Hank, Diana, Bobby, Uni and the rest of the party from the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon will return in Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures from IDW next year.
The four-issue miniseries by David M. Booher, Sam Maggs and George Kambadais celebrates the 40th anniversary of the animated program, which ran for three seasons from 1983-1985. In it, six regular kids were transported into the world of Dungeons & Dragons, where they fought Venger and his evil forces, received guidance from the mysterious Dungeon Master and tried to find a way back home.
“As a lifelong D&D fan, it is an absolute dream to get to work reviving a childhood classic,” Maggs said. “It’s been such a blast working with IDW and the fine folks at Wizards of the Coast to home in on what made the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon such a cult favorite. Setting these characters up for a whole new run of stories has truly been a career highlight, and I hope fans will love seeing Uni (well…all our cool kids, but especially Uni) back in action as much as I do!”
IDW refers to the story as a “lost episode” of the TV show:
Noble ranger Hank, intrepid acrobat Diana, quiet thief Sheila, impulsive barbarian Bobby, fearful cavalier Eric, and uncertain magician Presto only want to get back to their own world. But escaping the Realms has turned out to be much harder than getting there! Danger lurks at every turn, the enigmatic Dungeon Master is less than helpful, and Venger—the force of evil—will stop at nothing to get his hands on the magical weapons that the kids have come to rely on. To top it off, Hank has made a startling discovery: Despite the dangers, Sheila, Bobby, Diana, and the others aren’t so sure they want to go home after all!
“As a kid, I would wake up on Saturday morning, pour a bowl of cartoon-themed cereal, and plop myself in front of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. When IDW approached me about writing Saturday Morning Adventures, there was no chance I was passing up the opportunity to help this D&D party face Venger once more,” Booher said. “I can’t wait for readers to pour themselves a bowl of cereal and join us on a thrilling new adventure with Presto, Diana, Bobby, and the whole crew!”
The first issue will have two variants, by Brenda Hickey and Tim Levins:
“Just imagine being me—a 12-year-old boy in the body of a 38-year-old man—getting to play with some of the coolest yet cutest characters in one of the most immersive universes ever made,” Kambadais said. “I am so lucky, yet so freaking scared as to whether one can ever be enough of an artist to take on this huge of a job. Here’s hoping that I’ll do right by Presto and Sheila (low-key my favorites)!”