Free to Download: D20 Girls
May 3rd is Free Comic Book Day. The event started in North America but has grown so take a look at the Store Locator in case there’s free goodies near you. If you’re not able to get to a store you should keep your eyes open for Free Comic Book Day downloads.
One such download is a special edition of the D20 Girls Magazine. The D20 Girls Project is a non-profit with the goal of combating any negative portrayal of women in geek culture. The project grew out of a home for nerd modelling but now, under the D20 Girls brand, has four main areas of activity; a support network, community outreach, public perception and personal development.
D20 Girls are backing a day of their own – #nationald20dy – on June 20th. I learn all this from the first few pages of the magazine. Let’s not grumble. This is a freebie. This is the perfect place to introduce the magazine. There are 32 pages in total and the gamer content kicks off on page 8. That’s not too bad.
The front cover says “throwback” and it is entirely possible that this freebie is a collection of clips from recent magazines. That would be understandable even if nothing beats original content. I can’t judge whether the content has appeared before, as I’m not a subscriber, but I do notice some 2013 dates and can describe what the Free Comic Book Day issue holds.
Leading the charge is Amanda Baldwin with “Newb’s Guide to the Multiverse: On Being Arthur Dent”. This is a bit of a pep talk, a pep talk laden with Douglas Adams references but less than 42 of them.
The follow up is Stephanie Hull’s “From Goldielocks to GoldieBlox, Creating Load Bearing Dreams Through Story” and then Erika Litherland’s “Unconventional Women in Time”. The rest of the magazine is similar; Geneviefve d’Estelle’s guide to Weathering and Distressing Costumes, a short piece called Blood Wind by Tara Watson, some product curation by Jacqueline Arbelo, and then a wrap-up on D20 Girls’ activities.
You may think “Dungeons and Dragons” or even roleplaying with a title like D20 Girls and although there’s no doubt there are roleplayers in the organisation this particular issue doesn’t hold any gaming content. This Free Comic Book Day issue is best considered a guide to the group. Curious? Tempted? Like to learn more? Thank the free comics and download a copy.
