Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve been noticing more of these recently. Maybe the passing of Gary Gygax has something to do with it. Whatever the reason, here’s a few more references to the cultural influence of Dungeons & Dragons:

In an interview with The National Post about his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, author Junot Diaz describes how he drew on his past to write about a socially awkward Dominican teen who likes science fiction, comic books, and D&D.

A recent article in Forward reviewed the latest young adult novel by Mattue Roth, Losers, in which we encounter another outcast protagonist who listens to indie music, reads comic books, and plays Dungeons & Dragons.

The Spazmatics, an 80s cover band, cites Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, Rick Springfield, Billy Idol, The Cure, and Flock of Seagulls as their influences.

Houseguest is a band with a musical style that I’m not qualified to explain. In an interview with the Cleveland Scene, the group’s singer, Theodore Mallison, explained with this quote how little he cares about the convenience of labels, “I’m really into medieval history, and there’s a void in my life because nobody around here wants to play Dungeons & Dragons.”

The animated television series, Futurama, has mentioned the game before. However, a soon-to-be-released feature, Bender’s Game, in this case transports the characters to a fantasy setting where Bender becomes a knight, Leela is a centaur, and Fry a dragon. An extra feature available on the DVD is called “Dungeons & Dragons and Futurama.”