Fighting Fantasy gamebook series (Laurel Leaf/Dell)

Florian Hardwig — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 20:33:06 +0000

1: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, 1983. Cover art by Richard Corben.

When Laurel Leaf, an imprint of Dell, published the US version of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in November 1983, they adopted the book’s typographic identity featuring Bradley, which had been introduced with Puffin’s original UK edition the year before, see this post.

While Puffin changed to different cover typefaces for the subsequent books in the Fighting Fantasy series, Laurel Leaf stuck to Bradley for the complete run of the series. The Americans didn’t squeeze the letterforms, and also went less heavy with the caps: Author names as well as articles and prepositions in the titles are set in mixed case — Deathtrap Dungeon dispenses with the caps craze altogether — for a slightly less outlandish look.

The C gets the same simplified treatment as in the UK. Additionally, I and T (in non-initial position) exhibit alternate or altered forms that work better in all caps. From issue 5 on, these subtleties were forgotten, though. Now C, I and T show exclusively the standard letterforms.

2: The Citadel Of Chaos by Steve Jackson, 1983. Cover art by Richard Corben.

3: The Forest Of Doom by Ian Livingstone, 1984. Cover art by Richard Corben.

The Titannica Fighting Fantasy Wiki on the US edition:

The gamebooks featured a new cover design with the first eleven books using a generic white background, whilst books 12 through 21 had a generic black background. Initially the gamebooks had completely new cover illustrations, by Richard Corben (The Warlock of Firetop Mountain to Island of the Lizard King) and R. Courtney (Scorpion Swamp to Freeway Fighter), until 1986 when with Temple of Terror the original Puffin Books cover illustration were used till the range ended with Trial of Champions. During this run House of Hell was retitled House of Hades.

4. Starship Traveller by Steve Jackson, 1984. Cover art by Richard Corben.

5: City of Thieves by Ian Livingstone, 1984. Cover art by Richard Corben.

6: Deathtrap Dungeon by Ian Livingston, 1984. Cover art by Richard Corben.

7: Island of the Lizard King by Ian Livingstone, 1985. Cover art by Richard Corben.

8: Scorpion Swamp by (the other) Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, 1985. Cover art by Richard Courtney.

10: House Of Hades by Steve Jackson, 1985. Cover art by Richard Courtney.

12: Space Assassin by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, 1985. Cover art by Richard Courtney.

16: Seas Of Blood by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, 1986. Cover art by Rodney Matthews.

18: Rebel Planet by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, 1986. Cover art by Alan Craddock.

19: Demons Of The Deep by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, 1987. Cover art by Les Edwards.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain gamebook (Puffin), computer game, board game

Florian Hardwig — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 13:52:37 +0000

Contributed by Florian Hardwig

Source: twitter.com License: All Rights Reserved.

First edition, Puffin Books, 1982. Cover art by Peter Andrew Jones. The secondary typeface is Palatino Bold.

Bradley in the 1980s: At the tender age of 88, this quirky typeface became the cover star of what now is a fantasy classic. Set in all caps and additionally mechanically condensed, Bradley adorns the cover of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, “a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the title is the first gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series.” — Wikipedia

The cover art is by Peter Andrew Jones. From the Titannica Fighting Fantasy Wiki, “the ultimate guide to the all things Fighting Fantasy related”:

The design of the cover was unusual for the time, in that book covers usually had the title along the top so they could be read on the “step” shelves found in stores — Jones, however, left room for the title of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in the middle of the cover, much to the consternation of the publishers.

The book has been adapted into a computer game produced by Crystal Computing and published by Puffin Books in 1984, and a board game published by Games Workshop in 1986. These spin-offs stick to Bradley for the visual identity.

Bradley in all caps is not easy to read, but that’s exactly why it works here: The medieval shapes add a good deal of mysteriousness, and are easily decipherable only for the initiated. There’s just one major simplification: C lost its diagonal stroke, see the book cover and the board game. The computer game packaging shows the unmodified form.

ZX Spectrum Software Pack, published in the The Puffin Personal Computer Collection, 1984.

Content of the ZX Spectrum Software Pack, including the game cassette and the 1983 “Colour Star” edition of the book.

Board game box, illustrated by Peter Andrew Jones, 1986. Here Bradley is used outlined. What might be dismissed as another quickly applied effect goes back all the way to the 1890s: metal Bradley came with an Outline style that was cut to register with the solid one for two-color printing.

Board game contents.

Game board with illustrations by Dave Andrews.

Ad for the board game. Smaller type is in ITC Garamond.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use