Dark Dungeons: The '80s Chick Tract that portrayed D&D as Witchcraft

 Background

Published in 1984 during the "Satanic Panic", Dark Dungeons is a "Chick Tract" a short religious comic book written and illustrated by Jack Chick. Jack Chick's comics, which often relied on scare tactics to make people repent, have been the subject of controversy in the past. Chick seemed to believe that only Protestant Christians can get into heaven and often took aim at Catholics, Rock and Roll enthusiasts, Homosexuals, Trick-or-Treaters, and plenty of others for doing Satan's work. Although Chick passed away in 2016, his website is still active, selling his comics in bulk and putting his work on display for those who might order a physical copy. Unlike some of his more offensive comics, Dark Dungeons is still available from his site although it is listed as "out of print", which doesn't mean it's unavailable. (It means you'll have to custom order it in qualities of 10,000 or more so that they have reason to give it another print run). On the site, the comic is categorized under "occult", with a brief synopsis: "Debbie thought playing Dungeons and Dragons was fun...until it destroyed her friend".

The Comic

How ominous...

After the sinister-looking cover image, the comic shows us a game of Dungeons and Dragons, where we see a Wizard casting a spell to blind a monster.

What kind of scumbag Dungeon Master just decides a player is dead without giving them a saving throw or anything? Anyways... In the next town you meet a new character named Black Leaf II who wants to avenge the death of her twin sister.

My Cleric got to 17th level but my DM didn't let me have any real power. It's not fair!

Wait... If Debbie's character is a Cleric, that means she gets her spells from god, so is this some kind of secret Bible-study group?

Is it possible to learn this power?

Not from a Jedi.

So is this comic going to turn into Village of the Damned but with D&D players?

Hasbro wishes there was a way to enchant people into buying D&D products. 

Sighs... If you're a good enough Cleric to cast real spells, then why can't you turn an undead.

Just a reminder that this game is 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, where "Gotcha" monsters ran rampant, where every snake had a 5 percent chance of having a deadly poisonous bite, where you had to be a power gamer to survive.

Look at the Dragon miniature on the bed though... Who could commit suicide when they own such a beautiful boss monster?

They should be grateful Ms. Frost didn't have to take out her copy of Tomb of Horrors.

I need to check out the movie adaptation of this.

See? That's what you get for roleplaying instead of powergaming. 

But if the rule of their faith is that they can do whatever they want as long as they don't hurt anyone and Ms. Frost let Marcie commit suicide and is now trying to control Debbie, than isn't she breaking the rules? What an evil, evil, woman... violating the law of D&D like that.

A good thing he didn't weigh the same as a duck.

Yeah, but the Dark Side is a pathway to many abilities that some consider to be... unnatural.

Why does Jesus want you to destroy a book full of math and goofy artwork again?

You know, the act of burning books has some negative connotations these people might not be aware of.

And so Debbie lived happily ever after, until 30 years later when she found out her first edition copy of Deities and Demigods: Cyclopedia of Gods and Heroes from Myth and Legend was worth $560 on eBay.

Film Adaptation:

There is a satirical film adaptation of this, in which the Cthulhu Mythos is real, a group of college students throw a wild party to play D&D, and it's considered out of character for a Cleric to heal other party members. So basically, a completely ridiculous story with absolutely no basis in real life.