David A. Trampier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dave A. Trampier is an early Dungeons & Dragons artist and writer.

He is best known as the creator of the "Wormy" comic strip that ran in The Dragon Magazine. From its inception in issue #9 until its abrupt end in issue #132, Trampier's Wormy comic was a popular feature of Dragon Magazine. It featured a title character in the form of a cigar-chomping, pool-sharking, wargame-playing dragon (and his friends); the comic's storylines were cleverly plotted and the art carefully penciled and colored. Each issue of Dragon would have anywhere from 1-4 pages of "Wormy". The comic suddenly stopped appearing after issue #132, in the middle of a storyline.

A few issues later there was a brief note from the editors stating that "Wormy" would never be appearing again. No explanation was given. Artist and writer Trampier pretty much vanished and has never been reliably heard from since. In a casual conversation with fellow Dragon artist Phil Foglio at the 2000 Origins Game Convention, Mr. Foglio stated that at some point the "Wormy" strips just stopped coming into Dragon magazine and all checks mailed to Trampier were returned as undeliverable. Inquiries by TSR at his residence showed that he had moved with no forwarding address.

Rumours that he had died were denied by Tom Wham, who was for a while Trampier's brother-in-law. Wham stated in the 1990s that he had actually had some contact with Tramp and that he was fine. He gave no further details. A February 15, 2002 article in the Daily Egyptian newspaper in southern Illinois featured a taxi-driving David Trampier in Carbondale, including a photograph. Gary Gygax and other TSR staff of the time confirm it is the same David Trampier who drew Wormy ^[1]

Trampier also provided much of the black and white interior art in many of the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules and manuals, such as the original Monster Manual and Deities & Demigods. His 1979 cover art for the original monochromatic version of the module The Village of Hommlet is widely recognized among fans of earlier D&D materials and has become a collectors item.