OK, in the vein of reminiscence about our beloved and soon to be departed Dragon, what are your favorite Dragon covers?

Here are mine:

#292 Elf (?) patrol riding giant weasels--Wayne Reynolds
#296 Dragon-slayer--Sam Wood
#306 Succubus--Arnie Swekel
#310 Mage and Fighter--Todd Lockwood
#346 Panicked Adventurer--Wayne Reynolds
#329 Medusa and Victim--Scott Fischer

And two old ones from way back:
#37 Maid and Unicorn--artist unknown
#49 Dragon Flamesprays Castle--Tim Hildebrand

#92 With a centaur in plate mail on a bridge having flames breathed on him by an airborne dragon, his front hooves on a bridge falling apart. I don't know who did the cover.

I also like #264, with the Nosferatu hovering there.

#92 definitely. I had a miniature based upon that cover. Looked very awesome (then I moved and it was destroyed)

From the same year... 83, 86, 89 I like chess :)
#111
#122 man that Big Red breathing at ya is wicked awesome
#147 hot babe!
Long dry spell...
#274 awesome Great Gold
#284 the Platinum Dragon himself
#310 I have the poster :)
#323 oh nuts there's a dragon looking at me!
#320 Big white
#344 of course who can forget Tiamat's cover debut?

One would think I prefer to see dragons on the cover of a magazine called Dragon... go figure :)

But yes #1 favorite of all time had to be #92

Dragon #356 - Epic Battle between Dragons
Dragon #348 - The detail in Vecna is amazing
Dragon #337 - Hottest Undead Ever
Dragon #323 - Cliche pic, but still awesome. Clawed!
Dragon #316 - Hottest Spy Ever
Dragon #298 - Hottest Drow Ever

As you can probably tell from my list, I got into Dragon far too late (I didn't even start gaming until the mid-90s, I was born in '80). I really wish I could have started as early as some others around here, but Dragon itself is older than I am. ;)

#92 With a centaur in plate mail on a bridge having flames breathed on him by an airborne dragon, his front hooves on a bridge falling apart. I don't know who did the cover.

That is my favorite as well - it is by Denis Beauvais, and I believe it is called the Bridge of Sorrows.

I also like the chess-themed covers that Denis Beauvais did around that time - issues 83, 86, and 118. Also, two other Denis Beauvais covers I like are 11 (The Conflict) and 115 (The Antagonists).

Having said that, there have beem _many_ great covers over the years. I think I focus on Denis Beauvais as my favorite in large part due to The Bridge of Sorrows from Dragon 92.

Favorite Dragon covers:
# 16--Terrific Gray-skinned warrior pose, defiant and majestic
# 49--The iconic fairy-tale dragon picture
# 52--The iconic faerie dragon picture :)
#117--A battered party, on the run--the vision of every DM's dream
#124--The image of this pegasus rider transformed my DMing style and helped my games really take off!
#129--Is there a more classic image of dwarves and what they are all about?
#285--The halfling that changed how I will view halflings forever--sexy and curvy, rakish and unbearably cool.
#298--Everone's favorite drow cover, or it should be.
#356--Most recent and easily the best dragon-on-dragon combat cover I have ever seen.

Way to go out strong Paizo!

Heathansson wrote:

#92 With a centaur in plate mail on a bridge having flames breathed on him by an airborne dragon, his front hooves on a bridge falling apart. I don't know who did the cover.

That is my favorite as well - it is by Denis Beauvais, and I believe it is called the Bridge of Sorrows.

I also like the chess-themed covers that Denis Beauvais did around that time - issues 83, 86, and 118. Also, two other Denis Beauvais covers I like are 11 (The Conflict) and 115 (The Antagonists).

Having said that, there have beem _many_ great covers over the years. I think I focus on Denis Beauvais as my favorite in large part due to The Bridge of Sorrows from Dragon 92.

Oh yeah!! He also did that Warlock 5 comic, and some Aliens comics. He was grrrrrreat!!!

My very first Dragon that I owned was from a throw-away bin at the local library, as they cycled out the periodicals from 3 years past. It was back in the early nineties, and it's cover was of a "generic" dragon (green in color, but more like a red in structure) standing watch on a hill, while a bunch of baby dragons of all colors, and a bunch of human kids, played and frolicked on the hill beneath the outstretched wings of their "babysitter".

That one kinda defined my perspective on what I want my D&D experiences to be like ever since.

I think Dragon #106, by Parkinson, is the prettiest cover evar... ;)

126 's cover

and

140 's cover were pretty inspirational too!

126 IS badass.

So many covers to choose from. My faves:

221-Appeasing Karita by Elmore (inspired one character)
247
269-Ravenstone, another Elmore
270-attractive elf mage
285-Halflings (cute rogue)
298-Drow (who doesn't love drow)
306-who doesn't love succubi?
339-the Lady of Pain
340-Astrology
347-I'm not sure what she is, but she's not something I wanna fight

One of the issues from 1st edition (might have been Dungeon) had a woman with a bow fighting a giant axe-wielding skeleton in the snow. That's another favorite that inspired a character. Of course, the best was really the 1st issue that inspired us all to play, whatever number that was.

Bear with me, this is a long list.

Dragon 94 has a cover called Alerelean by Clyde Caudwell and she is the hottest ranger ever.

115 by Denis Beauvais of the pegasus riding woman battling a dragon rider is impressive.

132 featuring the stars of Larry Elmore's Snarfquest is excellent. If you don't have the graphic novel of that series, get it.

140 is another Larry Elmore featuring a woman healing a fallen comrade while a giant paces in the background.

I agree with Krome regarding the cover of Dragon 147. That's a nice looking spell slinger.

172 stars a female warrior (Babbette the barbarian would you belive) in armour that does actually provide some protection yet still remains appealing as she stands over a fallen worm. Another Clyde Caldwell.

200 features the holographic cover with the amazingly drawn drow sorceress and her tattooed human ally. By Larry Elmore.

Sadly all but issue 200 of those I have on the CD Rom collection as I lost many issues of Dragon during a house move.

267 has the hottest drow ever (I think she beats 298) and I even have the miniature of it by Dark Sword. And yes it's another Elmore.

277 has the Age of Steam elf by Kev Walker. Really must do that steam age campaign one day.

285 has the only halfling in history that managed to look attractive. No hairy feet!!!

306 has an alluring succubus by Arnie Swekel.

336 which stars the only mummy ever to look better without her bandages than with them.

339 for the Lady of Pain cover by RK Post.

And finally Dragon 340 with the astrologer by Eric Kim and Roberto Campus.

Of course,now we need a favourite Dungeon cover thread....

I love a whole lot of the Dragon covers, but I'm short on time to look for all my faves so I'll just note that the newest issue (356) may have the coolest dragon fight in Dragon magazine history.

WAR's covers tend to be favorites of mine, as well as any depicting enormous monsters, epic battle scenes, or things that are just plain cool or unusual (354 ;) ).

I can't remember which November issue it was, but "Birth of Night," the reference to "Birth of Venus," is great. Sadly, there are no prints of the original painting for sale.

My nostalgia factor says issue #140 by Larry Elmore; the one with the female cleric healing the fighter while the giant that roughed him up is walking away.

But that's mainly because that was the first issue I ever purchased. There have been some good ones over the years, and also some bad ones too.

My favorites:
#285-- As others have said, finally a hot halfling!
#261-- I think this is the "Birth of Night" referred to above (I can't remember the artist, though!)
#285-- I love dwarves, but hate those artists who depict dwarves with swords (they use axes and hammers! Duh!) But this one? He's so bad...I'll let him use whatever he wants. Who's gonna argue with him?
#258-- Probably my all-time post-#250 favorite. The tech-mage. Wow. This one actually got me collecting Dragon magazine again after a several year drought.

I was always partial to the covers by Robin Wood, but then I'm biased towards Michigan people.

OK, in the vein of reminiscence about our beloved and soon to be departed Dragon, what are your favorite Dragon covers?

Seeing the 'chess' covers in my school's library is what got me into D&D in the first place (and it seems I'm not alone in liking them) - so these covers will always have a special place in my heart. Honestly there are too many incredible covers to count. The art of Dragon has consistently inspired me every month: showing me a glimpse of a world that I want to explore, or exposing a snapshot of a story that makes me want to fill in the blanks.

Thumbing through my collection of Dragons is like stepping into an art gallery covering the best fantasy art in the last 25 years.

The Final Cover. And you can buy a signed lithograph. :-)

Medusa and victim. 329.

Hands down.

Reminds me of an ex-girlfriend, too.

#100

So different.

So cool.

The cover with Kotstchie (spelling?), I think #119, was pretty damn cool too.

All in all, though, it's hard to top #110 (the unicorn and the skeleton).

The cover with Kotstchie (spelling?), I think #119, was pretty damn cool too.

That one is far and away my favorite, with #140 as a runner-up.

is there a cover gallery link somewhere?

let me look above

#100

So different.

So cool.

The cover with Kotstchie (spelling?), I think #119, was pretty damn cool too.

All in all, though, it's hard to top #110 (the unicorn and the skeleton).

Very true. And #110 was my first issue.

yep :)

Gotta agree with you guys. Yup, 110, 119, 140 are great. Mine are stored back in my homeland so I can only look at the crappy jpegs, but they still look cool.

I started collecting rather late with issue 332, and it was being handed this cover at my friends house that really sealed the deal for me and got me addicted to the game. Seeing the plight of the warrior, armed with the magic spear, against the signature red dragon...Ah Memories.

That being said, perusing the back issues online leads me to conclude that the following would complete my top 5:
359 (Brought back that classic feel I find)
281 (Bada** Githzerai monks)
124 (Birth month/year issue)
100 (Small dragon love)

My issue one i think says it all a great cover that started it all.

Wish i had`nt highlight some of the sections though would be worth more now :)

I've always liked cover 143 and cover 146.

124 (Birth month/year issue)

Ouch. I'm having a geezer moment now. I consider that a "new" issue.

16
94
108
126
161
172
185
200

16, 94, 108, 126, 161, 172, 185, 200

185 sort of ruins the "anything with a chick on the cover" trend...

BeneathTheEarth wrote:

16, 94, 108, 126, 161, 172, 185, 200

185 sort of ruins the "anything with a chick on the cover" trend...

What can i say?I like the ladies.

While I have enjoyed many covers, one stands out as my favorite by far.

This one.