic depicts many of the adventures described within "KotDT;" however, K.ILL shows the player characters' actions rather than those of the players behind them.
Knights of the Dinner Table
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Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated (a.k.a. "K.ILL") is a comic book created by Jolly R. Blackburn and is published by Kenzer & Company. It portrays many of the same stories as Knights of the Dinner Table (KODT) but from the point of view of the player characters themselves.
Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated
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Characters who are not part of a gaming group.The Knights themselves have encountered several recurring non-player characters in their (various) roleplaying campaigns. Among these are:Since the comic centers around a community of role-playing gamers, the characters are seen playing many games that are analogues of real-world games (some of which were then published as real-world games). They include:An event held at the Origins Game Fair, and possibly other Gaming conventions, is the Knights Of The Dinner Table live reading. People in attendance will put their name into a random drawing. The "winners" go up on stage, sit around a table, and act out the comic book, with hilarious results.
Knights of the Dinner Table
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Also in 1996, "KoDT" began publication in a monthly comic book, "Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine", which is still in publication. Initially produced by Blackburn himself, the series was later picked up by game publishers Kenzer & Company, who began publication with a second printing of issue four after an error made by Blackburn rendered the first printing nearly unreadable. Blackburn also joined KenzerCo as a vice president and continued to produce "KoDT" stories. Several of the other executives and game designers at KenzerCo began contributing ideas and collaborating with Blackburn on the strips, eventually becoming collectively known as the "KoDT" Development Team (or simply "the D-Team"). "KoDT" has since arguably become the flagship property of Kenzer & Company, with the magazine having evolved into a (often KenzerCo-themed) all-around gaming publication, rivaling "Dragon"'s former prominence in the industry (before the latter began to focus exclusively on TSR/Wizards of the Coast products). Several games produced by KenzerCo since the acquisition have been derived from ideas presented in "KoDT" strips, such as Fairy Meat; conversely, references to KenzerCo-produced games, such as Kingdoms of Kalamar, appear from time to time in "KoDT".
Knights of the Dinner Table
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The first online strip appeared on Noah's personal website on December 8, 2002. Not long after, it was given a print strip within the Knights of the Dinner Table magazine itself, starting with issue 75. The Fuzzy Knights Online strips moved to the Kenzer & Company website on April 8, 2003 with updates twice a week.
Fuzzy Knights
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The magazine was a three-time Origins Award winner, and is also notable for featuring the first appearance of the long-running RPG comic strip, "Knights of the Dinner Table". This strip was initially intended to fill a blank spot in the magazine, but later took on a life of its own. In late 1994, the magazine received its biggest success by making available random cards at a time when booster packs of the card game were scarce, causing many players of the game to buy multiple issues of the magazine in hopes of getting a rare or out-of-print card.
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