Such a wonderful story is brought to life in such a beautiful fashion. The characters, the story, the funny happenings!! All makes me wish there was more!

If you tabletop Roleplay or have ever even thought about it, read this well-crafted comic. Definitely got me wanted to get some roleplay action.

Of course, Thompson may just have a golden ear for dialogue, a knack for characterization, and a love of the subject matter he builds his stories on.

Either way, his one-shot King of RPGS summons up all the familiar gaming archetypes: The obsessive GM that almost lends some credence to Jack Chick tracts, the kill-em-all power gamer, the CCG-only snob, the hot Vampire chick that gets many a lonely lad to play in the first place. In fact, it's the sting of familiarity that makes Thompson's comics so addictive.

So crawl out from behind your game-master's screen and give King of RPGs a read, before the con-moderators shut it down to make room for Warhammer.

Oh, yeah. I went there.

Anyone who's ever tabletop roleplayed (or been forced to listen to stories of anyone else's RPG exploits) will appreciate the humor of "King of RPGs," which manages to satirize both shonen manga and roleplaying in the loving and informed manner of an obvious insider.

Originally a minicomic, "King of RPGs" is the story of a single Dungeons & Dragons-style game session, played by a group of college students and DM'ed ("dungeon mastered," for the uninitiated among you, meaning "ran by") a subtle parody of every shonen manga protagonist ever: A kid determined to be the BEST DUNGEON MASTER OF ALL TIME!

The players are a motley assortment of wannabe powergamers, RPG newbies, escapists, and basement trolls, and the comic lampoons everything from genderswap characters and near-terminal game slowdown to hilarious combat mishaps and online RPGs. All that's missing is the Funyuns.

THEY'RE STUCK IN THE MACHINE.