Roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, in which players take the roles of heroes in their own story, have solidly moved from the geek fringes to the mainstream, beloved by celebrities and inspiring hit podcasts and massively successful crowdfunding campaigns.

The story of the tabletop’s triumph even in our digital age begins in the day of actual sword-wielding warriors, leading right up to the fireball-casting avatars of today. In Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games, New York Times-bestselling and award-winning comics creators Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler take you on an incredible journey from the mists of the past to the screen-lit present, showing not just how these games work and why we love them, but what they can tell us about ourselves.