"Contractually-required surrender of IP." https://twitter.com/medburnbook/status/1263677983199461376

Nothing on Earth quite like hearing stories of elderly creators of beloved comics and characters lingering in movie theaters to watch the credit roll, hoping their name appears, knowing it probably won't.

Comics! ( o_o)-b

And yeah, I know, I know. "That's how it was done back then, no one forced them to sign, they knew what they were getting into, etc. etc." I'm aware.

That doesn't exempt it from being a shitty situation.

Runners-up!

"Media exploitation rights in perpetuity."
"Originals lost in a fire."
"Quit comics to drive cabs."

That last one is quite literal, by the way.

Lemme introduce your folks to Wormy.

Wormy was, at least at first, a comic about a pool-hustling, shady dragon that ran in Dragon magazine for ten years. It was by David Trampier, credited as "Tramp."

Like a lot of comics, the series started out light-hearted and gag-oriented, then became more story-focused as time moved on. Near the end of its run, Wormy was one of the most technically accomplished and beloved comics in Dragon.

However, the strip ended in April of 1988. The final comic, a two-pager in a long-running storyline clearly meant to be continued, appeared in issue 132 of Dragon, on pages 101 and 102. https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine132#page/n101/mode/2up

Several months passed, and then this exchange appeared in the August 1988 issue of Dragon, issue 136, in the "Letters" section.

People were like... wut? What happened? Why? Wormy had been a staple of Dragon for YEARS. What brought this on?

But that's the thing. No one knew. "Tramp" had completely disappeared.

The editor of Dragon reported that royalty checks sent to Tramp were returned, unopened. (David had done work for TSR for years, including this clascic cover for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook.)

So not only was Tramp not communicating with friends, fans, and editors, he was refusing money he was entitled to for past work. And he wasn't telling anyone why.

He never would.

He cut himself off from the comics and role-playing communities without a word or explanation.

And Tramp would stay in the wind for nearly 13 years. No one would know where he'd gone until 2002.

That year, a student journalist did a ride-along with a Yellow Taxi driver for an article in the Southern Illinois University student newspaper.

The paper published the article in February 2002, with Tramp's full name and photograph, making it clear this was, unmistakably, the same David Trampier. And the RPG community caught wind.

It was shocking. His disappearance had been so complete, some people thought he was DEAD.

He was fairly quickly sent commission requests, inquiries to reuse his old artwork, convention special guest invites. He ignored them all.

And he would continue to ignore the RPG community until 2008, 20 years after dropping out of sight.

In 2008, he visted a Carbondale, Illinois game store:

https://castleperilousgamesbooks.com/ 

To see the new edition of "Titan," a fantasy board game. Contact with Castle Perilous would continue to be his only connection to gaming until 2013.

(But he still wasn't drawing, anymore.)

2013 was a bad year. Trampier suffered a stroke, lost his cab-driving job, and was diagnosed with cancer. Spurred by financial need, he sold some of his old original art- including the art used on the classic Dungeonmaster's screen- to the owner of Castle Perilous.

Encouraged by this new willingness to interface with his old art, the store owner tried to persuade Tramp to look into republishing his old "Wormy" strips. Tramp said he would consider it, but only if TSR was in NO WAY involved.

Hmmmm.

(And yes, Tramp said this in 2013.

He had been so disconnected from gaming for decades, he'd had no idea Wizards of the Coast had bought and absorbed TSR YEARS ago.)

So yeah, things were looking up! Tramp even accepted a guest invite to a local convention, "Egypt Wars."

But he'd never make it. Already ill, Tramp died three weeks before his scheduled appearance at Egypt Wars.

But his legacy, in the form of creators he inspired, would succeed him.

And now it's time for some !!! WILD SPECULATION. !!!

Tramp left TSR for good in 1988.

In 1985, Gary Gygax was pushed out of TSR, after himself pushing out the Blume family (gross oversimplification, but yeah.) The company then fell under the control of Lorraine Williams.

85-86 were successful years, but turbulent ones. There were charges of misuse of funds, because the company was doing great sales-wise, but somehow cash-strapped. Gygax had moved to Hollywood to court film and TV (results below), and in his absence, money was "disappearing."

The blame for the missing money fell on the Blumes, and Gygax spurred and oversaw their removal from TSR's board of directors. In revenge, the Blumes sold their TSR stock to TSR vice president Lorraine Williams, giving her a controlling interest in the company.

Lorraine is... much maligned, by some gamers. I have my suspicions why.

But that doesn't necessarily mean she was perfectly suited to run TSR.

She supposedly bragged she had never once played D&D, considering it beneath her dignity.

So...yeah. Uh-oh.

It was under William's management that Tramp left TSR, and maintained a disdain for the company that never wavered, even for decades afterwards.

I mean, I don't know the whole story. I never will. But I can guess at the motivations.