My recent deep dives into comics led me to explore other fantasy and sword-and-sorcery books I’d either missed or forgotten about over the years. That winding path eventually led me to Weirdworld, a comic created by Doug Moench and Mike Ploog. And honestly, rediscovering this series sparked an entirely new topic for my “40 Years a Gamer” retrospective: the artists who inspired my campaigns.
I absolutely love Mike Ploog‘s fantasy art. I first became consciously aware of him through his 1994 trading card collection, back when I was working at Metro Comics. I collected all those cards and used them as visual references and inspiration for NPCs and events in my homebrew world.
I eventually realized I had already seen his comic work in various back issues. I also found out later that he worked on Ralph Bakshi’s animated movies, Wizards and The Lord of the Rings, which were two of my absolute favorites!
His art style was a bit cartoony—different from the more traditional fantasy art that usually inspired me as a young GM—but it had this incredible dynamism and movement that other pieces just lacked. Sadly, I no longer have the complete trading card set. But back in the days before high-speed internet and Pinterest, physical art books and trading cards were the main sources of visual inspiration for the table.
The Weirdworld connection that sparked all these memories is actually pretty funny. I had completely forgotten about these characters. I originally read about them in Marvel Fanfare issues 24-26 back in 1986. Because I was such a huge Elfquest fan, I was thrilled to find another fantasy story, but I remember being a little disappointed. It just didn’t capture me the way Elfquest did. As it turns out, the stories I read were NOT drawn by Mike Ploog!
Because of that, I completely forgot about the setting until I stumbled across it again a few days ago and realized it was co-created by one of my favorite artists. What a great connection to finally make. You can see some of Ploog’s original Weirdworld art below.
Bonus! There was a map of Weirdworld published in Epic Illustrated #9. The map is a little silly—or perhaps whimsical, and fairy-like is a better description! While I might not use it as direct inspiration for a TTRPG right now, we’ve had two significant adventures in the Fey Realm in my long-running homebrewed campaign, so I am absolutely keeping this handy for later reference.
