Dungeons & Dragons appears to be moving on from a key contributor of the brand’s iconic look as the game moves into a new era. Today, Joshua M. Smith, the artist better known as Hydro74, announced that his alternate-art cover of Vecna: Eve of Ruin would likely be his last Dungeons & Dragons piece for the foreseeable future. “Just got my copy of Vecna, Eve of Ruin from D&D in,” Hydro74 wrote on Twitter/X. “The gold & silver really are fantastic. Sadly [Wizards of the Coast] said this was my last book since they are changing direction, which is disappointing but freelance life! Was a fun ride!”
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Hydro74’s art has been a hallmark of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition dating all the way back to the release of Volo’s Guide to Monsters, one of the first “expansions” for Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast used Hydro74’s art on multiple alternate-art covers that were exclusive to hobby stores and Penguin Random House had also commissioned Hydro74 to make alternate art covers for several of their books as well. In addition to his D&D work, Hydro74 has also provided commercial art for numerous high-profile clients such as Nike, Lucasfilm, and Universal Studios.
Although Hydro74 apparently won’t be working on any Dungeons & Dragons covers in the near future, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing alternative-art covers for its upcoming 2024 Core Rulebook release, meaning that the two cover system will remain intact through at least the release of the February 2025 Monster Manual.
ComicBook has reached out to Wizards of the Coast for comment, but has not received a reply as of the time of publishing.
