So for instance:
What can be said about this that hasn't already been said? One of the most iconic images of the Dungeons and Dragons, or any, product. James Maliszewski does the full review here. I would say I'm not quite so enamored with the pic. I always felt the devils seemed somewhat blah, just standing by watching. Team up on him! But the point is made. And especially the historically accurate armor and realistic equipment, as opposed to the post-goth Gen X punk rebel look that adorns so much modern interpretations. It is a great piece of work. And again, it conveys the mood, the feel of the game. And that's what the art is for, to capture the feel and inspire. And hesitant devils and all, it does all that in spades.
But there are some others worth noting.
This is in the section dealing with Successful Adventures. A part I didn't read for decades. I'm not sure how many have. But it deals with the nuts and bolts of how to adventure. One of the distinctives of the early rule books was how they assumed the players really knew how to play. I mean, there's really no instructions that say 'roll dice, move three spaces, take card.' It just assumes. But there is this little section that at least gives and idea what to say you're character is doing. And in this part that deals with poison, a subject that has undergone changes over the years, this little illustration is just a filler piece. A good one. But that's all. Though the poison jar looks almost like an ink bottle, and I think the first time I saw it, that's immediately what I thought.
The above two illustrations are early in the book, in the section dealing with character classes and race limitation. A reminder that the early game was inspired by other genres of entertainment. Not to mention some good old game mechanics that hearken back to the wargaming roots of the hobby. After all, any wargamer will tell you that part of the fun is robbing Peter to pay Paul. If you want this unit, you have to pay. And it has benefits and shortcomings. Same with early D&D. You want the awesomeness of an elf? Well, you'll have to pay in limitations. Though in my world, the Grey Elves occupy the more Tolkienized version, and their limitations, though present, are far less restrictive.
Anyway, the above illustrations really don't say anything about that. One shows what appears to be two dwarves fighting a very large snake. The other shows men fleeing from the lethal gaze of a catopblepas (another reminder of the strong debt to classical literature and mythology in the early game). But neither has much to do with the surrounding subject. One of the few cases in which that is true. Plus, they're not the best quality, almost appearing as dashed-off afterthoughts. Not horrible, just not the same level as many of the others, nor really helping convey feelings about the content since they really have nothing to do with the surrounding text.
If the previous two seemed out of place for their placement in the text, this illustration is spot on. In the closest thing to actual play instructions in the manual, this falls into the section dealing with surprise movement, and tricks and traps. And it shows all three! The detail is fine. The troll is based firmly on the Sutherland artwork in the MM. That artwork, as much as any from the early books, set the standard that all subsequent renditions of the troll have to accommodate. And here, it is that version we see. No explanation needed.
There are two ways to see this. The adventurer is luring the troll into a trap. Or the troll is luring the adventurer. Given the poses, it's most likely the second. The troll seems ready and waiting. The adventurer is on the move. There's movement. Either way, it's a trap. And of course, assuming the adventurer is the target, he's going to be mighty surprised to walk around the corner and see the troll waiting. Though you have to admit, that's one stupid adventurer, if in monster infested corridors he finds a string and can only think to follow it.
The last pieces come from the appendix. A section of the PHB that has been the source of countless moans and groans and 'if I had it to do over' statements. There is little artwork there, and most of it is filler at best. These two pics, for instance, convey the subject at hand, but do little else:
The last two are less pictures as much as graphic illustrations. Apart from the charts scattered throughout the early rule books, little actual graphic help exists for the person trying to make sense of things. Today, rule books, text books, how to books are laden with full color graphics and illustrations that show step by step what is expected. But then, it was a little more text heavy. Illustrations existed, especially in some home repair or auto repair manual. But they were otherwise quite rare.
So though these enter in at the end, and are the only real 'here's what we mean' game aids, they do the job quite well:
The first is the alignment chart. With AD&D expanding the wargame based three choice alignments, and adding the moral elements, the chart gives a good shot of what Gygax intended in his own mind when it came to how a particular character or monster should act.
It's noteworthy that the changing times are illustrated in this as well. Lawful Good, in many later renditions of the game, came to be almost intolerant, harsh, judgmental. Even fanatic. As society moved away from its Judeo-Christian roots, the more chaotic good seemed the preference. Here, however, the Lawful and Good is "Saintly". Though it's worth noting that Chaotic Good is no less praiseworthy. Sometimes the strangest things can be a commentary on the changes that occur in a given culture.
The bottom illustration consists of two parts. The Inner Planes and the Outer Planes. You have to love the little elemental illustrations in the Inner Planes panel. Especially the cloud blowing air. That is classic, and almost a nod to childlike illustrations for younger grades that weren't really the target audience for D&D in 1978. The straightforward model of the underneath simply shows where everything is, at least in relation to the alignment chart above. Though they hadn't been unpacked as they would in later releases, there was something there to tantalize, to want more. I always particularly liked the endless spiral of the Abyss.
Anyway, there you have it. The art of the PHB. As I said, I never paid it much attention, feeling that the MM and the DMG had the better hands when it came to artwork. But since I've spent more time in more of the book these last years, I've come to appreciate the artwork more than ever. In the vast universe that is Dungeons and Dragons, I'd put it among the best there is, and some of the pieces I'd put at the top of any list for any product ever. And that's high praise.
