IDW Publishing will launch Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures, a comic series based on the Saturday morning animated D&D TV series from 1983, in March, the company announced.  The four-issue series will tell the story of a "lost episode" that charts new territory in the world of D&D.

The comic series will be written by David M. Booher and Sam Maggs, with art by George Kambadais.  The story follows six kids transported to the Forgotten Realms in 1983 by a magical roller coaster.  They find it difficult to return to their world, with danger at every turn, a less-than-helpful Dungeon Master, and force of evil Venger stopping at nothing to get his hands on the magical weapons the kids have acquired.

The TV series, a co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, with Toei Animation, ran on CBS for three seasons beginning in 1983, for a total of 27 episodes.  It was canceled before a planned finale episode was produced.  Mark Evanier was one of the writers on the series, and appeared on a San Diego Comic-Con panel promoting the release of the series on DVD in 2006 (see "BCI To Release D&D Cartoons").  Our writer said of the series at the time:

"Although the National Coalition on Television Violence named the series as the most violent show on American TV, the D&D cartoons were actually among the most ethically advanced and thoughtful efforts in the history of children's programming on American commercial television… In an era in which children's programming was becoming increasingly pablum-ized, the D&D series offered an adventurous and imaginative alternative."

Three covers are planned for the first issue, Cover A by Kambadais, Cover B by Brenda Hickey, and a retailer incentive cover by Tim Levins.

This is the second major Q1 IDW comic launch tied to Dungeons & Dragons media; it will also release a graphic novel prequel to the upcoming feature film release (see "IDW To Publish Prequel to ‘D&D’ Movie".

Click Gallery below for full-size cover images!