Magic: The Gathering's original art director Jesper Myrfors says he had a 'no babe art' rule for the TCG, which precluded "artwork that shows a scantily clad woman in a subservient or weak position."
Myrfors, who worked for Wizards of the Coast from 1993 - 2000, explained in a Facebook post shared on January 4 that he wanted MTG to appeal to a broader audience than most fantasy, and "made a point of hiring a lot of women artists on the game".
"I wanted Magic to have its own look and I figured in a male dominated industry, the voices that are not as often heard would provide that look easily," he says.
He writes that while there's nothing wrong with male power fantasies, he wanted Magic to have a wider audience, and points out that that kind of subject matter had been done to death.
If you're anything like us, your first reaction to this explanation is probably to say "well what about-" but Myrfors has beaten us to the punch, adding that rare exceptions were allowed.
He writes: "This rule was not 100% enforced, see Earth Bind, but I knew if I created this rule I would not be flooded with traditional fantasy women kneeling at the feet of powerful men or pulp era 'women in danger' artwork."
Of the 25 artists who provided art for Magic's first set, Alpha, five were women. So it was still mainly men, but that's a considerable percentage considering how male-dominated gaming is often assumed to have been around that time.
What's more, the number of female artists quickly increased. Three of the four artists who got their start with the first expansion MTG set Arabian Nights were women, and three more women were commissioned on the next set, Antiquities.
Some of the first female artists who helped shape the look of early Magic include Amy Weber, known for famous cards like Time Walk; and Heather Hudson, one of the most prolific of the game's artists, who drew 186 different cards between Legends and Eventide.
In its modern form, Wizards of the Coast often speaks about diversity and inclusion, but it's interesting to see that some of these principles were in place right from the start.
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