BRINGING THE WARHAMMER DOWN: DAN ABNETT ON WARHAMMER 40K: THE DAMNATION CRUSADE

[MattBrady]

by Matthew McLean

Dan Abnett may be one of the most prolific writers with his own Wikipedia entry. In addition to writing for many comic book titles over the past two decades or so, he’s also produced dozens of novels for the Black Library, the Games Workshop publishing arm. He lives in Maidstone, Kent; a pleasant country town south of London that stands in stark contrast to the harsh, apocalyptic future that Abnett has spent much of his professional career writing about.

His career has been one that most fanboys and girls would envy; twenty years of writing for comics, children’s books, novels and screenplays. His employers have ranged from Marvel to the BBC. Comics, though, have always had a special place for Dan as is testified by the bio on his website which is done completely in comic book format. It’s also pretty funny, too.

What is typically not funny, however, is Abnett’s work on the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Warhammer 40,000 is essentially a nightmare future where mankind is ruled over with an iron fist by the God Emperor and is constantly at war with heretical forces. This month, Abnett and BOOM! Studios have released the first comic in a new Warhammer 40,000 series called Damnation Crusade. Centered on a group of zealot Space Marines that have embarked on a treacherous voyage…

We caught up with Abnett for more.

Newsarama: According to your bio, you graduated from Oxford. I don’t think most people in the States associate Oxford with writing for comic books. Care to dispel that notion by telling me how you got started after graduation?

Dan Abnett: I read English Language and Literature at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. I'd been interested in comics since childhood - mainly because they gave me a chance to do my two favorite things - draw pictures and write stories - at the same time. I drew and wrote a lot of my own comics as a teenager, and worked on the college magazine, including cartooning at Oxford - mainly as an antidote to Old English.

When I graduated, I wanted to work in publishing, and had dreams of being a writer, but didn’t really know what to do. I applied to Marvel Comics in London, and landed an editing job. It was while I was there, working as an editor, that I started writing freelance - Dr. Who, Ghostbusters, GI Joe etc, and eventually I quit the day job to write full time. I remember when I was working on The Punisher at Marvel U.S. the editor was hugely amused that he had an Oxford graduate writing Frank Castles's blood-baths.

NRAMA: Old English?

DA: Anglo Saxon, which was one of the areas we were required to study.

NRAMA: You’ve had an extremely eclectic career, having worked on everything from X-Men to Scooby Doo. However, you’ve written dozens of novels for Game Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000. What is it about that license in particular that draws your imagination?

DA: Twenty three novels, actually! I've worked for Games Workshop for about a decade, and I particularly like the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the feel of it. To write a licensed property well, you have to 'get it', and I suppose I 'get' 40,000. GW has given me the scope to explore and develop certain areas - some of the novels I've written have now begun to feed back into the game and influence it. The GW novels are probably the most successful things I've done, and it's always rewarding to work on something where you get great feedback and response. To have an audience waiting eagerly and volubly for your next book is an inspiring feeling.

NRAMA: What is it about the source material you 'get', that fires your imagination?

DA: 40,000 paints a picture of a very gothic, grim, almost medieval science fiction universe. It appeals to me, and I find I can run with it without having to struggle. I was an RPG-er when I was a youngster - Dungeons & Dragons, Traveller, Cthulhu - and became very familiar with the imagery of 40,000 in White Dwarf magazine when it began to appear eighties. It's sort of like I've always had it in my head.

NRAMA: The Warhammer 40,000 universe, as well as the focus of Damnation Crusade, the Black Templars, has a very rich history that many of your possible readers may not be familiar with. How did you compensate for that when writing the script?

DA: The 40,000 Universe is very big and complicated. There's a whole lot of detail and history and continuity to explore and learn about. Take a look at all the rule books! But... the very basic idea is incredibly simple. It's very easy to grasp, to understand what's going on, even if you know nothing. Once you've got that 'in', you can learn the rest - the wealth of detail - as you go along. The first issue has a simple piece of color text on the front that’s akin to "Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away...” and that'll be all you need to get yourself started.

NRAMA: Please take a moment and go into what the Damnation Crusade is about. How many issues will it be? Who is the antagonist?

DA: The Damnation Crusade is a six issue storyline that essentially showcases the struggles of a Black Templar Crusade over many years. In the course of it, they face many different enemies - Necron, Tau and Chaos for example. There are three main protagonists, and we follow their intercut exploits at different times: a young neophyte, a veteran warrior, and an ancient Dreadnaught. The idea is we see what life as a Black Templar is like at different levels of the Templars' military organization.

NRAMA: Who are the Black Templars?

DA: The Black Templars are a chapter of Imperial Space Marines, the post- human, genetically enhanced armor clad ,super warriors of 40,000. Unlike other chapters,
who are based at static fortress worlds and roam out, the Templars are mobile, forever pressing on and crusading against the enemy.

NRAMA: The Imperium of Man, as mankind’s galactic empire is known, is often listed in the Warhammer 40,000 material as the last protection of mankind. However, it has some strange and unsettling overtones, particularly in its totalitarianism. Do you touch on that in your writing?

DA: Absolutely. The oppressive, stagnant nature of the Imperium is a key part of the 40,000 feel. This is not a bright, optimistic future. This is a society that is in slow, inexorable decay, struggling to hold on to its past glories. It's very medieval, very feudal.... most of the technology, for example, is maintained by people who don’t really understand it, but who treat it like witchcraft. It's not a very friendly place, and the regime can be harsh and brutal.

NRAMA: Will we be seeing examples of that brutality in the comic?

DA: Yes. It would be hard to do a 40,000 comic without showing it. The Black Templars are very hardline, very serious warriors going up against a brutal Universe.

NRAMA: So if these are the ‘good’ guys, what are the bad guys like?

DA: Unbelievably nasty. Alien menaces such as the Tyranids and the Necrons are implacable alien threats, totally unreasonable and impossible to communicate with. Chaos itself is a vile, corrupting force of limitless power. The universe really is an unfriendly place.

NRAMA: While the Space Marines are always the elite, there seems to be some appeal to the Imperial Guard, which is composed of normal humans. Have you or do you intend of writing anything about these wee folk?

DA: Actually, my Gaunt's Ghosts series of novels for Games Workshop - my best-selling line - is about an Imperial Guard unit.

NRAMA: Any plans on bringing Gaunt’s Ghost or a title like it to the comic book medium?

DA: I guess if this story is successful, we might look at bringing in or even switching to an Imperial Guard story. Right now we're starting and sticking with Space Marines, because they're the iconic heart of 40,000.

NRAMA: The Warp in Warhammer 40,000 is often the source of demonic forces, mutations, insanity or worse. Will the Damnation Crusade touch on it? Will we see Abaddon the Despoiler?

DA: The Warp IS the source of those things. It pervades all 40,000 stories, and its influence will be very much felt here. Abaddon won't be appearing, however.

NRAMA: So what exactly is the warp and what role will it play in the comic?

DA: The Warp, or Immaterium, is the name given to extra-dimensional energies that leak into real space from the realms of chaos. They can twist, mutate and corrupt individuals, and turn them to 'the dark side' (to coin a phrase). All the chaos enemies fought by the Templars are the product of the Warp.

NRAMA: How long have you been planning the Damnation Crusade? What went into it?

DA: It's actually been over a year, one way or another. Initial planning had to be carefully checked by Games Workshop who are, of course, keen to protect their IP every step of the way. There's been a reassuring level of check and counter check to make sure the story and art are exactly right for Games Workshop properties. We've worked hard in the meantime to make sure all the elements are delivered on time.

NRAMA: You mentioned earlier that your work as begun to feed back into the game and influence it. How much freedom do you have with the property?

DA: A fair bit, I suppose because they trust me not to break anything, but I still have to be very alert and careful, and I make sure everything is checked with GW. They've been doing this for 25 years. They want to make sure it's done right.

NRAMA: So what addition of yours to the 40,000 universe are you most proud of?

I suppose the creation of a lot of jargon and slang that is now in regular use, even in the rulebooks. Also, especially through novels like the Eisenhorn Trilogy, showing something of what the 40,000 Universe is like AWAY from the mud and blood of the battlefield itself, the 'domestic' side of Imperial life, so to speak.

NRAMA: Do you have a favorite term of 40,000 jargon that you coined?

DA: "Vox" for radio, as in "voxcaster" (radio set).

NRAMA: Games Workshop has always been very fastidious in the art it produces, whether it was for the miniatures or book materials. What was it like working with the artists that they put you together with?

DA: It's great. The artists are, as it were, BOOM! artists rather than guys from the GW camp. The artists had to 'learn the ropes' and went through a lot of detail and IP approval - as you might expect - from GW, but ultimately they really got it and their work is amazing - a great blend of 'proper' GW style and out and out comic book graphics.

NRAMA: Anything you’d like to say to your fans?

DA: This book is for the fans. Not that I presume to have that many…

Warhammer 40,000: The Damnation Crusade #1 is currently in stores.

[Mark Cardwell]

So, to the Best Shots crew: told ya so. Now do yer research next time, Huxford.

[lorbaat2]

I play 40K. More specifically, I play Black Templars. I was very excited when a couple of my friends came back from ComicCon with a copy of the preview for me.

Unfortunately, it was a huge pile of poo.

I may or may not pick up the first issue to see if it improves, but I rate my chances of buying all six issues pretty low. And if I'm not the target audience, I don't know who is.

[skeletorjr]

Dan Abnett is one of my favorite authors, be it in comics or novels, I'll sure be picking this one up.

[Sakura]

I picked this up. It didn't blow me away, but was good enough that I'll likely stick with it for all 6 issues. I love 40k, though.

[Mike Hayden]

They should've done such a Warhammer comic a long time ago. I betcha lotsa Warhammer 40K fans are crying with joy. It's a good thing that comic publishers are pulling other concepts into the world of comics. It gives the comicbook industry a new injection of fans.

[khuxford]

Originally Posted by Mark Cardwell

So, to the Best Shots crew: told ya so. Now do yer research next time, Huxford.

You're kidding me, right? The "told ya so" attitude would require that anyone (myself included) tried to suggest you're wrong. I've told you and all the other fans with a large splintery wood object up their posteriors that I admitted to having no knowledge of the property before opening that book. Having no knowledge of it and no knowledge of Abnett's career other than his comic book work, I had no natural way of knowing.

We review the books we're reading, not entire careers. We're not paid and, normally, have to buy the books we're reading. I made the stupid mistake of wondering out loud why Abnett might have had a writing partner on this book. I'll gladly apologize to Dan if he took offense to it, but I'm not going start googling and researching everything that comes through from now on.

For what its worth, it was a pretty good issue. I might actually give the rest of the run a shot.

[The Rich]

Originally Posted by khuxford

You're kidding me, right? The "told ya so" attitude would require that anyone (myself included) tried to suggest you're wrong. I've told you and all the other fans with a large splintery wood object up their posteriors that I admitted to having no knowledge of the property before opening that book. Having no knowledge of it and no knowledge of Abnett's career other than his comic book work, I had no natural way of knowing.

We review the books we're reading, not entire careers. We're not paid and, normally, have to buy the books we're reading. I made the stupid mistake of wondering out loud why Abnett might have had a writing partner on this book. I'll gladly apologize to Dan if he took offense to it, but I'm not going start googling and researching everything that comes through from now on.

For what its worth, it was a pretty good issue. I might actually give the rest of the run a shot.

Just a small suggestion for you, is to give his Eisenhorn Trilogy a try. Abnett is a great novel writer. Oh and his "Legion of Superhero" stuff wasn't half bad either.

[khuxford]

Originally Posted by The Rich

Just a small suggestion for you, is to give his Eisenhorn Trilogy a try. Abnett is a great novel writer. Oh and his "Legion of Superhero" stuff wasn't half bad either.

Oh, I don't know if I'm a big enough fan of the genre to work my way through a prose novel, though I'm sure Abnett is a great novel writer. I liked his Legion of Superhero stuff, but I LOVED Resurrection Man. That's what led to my stupid presumption: he has such an impressive DC Comics pedigree that I never expected he'd have an even more impressive Warhammer one.

[SW_Santini]

I am a big fan of Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts books. I Liked this book. It jumps around a bit more than I thought it should, but I'm gonna stick in there. Hope it keeps getting better!!

[LunarDaydreamer]

Sounds like a fantastic universe, anyone any good suggestions of how to get into it, novels wise?