This article is the seventh in our series chronicling the history of the Black Library, as told from a Warhammer 40,000 perspective. By this point, Games Workshop has moved past their first foray into novelizing their properties (Parts One, Two, and Three), and only the previous year had launched a bimonthly stories and comic magazine, Inferno! (parts Four, Five, and Six). Now in 1998, the next phase of their plan is about to come to fruition.
Divide and Conquer
The 1990’s were momentous years for Games Workshop. The decade started with a management restructuring, with Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone selling off their stake in the company to Tom Kirby and Bryan Ansell for £10 million in 1991. Kirby sourced capital from UK private equity firm ECI Partners1, and the next three years saw Games Workshop refocus its marketing to attract younger, more family-oriented consumers.
The repositioning paid off, with the company expanding not only at home but abroad as well. By the end of 1994, it had gone public with shares floated on the London Stock Exchange and three years later they’d move into their new headquarters in Nottingham. Things were looking up!
Of course, with so many balls in the air it’s not surprising they dropped one. “We were perhaps a little distracted by our explosion of success as a games company,” noted Marc Gascoigne in an interview a few years later2. “At that time, our tabletop games went through the roof, sales wise, and as a result all our attention went onto developing the core range. So I suspect we took our eye off the ball with fiction publishing, and concentrated on the area that was demanding most of our attention.”
This wind-down is reflected in the output. Games Workshop released six novels between 1991-93, then only two in 1994-5 (Ian Watson’s Harlequin and Chaos Child, concluding the Draco trilogy). By 1996, the printers had fallen silent.
“It wasn’t until we had a stable, mature market for our games,” continued Gascoigne, “and more especially the worlds in which they were set, that we realised we should be exploring
those worlds through fiction and comics as well.” That time was 1997, the founding year of the official Black Library and one which we’ve covered in greater depth in this series’ previous articles.
Inferno! wasn’t just a great way for fans to read more about the worlds of Warhammer; it was also a terrific recruitment tool for new talent. Gascoigne regarded the magazine as “a fertile training ground for writers and artists,” and it didn’t take long for the comic content to get its own dedicated vehicle as Warhammer Monthly debuted in 1998.
When you look at the various ingredients and influences that went into crafting the Warhammer 40,000 setting, certainly one of the more significant is 2000 AD, the legendary British comics magazine3. The home of a number of notable characters including Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper, each issue presented chapters of several different ongoing stories as well as self-contained ones. When the Black Library mapped out their new all-comics magazine, this was an easy format to adopt.
Just as with Inferno!, White Dwarf proved the perfect launch vehicle to get a preview issue into the hands of its intended readers. Warhammer Monthly’s preview issue (issue “0”) released in February 1998, containing one new story and several previews from upcoming issues.
Warhammer Monthly: Issues 0-10
Given Warhammer Monthly’s serialized nature, it makes more sense to review the stories in aggregate rather than issue by issue, unlike the more self-contained Inferno!. Readers in 1998 enjoyed the following stories:
The Bridge, by Dan Abnett (Script) and Simon Coleby (Art)
This story was the very first complete release for the new magazine, using an alternating point-of-view approach to tell of a clash between Orks and Chaos Space Marines over a strategic bridge. While Dan Abnett is well-known now for his Black Library novels and characters, he was involved with comics before making his Black Library debut and this story was a return to form.
Simon Coleby was a comic artist (and frequent Abnett collaborator) for Marvel Comics UK and 2000 AD. “If you look at it purely in terms of an hourly rate – and take into account all the work that goes into drawing comics,” he once noted in an interview, “then you do have to be in this business because you love it.”4
Bloodquest, by Gordon Rennie (Script) and Colin MacNeil (Art)
This story, about Blood Angels exiled in disgrace until they can recover a lost relic sacred to their Chapter, had started in the pages of Inferno! before making the crossover to Warhammer Monthly. Rennie and MacNeil were both veterans of 2000 AD, and Rennie notably won a BAFTA in 2006 for the Rogue Trooper video game.
In 2000, Bloodquest was optioned for a CGI film by Exile, but languished in development hell for three years until the cord was officially pulled.
Predator & Prey, by Gordon Rennie (Script) and David Pugh (Art)
Warriors from a primitive tribe on the Imperial world of Calidan must confront a monster from the stars in this tale that riffs more than a bit on the movie Predator.
Kal Jericho, by Gordon Rennie (Script) and Karl Kopinski (Art)
The year had three different Kal Jerico stories on offer, offering an introduction to some of the prominent characters in Jerico’s world. Readers not only meet Kal, but also his nemesis Yolanda and partner Scabbs in the three stories released in 1998 for Warhammer Monthly (The Hit, Yolanda, and Nemo).
Titan, by Dan Abnett (Script), Anthony Williams (Art), and Andy Lanning (Art)
Apprentice commander Ervin Hekate is thrust into the Princeps role after his predecessor meets a sudden end at the worst possible moment in this serial from Gaunt’s Ghosts creator Dan Abnett. Including the teaser in Issue #0, Titan made seven different appearances across the year, second only to Bloodquest.
All three were frequent collaborators at Marvel UK and 2000 AD. Lanning was a writer and inker who also worked for DC, and whose runs included Batman, Superman, the Punisher, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Williams, meanwhile, has enjoyed working with Judge Dredd, the X-Men, and the Transformers. He also is a commercial artist who has done storyboarding for Doctor Who.
Daemonifuge, by Jim Campbell (Script) and Kev Walker (Art)
Daemonifuge was the last of 1998’s “big three” series for Warhammer Monthly. It centers on Ephrael Stern, a Sister of Battle and sole survivor of an excursion of 12,000 Sisters sent to cleanse a daemon-infested world. As you’d expect, the Inquisition has questions, and Stern must contend both with the mantle of suspicion from her allies as well as the sinister attentions of Chaos.
While Jim Campbell was the writer here, he is most known for his lettering work which saw him twice nominated for an Eisner Award.
Daemonifuge was an Eagle Award nominee in 1999 (for Favourite British Comic) as well as winning Best Collected Series or Graphic Novel for the National Comic Award in 2003.
Adepta Sororitas, by Various
A two-page panel of the type we’d usually seen in Inferno!, this may well have been intended for publication there but editorial needs must. It’s a straightforward informational about the Battle Sisters and their weapons of war.
The Samos Sanction, by Bill Kaplan (Script) and Jeff Rebner (Art)
A planetary governor deciding to secede from the Imperium and declare himself king? Sounds like a job for the Officio Assassinorum!
This was the second collaboration between Kaplan and Rebner for the Black Library, with their Ultramarines story A Good Day to Die appearing in Inferno! Issue #4 (and covered in greater depth here).
Over to Inferno!, the party was in full swing as Andy Jones and the gang celebrated their one-year anniversary with the magazine. “Isn’t it strange how time creeps up on you and smacks you over the back of the head with a sock full of marbles when you least expect it?” he noted in the introduction to Issue #7.
“Barely a month or so has passed since we first thought up the idea of putting together an anthology of action and adventure stories set in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000… And yet sitting on my shelves are SIX issues of Inferno!”
It would take a little time before the full fruits of the Inferno! experiment become apparent- we’re still a year off of the resumption of Warhammer novel publication. But clearly they weren’t hurting for content, as we’ll see in the remaining issues of 1998.
ISSUE #7: July 1998
July’s issue featured Warboss, a painting by London-born Kenson Low. His later work would tack strongly towards social, political, and environmental commentary, with a decidedly dystopian bent. For a number of years he facilitated art therapy in a National Health Service mental health hospital as well.
This issue featured one short story for Warhammer 40,000 as well as a number of other comics and miscellaneous pieces.
Icons of the Imperium: The Doomsday Cannon, by Dave Pugh and Ian Pickstock
Featuring cross-section diagrams of the “doomsday cannon” of Salamander V, this tandeom work by Pugh and Pickstock also contains detailed information of troop components and the Eagle Command Center the cannon sits atop.
Children of the Emperor, by Barrington Bailey
Was there any part of culture that wasn’t rebelled against during the turbulent decades of the 60’s and 70’s? Science fiction and fantasy writers certainly did, as the New Wave movement arose as a literary push against the consignment of the genre to the pulp magazines of the day.
The movement would find its epicenter in New Worlds, a British magazine edited by Michael Moorcock (creator of Elric of Melniboné). Amongst Moorcock’s contemporaries and collaborators of the day was his very good friend, Barrington Bayley.
Bayley was a longtime science-fiction writer himself, and in that regard shared a certain DNA with Ian Watson when it came to writing for the Black Library. Children of the Emperor would be Bayley’s first contribution, which would be followed by three more short stories as well as a novel (1990’s Eye of Terror).
Exhibit 264: Heretical Text, by John Blanche (art) and Ian Pickstock
Presented as the concluding part of an epistle from one Johannes Blanc, “prophet and scribe,” depicting a society’s fall into Chaos, the text serves to accompany a one-page art panel from the legendary John Blanche. (Both Blanche and Pickstock covered in prior articles in this series).
Obvious Tactics, by David Pugh
The Blood Angels and their Callidius Assassin ally duel with an unstoppable Chaos Daemon as orbital bombardment approaches. Can they get word to the fleet in time?
Last Man Standing, by Dan Abnett (script) and Mike Perkins (art)
Abnett’s back to familiar ground with this comic about the Imperial Fists battling an Ork menace. This one was drawn by Mike Perkins, another notable British illustrative talent who would go on to become known for runs on Captain America, Swamp Thing, Superman, and Aliens vs Predator. We’d soon be seeing more of Perkins in Warhammer Monthly.
Other Stuff
Logan Lubera and Craig Yeung returned with another page of Warhammer art, this one of Kubris Roath, Chaos Legionary.
ISSUE #8: September 1998
The cover star this month was Yolanda Catallus of Necromunda, here in her “Outlands Annie” guise. As noted earlier Yolanda was introduced in one of the year’s three Kal Jerico stories in Warhammer Monthly, and this was artist Karl Kopinski’s first attempt at working with gouache painting.
Gaunt’s Ghosts: The Hollows of Hell, by Dan Abnett (illustration by Wayne England)
Depicting an assault on the Chaos-held world of Caligula, this story sees the Tanith First-and-Only attacking Nero Hive. Like other early Ghosts stories, it would be repurposed later into the novel Ghostmaker (2000). Art from Wayne England accompanied the piece, showing Gaunt in action.
Obvious Tactics, by David Pugh
With two hours until planetary bombardment5, the Blood Angels improvise a plan to destroy the Chaos Daemon hounding their every step!
Hell in a Bottle, by Simon Jowett (illustration by Jeff Rebner)
Writer Simon Jowett makes his Black Library debut with this story of a Daemon Prince biting off a little more than he expected when setting his legion’s sights on a new planet- Iron Hearts Space Marines!
Jowett would get his start in comics, including 2000 AD, but by this point in his career he had already started moving away from the medium and into scriptwriting and storytelling. He’s lent his creative talents to a number of established properties, including James Bond, Bob the Builder, Wallce and Gromit, and Disney. Not only would he ultimately pen a half-dozen stories for the Black Library, but he was also a writer for the 2003 video game, Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior.
The Conquest of Obzidian, by David Pugh
This combat dossier takes a closer look at the attack on Obzidian, the setting for the Obvious Tactics comic strip. From ship types to character profiles, there’s a wealth of background information here from series creator Pugh.
The Raven’s Claw by Jonathan Curran
A planetary governor deciding to secede from the Imperium and declare himself ruler? Sounds like a job for the Officio Assassinorum! Sure it’s a plot we’ve seen before, but does Imperial knifepoint diplomacy ever really get old?
Little appears to be out there for Jonathan Curran, author of two short stories for the Black Library. His Inferno! bio offers precious few clues, other than a stint at SHE Magazine and a penchant for collecting CD’s (which was the style at the time).
Other Stuff
Dave Pugh is all over this issue. In addition to both Obzidian pieces, he also contributed a portrait of a Sister of Battle, Ellenus Sacramentis.
ISSUE #9: November 1998
A face only a mother could love, except the Neverborn don’t actually have any. Still, Daemon from Wayne England certainly caught the eye, and as an added bonus was an image that could apply just as easily to Warhammer Fantasy and 40K. A true crossover champ!
The Lake, by Tully R. Summers
Second of two stories by Summers, previous one was in Inferno #6. In this Necromunda tale, an Orlock ganger is reduced to harvesting spider eyes from a nearby lake of slime, but comes to learn the lake holds some mysterious secrets of its own.
Obvious Tactics, by David Pugh
A short one this month- only two pages- but the Blood Angels manage to secure a Thunderhawk. Off to the rescue!
Acceptable Losses, by Gav Thorpe
Squad stories are a sure-fire hit in Warhammer, and already we’d seen Dan Abnett’s Ghosts and Gav Thorpe’s Last Chancers. Thorpe’s back at it with the Imperial Navy this time, as we are introduced to Flight Commander Jaeger as he takes Raptor Squadron under his wing. Described by Track of Words as “a slice of vintage Black Library which still feels relevant and entertaining over 20 years later,” this one scratched the itch for aerial action in the Imperium.
Acceptable Losses: Raptor Squadron, by Karl Kopinski
To what degree the Raptor Squadron heroes were considered for a kind of ‘franchise status’ by the early Black Library is impossible to know, but seeing Kopinski’s four-page spread complete with character profiles certainly suggested to early Inferno! readers that they were intended for more than just a one-and-done.
Other Stuff
Jeff Waye finishes off our last issue of this installment with this portrait of a Van Saar ganger from Necromunda, Malphus “Claw” Driessen.
In Our Next Installment…
We enter the groundbreaking year of 1999. Both Inferno! and Warhammer Monthly are clicking along in high gear, and at last we see the return of the novel to Games Workshop’s storytelling formats!
FOOTNOTES
- They’re pretty proud of their three-year involvement, and still have a page up about it.
- Warpstone Issue #18. You can read the full interview here.
- You can find a quick summary of some of these influences here.
- From Judge Dredd Megazine Issue 328 (September 2012)
- The Table of Contents summary says one hour, but the comic itself notes two.
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
