INFERNO!
Encyclopedia
Inferno! was a bi-monthly magazine published from 1997 to 2004 by Games Workshop
's publishing division, Black Library
, which was initially just the name of the team brought together to work on Inferno!.
It presented fiction, artwork, and comics set in the fictional universe
's of Games Workshop's fantasy
and science fiction
game
s. These initially included Warhammer Fantasy Battle
, Warhammer 40,000
, and Necromunda
, and later added the Mordheim
and Gorkamorka
settings.
(issue 210).
Issue 1 of the actual magazine was launched shortly afterwards under the editorship of Games Workshop staffer Andy Jones. The magazine settled into a standard format of two fantasy and two science fiction stories per issue, with ancillary features such as standalone artwork, comics, cutaway diagrams of fictional machines from the stories, maps of fictional battles, and mocked-up books, dossiers, or correspondence by characters in the settings. With the exception of one early comic series, Inferno! published individual, complete stories, not serials.
and Brian Stableford
.
comic, Warhammer Monthly
. This produced longer comic stories in an anthology
format common in British comics like 2000 AD
(with whom it shared a lot of creators). As Marc Gascoigne
puts it "It became obvious very quickly that the occasional comic strip in Inferno! along with the short stories was OK, but very soon what we needed to do was a proper comic, so about a year after Inferno! kicked in, Warhammer Monthly made its debut."
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
's publishing division, Black Library
Black Library
The Black Library is a division of Games Workshop which is devoted to publishing novels and audiobooks set in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes...
, which was initially just the name of the team brought together to work on Inferno!.
It presented fiction, artwork, and comics set in the fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
's of Games Workshop's fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
s. These initially included Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....
, Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
, and Necromunda
Necromunda
Necromunda is a skirmish tabletop war game produced by Specialist Games .In Necromunda, players control rival gangs battling each other in the Underhive, a place of anarchy and violence in the depths below the Hive City...
, and later added the Mordheim
Mordheim
Mordheim is a tabletop game produced by Games Workshop. It is a skirmish variant of the company's popular Warhammer Fantasy game set on a smaller scale with players fielding 15-20 models each, rather than the 150-200 models allowed in Warhammer Fantasy....
and Gorkamorka
Gorkamorka
Gorkamorka is a vehicle-using campaign game produced by Games Workshop, set on the desert world of Angelis, in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, prominently featuring Orks....
settings.
Publication
Inferno! was launched with a trial "issue zero" as a section in the Games Workshop house magazine White DwarfWhite Dwarf (magazine)
White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...
(issue 210).
Issue 1 of the actual magazine was launched shortly afterwards under the editorship of Games Workshop staffer Andy Jones. The magazine settled into a standard format of two fantasy and two science fiction stories per issue, with ancillary features such as standalone artwork, comics, cutaway diagrams of fictional machines from the stories, maps of fictional battles, and mocked-up books, dossiers, or correspondence by characters in the settings. With the exception of one early comic series, Inferno! published individual, complete stories, not serials.
Creators
Inferno! had a policy of accepting unsolicited submissions and publishing new authors. Many writers who went on to publish novels for Black Library, such as C.L. Werner and Ben Counter, began their professional writing careers with short stories in Inferno! The magazine also published stories by established science fiction authors such as Barrington J. BayleyBarrington J. Bayley
Barrington J. Bayley was an English science fiction writer.Bayley was born in Birmingham and educated in Newport, Shropshire...
and Brian Stableford
Brian Stableford
Brian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...
.
Warhammer Monthly
The success of Inferno!, along with the lessons learned and the contacts made during its early days, led to a spin-offSpin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
comic, Warhammer Monthly
Warhammer Monthly
Warhammer Monthly was a comics anthology published by Games Workshop's publishing arm, Black Library, from March 1998 to December 2004, running to 86 issues in total. The final two issues were published bi-monthly under the name Warhammer Comic...
. This produced longer comic stories in an anthology
Comics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
format common in British comics like 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
(with whom it shared a lot of creators). As Marc Gascoigne
Marc Gascoigne
Marc Gascoigne is a British author and editor.He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, notably various Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Shadowrun novels and adventures, Earthdawn novels and adventures, the original Games Workshop Judge Dredd roleplaying...
puts it "It became obvious very quickly that the occasional comic strip in Inferno! along with the short stories was OK, but very soon what we needed to do was a proper comic, so about a year after Inferno! kicked in, Warhammer Monthly made its debut."
Novels
Black Library's novel range also started life in Inferno!, "we had stories that were immediately thought of, at least internally by us, as pilots, tasters for a novel range"See also
- Science fiction magazineScience fiction magazineA science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
- Fantasy fiction magazine
- Horror fiction magazineHorror fiction magazineA horror fiction magazine is a magazine that publishes primarily horror fiction with the main purpose of scaring or frightening the reader. Horror magazines can be in print, on the internet, or both.-Defunct magazines:*The Arkham Collector...