I stopped reading Knights of the Dinner Table a long time ago… around 40 issues back.  In that amount of time — three years plus change — a comic book can undergo some radical plot twists, redesigns, and other changes.  By the time a long-departed reader tries to fathom what happened by deciphering a few buzzwords and cryptic references, the fun and momentum of the comic can fall by the wayside.

I worried this had happened when I bought Knights of the Dinner Table #143, a comic chronicling the barmy exploits of five friends at the occasionally flipped table of the Felton household.

Bag zones? What the heck were bag zones? In any traditional comic, reading while not knowing what a phrase is all about can gnaw at you like an evening in a cloud of gnats: it’s irritating and you can’t make out your environment well.  In an RP comic book, understanding everything is critical as a naturally rolled d20.

So I bemoaned my loss of contact with KODT… until page 12.  There, like an oasis, was “History of the Bag Wars”: a KODT story arc summary.

Then the story continued: henpecked gamemaster B.A.,  fly-off-the-handle Bob, smart, sassy, diplomatic Sarah, guileless Dave and laugh-out-loud underhanded Brian.

Then lo! A long-lost treatise from hardnose Hard Eight game designer composite Gary Jackson (Gary Gygax + Steve Jackson).  On, of all things, mega-capacity items.  And, again to bring me back to speed, bag zones.

I tell you, I have never felt more easily welcomed back to a series than I have by reading this issue, peppered with catch-you-up footnotes and memorable continuity points.

Yet the comic looks equally forward.  Columns on D&D 4th edition, a strip on Hard Eight employees going to rescue one of their own; an NPC description of a despondent pack ape who lost its master; a magic item; story hooks; even more NPC descriptions (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly); a new trap; a new monster; gamer tales; gaming tips; vintage games; web resources; convention news; software reviews (still by the same guy from 40 issues ago) and shorts.

I thought I would never pay $5.00 for a single new comic, especially when as a kid I could buy one for 50 cents.  But with KODT I gladly would.   There is content in there for everyone from the devoted gamer to the overworked professional who can only skim the gaming news. 

So, KODT, thanks for the welcome back, and I’ll be looking forward to more issues in the days to come.