We’re presenting a snapshot of game history from Capital City Distribution’s Advance Comics, the first game distributor-produced monthly consumer catalog. The first issue published was un-numbered, essentially a #0 issue, listing comics and other products planned for release in December of 1988. Issue #1 came the following month, listing products for release in January 1989.
Issue #2, pictured here, featured Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2E on the cover, and listed products for release in February 1989. The publication continued on a monthly basis until #94, listing products for October 1996; the publication was then shut down as the result of the acquisition of Capital City Distribution’s assets by Diamond Comic Distributors.
In addition to the AD&D 2E cover shown here, we also came across another fascinating set of information, a complete schedule of Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR’s 1996 product releases. This was the last year prior to the company’s purchase by Wizards of the Coast in 1997, and product releases were at a high point, although unprofitable. The Advance Comics pages are pictured below, but as they’ll be too small to make out, we’ve assembled the list here: an ambitious RPG publishing plan from nearly 30 years ago.
1996 TSR PRODUCT RELEASE SCHEDULE
AD&D Game System
- The Silver Key (Adventure, January)
- The Rod of Seven Parts (Hardcover Novel, February)
- Den of Thieves (Accessory, March)
- Treasure Tales (Accessory, April)
- Players Option: Spells & Magic (Rulebook, May)
- I, Tyrant Monsterous Arcana (Accessory, June)
- Eye of Pain (Adventure, June)
- Sages and Specialists (Accessory, July)
- A Hero’s Tale (Adventure, July)
- Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar: The New Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (Campaign Setting, July)
- The Rod of Seven Parts (Adventure, August)
- AD&D Character Generation Dice (Accessory, August)
- AD&D CD-ROM Handbook (Accessory, August)
- 1997 TSR Annual Calendar (Calendar, August)
- Eyes of Doom (Adventure, September)
- World Builder’s Guidebook (Accessory, October)
- The Games of Firestorm Peak Player’s Option (Adventure, October)
- Wizard’s Spell Compendium Vol. 1 (Accessory, , October)
- Monsterous Compendium Annual, Vol. 3 (Accessory, November)
- Eye to Eye (Adventure, December)
BIRTHRIGHT Campaign World
- The Book of Magecraft (Accessory, February)
- Binsada Domain Sourcebook (Accessory, February)
- Sword of Roele (Adventure, February)
- Greatheart (Novel, February)
- The Rjurik Highlands (Campaign Expansion, May)
- Baruk-Azhik Domain Sourcebook (Accessory, May)
- War (Hardcover Novel, May)
- The Hag’s Contract (Novel, June)
- Legends of the Hero-Kings (Accessory, August)
- Khourane Domain Sourcebook (Accessory, August)
- The Spider’s Test (Novel, September)
- Heavens of the Great Bay (Campaign Expansion, November)
- Tuarhievel Domain Sourcebook (Accessory, November)
- Stjordvik Domain Sourcebook (Accessory, November)
- The Falcon and the Wolf (Novel, December)
DARK SUN Campaign World
- The Wanderer’s Chronicle Mind Lords of the Last Sea (Accessory, January)
- The Rise and Fall of a Dragon King (Novel, March)
- Defilers and Preservers: The Wizards of Athas (Accessory, June)
- Psionic Artifacts of Athas (Accessory, September)
DRAGONLANCE Saga
- Land of the Minotaurs (Novel, January)
- Theros Ironfeld (Novel, March)
- The Dragons of War (Novel, May)
- The Gully Dwarves (Novel, June)
- Murder in Tarsis (Hardcover Novel, June)
- Knights of the Rose (Novel, July)
- Dragonlance: The Fifth Age (Adventure Game, August)
- Dawning of a New Age Fifth Age (Novel, September)
- The Last Tower: The Legacy of Raistlin (Adventure and Accessory, October)
- The Dragons (Novel, October)
- Dragons of Summer Flame (Novel Paperback Edition, November)
- The Doom Brigade (Hardcover Novel, November)
- Heroes of Steel (Adventure and Accessory, December)
- Lorth Soth (Novel, December)
FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign World
- Warriors and Priests of the Realms (Accessory, January)
- Escape from Undermountain (Novel, February)
- Faiths & Avatars (Accessory, March)
- The Veiled Dragon (Novel, March)
- Murder in Cormyr (Hardcover Novel, March)
- The North (Campaign Expansion, April)
- Realms of the Underdark (Novel, April)
- Undermountain Trilogy I: The Lost Level (Adventure, May)
- Vilhon Reach (Accessory, May)
- Sword Play (Novel, May)
- Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands (Accessory, June)
- Silver Shadows (Novel, June)
- Heroes’ Lorebook (Accessory, July)
- Cormyr: A Novel (Hardcover Novel, July)
- Undermountain Trilogy II: Maddgoth’s Castle (Adventure, August)
- The Mage in the Iron Mask (Novel, August)
- Passage of Dawn (Hardcover Novel, August)
- Volo’s Guide to All Things Magical (Accessory, September)
- Daughter of the Drow (Paperback Novel, September)
- Netheril: Arcane Age (Campaign Setting, October)
- Stormlight (Novel, October)
- Murder in Halrua (Hardcover Novel, October)
- Arcane Age: How the Mighty Are Fallen (Adventure, November)
- Dangerous Games (Novel, November)
- Undermountain Trilogy III: Stardock (Adventure, December)
PLANESCAPE Campaign World
- The Planewalker’s Handbook (Accessory, August)
- On Hallowed Ground (Accessory, September)
- Pages of Pain (Hardcover Novel, September)
- A Guide to the Astral Plane (Accessory, October)
- Doors of the Unknown (Adventure, November)
- Planar Powers (Novel, December)
RAVENLOFT Campaign World
- Forged of Darkness (Accessory, January)
- Bleak House (Adventure, March)
- King of the Dead (Novel, March)
- Ravenloft Monsterous Compendium Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Accessory, April)
- Grim Harvest I – Death Unchained (Adventure, June)
- Grim Harvest II – Death Ascendant (Adventure, July)
- A Guide to Transylvania (Accessory, August)
- Grim Harvest III – Death Triumphant (Adventure and Accessory, September)
- To Sleep With Evil (Novel, September)
- Children of the Night: Vampires (Accessory, November)
SAVAGE COAST Campaign World
- Savage Coast Campaign Book (Rulebook, July)
- The Black Vessel (Novel, August)
- Monsterous Compendium: Savage Coast Appendix (Accessory, September)
- Orc’s Head (Accessory and Adventure, November)
TSR BOOKS
- First Quest: Immortal Game (Books, February)
- Winged Magic (Novel, March)
- Mystara: Dragonmage of Mystara (Novel, April)
- F.R.E.E. Fall (Novel, May)
- Runes of Autumn (Novel, July)
- Trail of Darkness (Novel, September)
- Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future (Novel, November)
CARD GAMES
- Blood Wars – Escalation Pack 4: Insurgents of the Inner Planes (P.O.P. Display Box, January)
- Spellfire – Runes & Ruins Booster Pack, Set 8 (P.O.P. Display Box, February)
- Spellfire – Birthright Booster Pack, Set 9 (P.O.P. Display Box, April)
- Blood Wars – Escalation Pack 5: Weapon Masters & Warmongers (P.O.P. Display Box, May)
- Spellfire: Master the Magic Card Game, 4th Edition (P.O.P. Display Box, June)
- Blood Wars – Escalation Pack 6: Hand of Fates (P.O.P. Display Box, September)
- Blood Wars – Warlord’s Tactical Manual (Accessory, October)
- Spellfire Reference Guide, Volume II (November)
DRAGON DICE Game
- Dragon Dice Kicker Pack 2: Firewalkers (P.O.P. Display Box, March)
- Dragon Dice Kicker Pack 3: Undead (P.O.P. Display Box, May)
- Dragon Dice Treasure Hoard (Accessory, June)
- Dragon Dice Kicker Pack 4: The Feral (P.O.P. Display Box, July)
- Dragon Dice Expansion Set: Magestorm (P.O.P. Display Box, August)
- Dragon Dice Kicker Pack 5: Swamp Stalkers (P.O.P. Display Box, November)
Click Gallery below for Advance Comics images!
This history is part of ICv2’s Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary celebration; for more, see “Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary.”