Brian Patterson created his first comic when he was 9 years old, a superhero comic called Snowboy based on the adventures of a young, innocent Brian with sweet ass snow-based powers and a desire to do some good in the world. His Grandmother thought the comic was “adorable” and had he continued down that path, who knows where Snowboy could have taken him.

Everything changed when at the tender age of 10 years old, Brian played in his very first session of Dungeons & Dragons. Roped into a session, playing with a group of older kids on the front steps of his elementary school, Brian’s mind exploded in a symphonic guitar riff laced with swords, magic, and half-naked demon ladies. His eyes opened to a world of possibilities and the crudely drawn pictures on a cardboard GM screen left a lasting mark. Since then, Brian has been an avid gamer, playing across a wide range of systems and editions as both a player and a dedicated GM for three decades.

Over the years since that fateful day on the school steps, Brian spent most of his high school years and early 20’s cultivating his second love: Drawing and worked day-and-night to become a comic book artist for one of the major publishers of the era. However, after a many years (and an entire forest of rejection letters), he finally realized his cartoony style would never evolve to be the next Jim Lee, so he took a deep breath and faced a hard fact: Brian was a cartoonist, not a hardcore comic artist and his dick joke humor would never work at a major publisher. Brian will likely never draw issues of Batman or Thor, but he can illustrate the tales of his people: gamer geeks playing the games he loves.

In October 2010, Brian posted the first comic in his creator-owned series, d20Monkey, a webcomic following the in-and-out-of-gameplay experiences of lifelong friends and gamers, Sam Tigh and Brett Tucker and their gaming group. D20Monkey covers topics at the gaming table, provides laughter, tears, magic, mayhem, and the power of Santa Claus.

Brian continues to publish d20Monkey 3 days a week, as well as working with publishers in the gaming industry as a freelance illustrator and cartographer. Brian currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee with two cats (Emma and Gizmo). He plays games, runs a bi-weekly Dungeons and Dragons campaign, draws comics, listens to music, and runs his mouth about all sorts of things on Twitter (comics, gaming, Combos snacks, and DIO).

Favorite Class: Bard

Best Gaming Moment: Rolling his first Natural 20

Real Life Dump Stat: Dexterity (obviously)