On October 23, 2018 Anderson Book Shop in La Grange had a special guest speakers, brothers, Michael and Sam Witwer. They both were there to promote their new book “Art and Arcana - Dungeons and Dragons Visual History”. Michael Witwer is the author of several D&D related books. Sam Witwer is an actor and is known for roles in Smallville and Being Human, and most known for voice acting in Star Wars animation and video games.
They both have a huge passion for D&D. Their discussed the history about the game. How it started out as a small hobby for a few local kids in the 1970s all the way to the present. How D&D influenced every aspect of pop culture not just modern video games.
It was interesting to see how they both gathered beautiful art work for their book. Each piece of art had a story. Some of the earliest art works were nothing more then sketches from teens. Others were large original paintings.
They also talked about something called “Satantic Panic”. There was a time when parents were afraid of D&D. They believe that game caused kids to go crazy or suicidal. It was all over the news. Because of this scare, D&D had so much exposure it launched the popularity of the game!
It was an hour of not only of the history of D&D but fun personal stories and a showcase of beautiful fantasy art from the game.
At the end, we were able to meet with the authors. We got our book signed and a nice photo with both of the brothers!
Thanks to Michael and Sam for taking the time to meet fans and talk about this iconic game. Huge thanks to Anderson’s Bookshop for putting this event together!
