I've long been a fan of Knights of the Dinner Table. I think anyone who's been a gamer for a substantial part of their lives has to appreciate KODT on some level, because, even if you don't have a gaming group made up of a rules lawyer, a fool, a rogue, and a "serious" gamer, the situations that the KODT crew find themselves in offers a reflection of us, the gaming public, in all our glorious weirdness.
Hackmasters is a neat little offshoot of the KODT main series. I'm not 100% sure of the genesis of the series, and how it links in with KODT Illustrated, in which we actually see the adventures of the main group of characters, but it shares the same humour, the same over-the-top "gaming" style, and even boasts a pretty good art style, better, for sure, than that of its parent magazine.
Stand out moments in this comic for me: the interviews for a new thief, now that "Lefty" has passed on, in which Catwoman, Black Cat, The Saint, and Bilbo Baggins from the Bakshi LOTR show up, amongst others, was pretty great. Catwoman's guest appearance is especially amusing considering that Greg Rucka is the guest scripter for this issue. I know. I was shocked too. The other thing that really struck me about the book was the hilarious deployment of all the standard fantasy game tropes: the evil brother to a party member who is the main villain, the elderly teacher taken prisoner, the villainous hench...person who turns out to have an intimate and unexpected relationship with one of the heroes. Ah. Memories.
So, all in all a nice little amuse-bouche of a comic. Onward, comrades!
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