Knights of the Dinner Table
In "Shadis" #2 (March/April 1990), Jolly Blackburn began to run a comic that
he had written called "Knights of the Dinner Table", which depicted the humorous interactions of a gaming group. When Blackburn published that first "Knights" strip, he thought that he was just filling a blank page but when he tried to replace it with more professional strips beginning with "Shadis" #6, there was an outcry; because of that outcry "Knights" soon returned. Blackburn also published "Knights of the Dinner Table" as a comic book, the first three issues of which appeared from his company Alderac Entertainment Games over the next year (1994-1995). As a result of diverging interests with his partners, Blackburn left Alderac in 1995, with "Shadis" #21 (December 1995) being his final issue; he kept the rights to "Knights of the Dinner Table". Blackburn formed a new company called KODT Enteractive Facktory, which was to publish the "Knights of the Dinner Table" comic monthly. While he was working on getting that new company together, Blackburn received a call from the editor of TSR's "Dragon" magazine, asking if the "Knights of the Dinner Table" strip was now available; although Blackburn originally planned to continue the strip in "Shadis", he accepted the offer and "Knights of the Dinner Table" thus began appearing beginning in "Dragon" #226 (February, 1996). While working on "Knights of the Dinner Table" #4 (1996), Blackburn concluded that he really did not want to go it alone, and David Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company. In November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were visiting Blackburn over the course of a local con, and Blackburn decided that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner. Starting with issue #5 (February 1997) "Knights of the Dinner Table" was the work of the "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Jolly Blackburn, David Kenzer, Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson.
Southern Knights
However, the success of the Knights was mixed with creative turnover. Issue #8 was the first to be published by Comics Interview, and the last to feature Audrey Vogel as writer (though several later issues of the series credit her as "story consultant"). According to Henry Vogel, she gradually fell out of writing the series due to exhaustion from working a full-time job. Willis left two issues after, leaving Henry Vogel to write the series by himself. "Southern Knights" gradually became less oriented on long-term plot threads and character development, and increasingly consisted of short story arcs and single-issue stories. Wojtkiewicz left after issue #11, and with issue #13 Mark Propst began both penciling and inking the Knights. The look he brought to the series broadened the series' readership, and Comics Interview began publishing numerous Southern Knights spin-offs, mostly using reprints. For instance, a "Dread Halloween Special" was actually just a reprint of "Southern Knights" #14, and a three-issue Aramis limited series was simply a reprinting of select Aramis appearances from issues #5-26, with brief textual segues. The Southern Knights also guest-starred in "Aristocratic Xtraterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves" (vol.2) #1.