Reproduction of the 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons rulebook included in the Silver Anniversary Boxed Set.

The inaugural issue of Chronicle debuted at TennCon, a gaming convention in Knoxville, TN on October 15th, 1999. The convention was put on by Gameboard, a gaming distributor based out of Knoxville who Than had a business relationship with through the comic and gaming shop he worked at. The entire Chronicle Crew piled into a single car and drove to Knoxville from Nashville.

Cover to TennCon ‘99 Program with Illustration by Stan! Brown

At TennCon, response to Chronicle was overwhelmingly positive though some attendees were initially confused as to why the first issue was Issue Zero. The concept of Issue Zero again came from the influence of The Record of Lodoss War. In the anime series, the first episode was an action-packed episode that introduced the entire cast at once even though it occurred much later in the timeline of the series. Issue Zero of Chronicle would follow the same model. It was a standalone issue that took place later in the timeline of the series but introduced the reader to the full cast. It would turn out to be the only appearance of several of the characters.

Also in attendance at TennCon was a small contingent from TSR, the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and recent purchase of Wizards of the Coast. This contingent included Stan! Brown, at the time Creative Director of D&D Worlds (including Dragonlance which heavily influenced Chronicle) and an accomplished cartoonist himself. The Chronicle Crew approached Stan! with a free issue in the hopes of getting a read on whether or not TSR/WotC would frown on their little project. This gift was met with praise from Stan! and as a return gift he gave them a copy of the D&D Silver Anniversary Boxed Set. At the end of the convention Stan! also bought a piece of original page art and again encouraged the team.

Entry on page 40 of the Dungeons & Dragons Rulebook detailing the keeping of a “Chronicle.”

Stan’s gift of this boxed set solidified the Chronicle Crew’s drive when they discovered that a reproduction of the first edition D&D rulebook included in the set contained the phrase:

One of the players should keep a “Chronicle” of the monsters killed, treasure obtained, etc.

This odd typo rang of destiny and work on Issue One commenced immediately once they returned to Nashville.

The original Chronicle character sheets (minus Thorak).

20 years ago, a group of college students were sitting around a dorm lobby in Nashville, TN playing Dungeons & Dragons. The campaign had been going on for some time and players had already come and gone. But, this group of players had stuck around for awhile and were really enjoying the adventures they were having. They had just escaped a particularly brutal dungeon crawl and were making plans on what to do next.

On this evening, one of the players started drawing the other players’ characters. A talented artist, she had finished six sketches for the group by the end of the night. The DM, an aspiring comic writer and game designer, thought it would be neat if they made a comic. The artist and the DM, both art students, began to brainstorm on self-publishing a comic book based on the actual game sessions of those players.

The idea of a D&D comic would have to not actually reference D&D due to concerns of a big company suing two poor students. Both anime fans, the duo looked to an anime series known for its basis on D&D as well, Record of Lodoss War. Names and specific references would be renamed as in the series and the decision was made to move to a more cartoonish, manga style.

Work on the comic continued for months. The name Chronicle was settled on because it sounded epic and told the story of their games. Little did they know that it had greater significance. Finally, in October of 1999, Issue Zero of Chronicle debuted…