D&D Artist Dave "DAT" Trampier

From "The Village of Hommlet" adventure module with his famous "DAT" signature

 

Heavy Metal Magazine has an article about "The D&D Monster Manual Art of Dave 'DAT' Trampier." This guy did some of the best art in the first edition AD&D Monster Manual and apparently plenty more art for AD&D and other games in the 1980s. But:

    Trampier disappeared quite suddenly in the late ’80s — his Dragon strip “Wormy” simply stopped mid-story, and the checks sent him by TSR (payments for “Wormy” and other royalties) were returned unopened. Was he dead? That’s usually the case when someone fails to cash checks. Tom Wham, a fellow TSR artist and Trampier’s brother in law, maintained that Tramp was still alive — but admitted he didn’t know where he was.

    Trampier’s status remained thus — disappeared, possibly dead — until 2002. Then the student newspaper of Southern Illinois University published a story that profiled a cab driver who identified himself as David Trampier. The author of the story did not know his subject as an artist — just a cabbie.

    But the picture in the newspaper confirmed it: Dave Trampier, the Dave Trampier, was alive. Driving a cab in Carbondale, Illinois. Uninterested in fantasy art or gaming.

    Fans and publishers tried to get Trampier to re-engage in some way, but he refused. He turned down invitations to appear at conventions and he wasn’t interested in having his Monster Manual drawings or “Wormy” strips collected in a book. He just kept driving his cab.

    In 2013, Trampier lost his job when the cab company went out of business, he suffered a mild stroke, and he was diagnosed with cancer. It was at this point, and under dire circumstances, that he finally considered returning to gaming and fantasy art after 25 years away. He sold a few paintings (including the original Dungeon Master’s Screen from 1979) and made plans to appear at a convention in April 2014. But he never made it to the show — Trampier died on March 24, 2014.