RPGs and comics: two great tastes that taste great together. From the Dungeons & Dragons comics of the ’80s to Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ meditation on games and aging, DIE, there is a history of comics and gaming blending together. A new addition joins the ranks this week, when Mark Sable (Miskatonic) and Chris Anderson launch Chaotic Neutral on Kickstarter. We sat down with Sable to talk comics, games and Satanic Panic.
Matt Lazorwitz: What is the elevator pitch for Chaotic Neutral?
Mark Sable: Chaotic Neutral is a comic book and adventure module all rolled into one. Based on old-school fantasy role-playing games, it gives readers the chance to play in the same world and face the same threats that the characters in the book face.
Matt: What is your history with RPGs? What was the first one you remember playing? What is your favorite?
Mark: So, it’s interesting. I bought every RPG I could get my hands on as a kid, but I was painfully shy, so I would rarely have the courage to ask people to play with me. Still, I’d roll up characters, draw maps and create my own adventures.
When the 5th Edition of D&D came out in 2014, I was finally confident enough to play and then run adventures as DM (dungeon master). Being able to create adventures collaboratively with others was life-changing for me.
The first games I owned/played are, for the most part, still my favorites. The “Basic” and “Expert” D&D sets, the original Marvel Superheroes Roleplaying Game and West End Games’ Star Wars game were huge favorites that I think hold up. More recently I’ve been a fan of Chris McDowall’s “Into the Odd” — it started as a “hack” of D&D but has evolved into something simple, elegant and weird.
Matt: How did you and artist Chris Anderson get together on this project?
Mark: I wanted to capture the feel of the old school RPG art of the ’70s and ’80s in a visceral way. Back then, you’d have painted covers, but inside the art was black and white. It would often be amateurish, sometimes edgy, but always weird and wildly imaginative.
As soon as I saw Chris’ work, I knew he was perfect for this. He can evoke the art of such luminaries as Erol Otus, Dave Trampier and Bill Willingham (Yes — the same guy that wrote Fables was a great D&D artist) — while at the same time bringing a modern feel to it. My writing on the book can be a bit dark at times, but his art has a sense of whimsy that I think will make it accessible for a wider audience.
In order to get him aboard, I recruited him into my weekly D&D game. He’s played for years and numerous campaigns. That helped establish a collaborative spirit that’s carried over to the book.
Matt: Why did you choose to bring this project to Kickstarter?
Mark: The commercial reason is that this is both a book and a game module, and I think Kickstarter brings a unique way to reach both comic fans and gamers, in a way I think publishers haven’t entirely figured out yet.
But one of the things I’ve always loved about comics is how close the relationship between reader and creator is. As a fan, I was able to meet creators at cons and have far more access to them than I’d have in any other medium.
And RPGs are a group experience.
Kickstarter feels like a natural extension of both these things. One of the rewards I’m most excited about is that I’m offering to run the adventure module for a select group of backers as dungeon/game master. That’s such a special way to bond with readers and players, and something I would have killed for as a kid.
Chris is in on this as well, offering to draw your favorite RPG character. Players in our group have taken him up on this and are now using his art for their tokens when we play virtually on Roll20.
Matt: I love the fact you’re including a Chick Tracts-esque comic from Ryan Browne as part of this, as I know I was told that I couldn’t play D&D as a kid because it made kids kill themselves (I still played, just did it quietly). Did you see any of the Satanic Panic growing up? Are you having some fun thumbing your nose at it?
Mark: I have only one memory of the Satanic Panic as a child, but it’s a vivid one. I remember watching Tom Hanks in the made-for-TV movie “Mazes and Monsters,” where his character becomes so obsessed with D&D that he can no longer distinguish the game world from reality. It scared the hell out of me, but thankfully my parents didn’t see it and encouraged my imaginative pursuits.
Ryan Browne’s Chick Tract parody is definitely poking fun at all that hysteria. For my money, he’s the funniest cartoonist in comics. It’s amazing how much he nailed Jack Chick’s aesthetic.
Matt: In the PR copy, you call this issue #1 of Chaotic Neutral. That says to me you have quite a bit more planned if the campaign is successful, yes?
Mark: Absolutely. The first issue focuses on characters who aren’t usually at the center of fantasy epics. A farmer, a blacksmith, a princess who is supposed to be rescued, not do the rescuing, etc. When the adventurers they hire to deal with the Satanic cult that’s been menacing the town are killed, they are forced to step up themselves.
In subsequent issues, once they have a taste of adventure, they have to decide whether that’s what they want. Being an adventurer — or “murder hobo,” as others call it — is a dangerous life, but it offers freedom in a medieval world where most people are peasants or serfs.
Not only is issue #1 already done, issue #2 is already written and Chris has drawn quite a bit of it. While the focus is getting the first issue — which I think stands on its own as a self-contained story — funded, I’d love to be able to share more adventures with readers and players.
Matt: What is the best alignment to play? Is it chaotic neutral?
Mark: So on one level, I think the entire alignment system is silly and should be dropped from the game. I prefer characters to have a moral code that evolves organically during play. I don’t like anything that restricts player choice.
But I didn’t choose the title by accident! I feel like there’s this disparity with how we’re expected to play RPGs vs. how most people actually play it. There’s this assumption that you’re going to be this high-fantasy hero, when in reality most RPGs incentivize killing and looting. Which in reality would be a terrible morality, but in a game can be a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Chaotic Neutral the comic is designed to explore what that play style would look like in fiction. It doesn’t glorify it but doesn’t shy away from it either. The adventure module is designed in such a way that you can by all means be heroic, but you can also align yourself with the cult, or just be in it for yourself.
I can’t wait to hear what players do with the module, whether it’s in games I’m running or games they make themselves. With comics we’re all reacting to the same story. With a role playing game, players are going to be creating their own story. I’m dying for Chaotic Neutral to come out and for readers and players to share those stories with me.
Chaotic Neutral is live on Kickstarter.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
