The second of a couple of nifty storybooks that came out in 1983, the other being The Forest of Enchantment (item 263 in this timeline) this one isn’t quite as good as that one, but it’s still really cool and pretty. While Forest of Enchantment was written by R.L.Stine in an early effort in his career, this one is written by Anthony David Kraft, a Marvel comics veteran, and R.L.Stein’s wife Jane Stine. The art is also not by the great Earl Norem but by Marie Severin. 

I really like Marie Severin’s art, but you can tell she is a more traditional comics artist, less distinctive in style than Earl Norems more “pulp magazine” art. Severin also has the merit of being one of the very few women in the business at this high level at the time, working mainly for Marvel but also doing stints in DC Comics and EC comics. 

The story itself is a bit of an excuse to have some lushly illustrated art, there isn’t much to it. But it does pitch some of the D&D toyline characters like Kelek and Strongheart against each other for a mythical treasure. Cool stuff.