This Erol Otus Remorhaz illustration appears to be signed in 1976. You can find it, and a reminiscence of the development of the Remorhaz here, at the Lord of the Green Dragons blog. It took a little digging to find this image, as the retrospective was posted WAY BACK on March 4, 2009!

Trey described the Remorhaz as possessing a fu-manchu mustache. A very apt description of this monster's facial appendages.

This is another David Trampier illustration, based on the original Erol Otus concept. While Otus may have conceived of the original design for the Remorhaz, Trampier has added all sorts of layers of interest. This picture appears in G2, The Glacial Rift of The Frost Giant Jarl, published as an AD&D adventure module in 1978.

Check out the back of the Remorhaz: it almost appears to be suckers or anemones sprouting from it.

A nice additional touch to this illustration that simply screams Trampier: look closely inside the mouth, and you'll see the feet of an adventurer, recently swallowed by the beast.

Erol Otus was not the only early Dungeons and Dragons illustrator who was capturing the creepy, unworldly feel of the monsters and situations that so many of us consider representative of the old-school D&D game.

I've been waiting a long time for this baby.

The Remorhaz (pictured here), along with the Beholder, the Purple Worm, and a select group of other monsters, are classic and iconic D&D foes.

If I recall correctly, the Remorhaz' first in-game appearance was in the adventure "Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl", published some time around 1978. That adventure featured a battle against Frost Giants, who had been attacking human settlements, along with a suprise appearance by this nasty-looking opponent.

I recently purchased the collected Conan the Barbarian comic books (for my son!, really) and discovered a story about Remora, the ice worm, who Conan defeated. Hmmm, Remora, Remorhaz. Both are found in arctic regions. I wonder where the idea of the Remorhaz may have come from?

I am very pleased that WOTC finally created a mini for this monster. More importantly, I'm glad they got it right. The mini is very 1977 Monster Manual.

Whatever else you may say about WOTC, you can't take away the fact that they did a good job on this, and a few other, D&D minis.