Dungeons and Dragons: “P-R-E-S-T-O Spells Disaster”

“P-R-E-S-T-O Spells Disaster” by Jeffrey Scott (December 10, 1983) – While fighting orcs, Presto sends the others (except Uni) to a giants house. While Presto and Uni search for the team, they are fighting a giant and his slime beast pet. Can Presto find the team and rescue them from the giant? This was a great re-imaging of “Jack and the Beanstalk”. The giant is made more monstrous with a fur covering. All of the team except Eric and Shelia contribute to the fight. Eric runs and gets into jams. The could have used Shelia to evade the giant and find means to fight him back. The stuff from Presto’s hat could have come from our world. The whole purpose of the quest is to help protect the children of the golden dragons, one of the few good species of dragons in the Realm. Good getting the team fighting someone else besides Venger.

Dungeons and Dragons: “The Lost Children”

“The Lost Children” by Jeffrey Scott (December 3, 1983) – The young ones have to find a group of Lost Children who have a ship to get them home. There are five children (three boys and two girls, we only 2 of their names), their ship is with there elder Alfor. Alfor has been captured by Venger. Alfor and the children are from a long loved race. The have to free and take the ship home. Eric is real pain in this one, but Diane puts him in his place. Shelia takes point in looking for Alfor. Though she is captured she traps takes two guards later on. Presto’s hat produces a toy tank and causes some Venger’s goons to disappear. This is the first showing of advance technology (outside of stuff from Presto’s hat) in the Realm. Alfor is shown welding the ship. This ship is an interesting design. I wonder if part of the purpose of this mission was that Dungeon Master wanted to get the ship away from Venger. A good mix of SF and Fantasy like the 80s game Ultima II.

Dungeons and Dragons: “The Box”

“The Box” by Jeffrey Scott (November 26, 1983) – The young ones find a box. Dungeon Master tells them its Zandora’s Box. Zandora is a powerful sorceress exiled by Venger. The Box is a portable portal, depending where it is it opens to another world. If the team can open the box in the shadow of Skull Mountain, Zandora would be free, and she could find where to put the Box to get them home. Shadow Demon informs Venger of the quest and plans to stop the young ones. Interesting seeing trying to clean Eric’s clothes after encountering a skunk like creature. I like how Hank gets to swope and rescue Shelia when they fall in a trap. For the brief time they are on Earth, Venger’s powers work but the weapons do not. It is a bit of a contradiction. My No-Prize explanation is that Venger is his own source of power and the weapons need to be in the Realm. This is the closest they have been home. Shadow Demon appears again as the semi effective minion. We see the great design of Venger’s castle in a giant stalactite structure again with the great guitar riff for Venger. I like that they imply that Zandora and Dungeon Master seem to be from the same race. It would be cool to see her or another of them again.

Dungeons and Dragons: “The Garden of Zinn”

“The Garden of Zinn” by Jeffrey Scott (November 19, 1983) – Bobby has been bitten by a venomous creature. The young ones must go to Garden of Zinn to find the Yellow Dragon’s foot to cure Bobby. On the way the meet Solarz who offers food and shelter to team. Shelia stays behind while the rest of group goes to Zinn. The Queen of Zinn seems to have an ulterior motive. What is it? What secret is Solarz hiding? Weird hearing Frank Welker’s Darkseid/Dr. Claw voice for the Queen Zinn’s servants the Stalkers. There is a good twist of the imposter trope in and the Yellow Dragon. One thing, I know Sir Lawrence is thankful for Shelia’s compassion but she is underage! This is on my mind since researching Kitty Pryde and listening to Hugo, Girl!’s show on “Blood of the Dragon” by George R.R. Martin. It was also good to see kindness and compassion will win the day.

Dungeons and Dragons: “Quest of the Skeleton Warrior”

“Quest of the Skeleton Warrior” by Buzz Dixon (November 12, 1983) – A cursed Celestial Knight Dekkion is tasked by Venger to lure the young ones to the Lost Tower to get the Circle of Power. Dungeon Master tells the young ones the Circle of Power can get them home. The Lost Tower uses the the fears of the group to destroy them. Can they get the Circle of Power? Should they give it to Dekkion? Dekkion makes a moral choice by saving Hank and thus saves himself. It is cool that Dungeon Master allows the team to decide Dekkion’s fate. He trusts them to make hard choices. The Lost Tower is bigger on the inside than on the outside and the interior changes to traps the team. This was very trippy. The fears the team faces are interesting. They are failure (Hank), loneliness (Shelia), humiliation (Eric), and helplessness (Presto (loss of glasses), Diana (old age), and Bobby (turned to baby)). Hank faces his fear and rallies the others to as well. Presto gets to conjure an aircraft carrier and recovers the Circle of Light in the middle of fight of Dekkion and Venger. Most of the stuff that comes out of Presto’s hat is from out world. Did the show’s creators plan to use the hat to get back home like in the Wizard of Oz?

Dungeons and Dragons: “Servant of Evil”

“Servant of Evil” by Jeffrey Scott (November 5, 1983) – It is Bobby’s birthday. While he is chasing some creatures that Eric gave him, the rest of the young ones are captured by Venger’s lizard men. They are taken to the Prison of Agony which is over a volcano and guarded by the giant Karrox. Karroz is forced to serve Venger. Bobby and Uni have to rescue the others. He is given an amulet by Dungeon Master that will protect him from Venger’s power. Can Bobby rescue his friends? How will they escape the prison? Does Venger rule territory in the Realm? The Prison of Agony implies that he is running a terror state. Does every victory the young ones have liberate Venger’s empire? Bobby shows he can see the big picture and helps Karrox who in turns enables the team to escape. Uni can hold her own in a fight. There is great action at the end with a fellow prisoner Strongheart.

Dungeons and Dragons: “Prison Without Walls”

“Prison Without Walls” by Steve Gerber (October 29, 1983) – In order to find a way home, the young adventurers must find the gnome wizard Lukyon and free the village he protected. They go to the Swamp of Sorrows to look for him and find dangerous plants, zombies, and a big monster. Venger sends Shadow Demon to spy on the young ones’s progress. Can they find Lukyon in time? This is second use of zombies in the story. Were these the Ghouls I saw in the Ultima III game? Where do zombies come from in the Realm? A like the twist in “prison without walls” concept. Interesting use with Presto’s hat with the weed killer, canon, and ball bearings. Booby is able to take direct action with the orcs by breaking their swords with his club and reminds Uni to use her teleport power to escape a tight spot. There is a nice animation effect when the gem matrix is activated.

Dungeons and Dragons: “Beauty and the Bogbeast”

“Beauty and the Bogbeast” by Jefferey Scott – Eric gets turn to a Bogbeast while the young ones search for the River Which Rains Upsidedown. The river has been dammed by an ogre who is oppressing the Bogbeast village. Will Eric be turned back? Can the river be freed to let the group go home? This is the first story without Venger. It is good that are other foes for the team to fight. It is the first time the team came close to making it home since “The Eye of the Beholder” a month ago. Hank, Shelia, Bobby, and Uni face a giant metallic guard. It reminded me of a what the Sentinels from X-Men comics looked at the time. There was good use of skills and weapons during the action scenes were everyone participated.

Dungeons and Dragons: “In Search of the Dungeon Master”

“In Search of the Dungeon Master” by Jeffrey Scott (October 15, 1983) – Warduke captures Dungeon Master and offers him to Venger for a price. Can the young ones rescue the Dungeon Master? Shelia can understand the Dungeon Master’s faerie companion. I wonder if that will lead to something. Shelia also takes point to fight the rock monster and rescues the team when the get captured by the orcs. I like that Eric tries to go on his own with predictable results and it gives the idea that the team were in the mines for a few days. There are a lot of new races in this one: orcs, pollywogs, and griffins. Interesting to see Venger and Dungeon Master face each other off.

Dungeons and Dragons: “Valley of the Unicorns”

“Valley of the Unicorns” by Paul Dini and Karl Geurs (October 8, 1983) – The wizard Kalek plans to take the horns from all the unicorns. The young ones see Kalek’s wolves attacking Silvermane, the herd leader of the unicorns. While saving Silvermane, Kalek captures Uni. Can the team save Uni and the other unicorns? There are some scary moments with in the wolves in the forest. It is also unnerving seeing the unicorns (including Uni) turn a sickly grey when their horns are taken. I like that Eric notes (Where did he find a notepad and pencil? Presto’s hat?) help the group restore the unicorns. There are also a nice older sister-younger brother moment with Shelia and Bobby. Right after that, Shelia and Hank have a moment. There are some great action and character development in this one.

I like how an image of Venger in the last 2 episodes shows his escape at the end of the episode. Here his image is the smoke from the remains of the castle.