Well, here is Dragon Magazine 140, from December 1988. “Avalyne the Life Giver” was always one of my favorite Larry Elmore paintings, for a couple reasons. One, the detail and the quality of light are insane. Second, it tells two stories. The first is definite: someone got smooshed and someone is trying to help. The second is ambiguous. Is the fighter beyond help? Is the giant coming back? Is the giant, Zoom-like, taking satisfaction for his villainous act inspiring the cleric to greater heights of heroism? Ok, maybe that last one is a stretch. But the tension between the definite and the unknown here is pretty great. I, perhaps wrongly, usually associate Elmore with highly posed work, or action scenes, so this has always been a breathe of fresh air for me. Because it seems so different from most of his D&D work, I always assumed I was the only one who loved it.

Imagine my surprise when I recently learned that this is one of the most beloved Elmore paintings ever. Y’all have good taste.

The issue itself is mostly devoted to clerics. And one article reworking the Unearthed Arcana weapon specialization rules that features a pretty hilarious Elmore adventurer. I also noticed one of the famous Talislanta “No Elves” ads, so I included that, too.