Warhammer Monthly was a comics 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...

 published by Games Workshop

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 arm, 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...

, 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. It featured stories set within 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 ....

 of Games Workshop's miniature wargames

Miniature wargaming

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...

 Warhammer

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....

and 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...

, amongst others.

Format

The comic used an anthology format, usually featuring three or four stories each of seven to eight pages in length. The stories in Warhammer Monthly were usually serialised, and would run for several months. The most popular stories returned for more series, and were often collected in trade paperback

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

 form.

The December 2002 issue of the comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 was called Warhammer Warped Visions. It featured one-shot variations of Black Library's most popular comics, but with their settings reversed between the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes. For example, the Dark Elf Malus Darkblade was portrayed as a female Dark Eldar named Maless, while the Titan Imperius Dictatio was shown as an Empire Steam Tank.

Cancellation

Warhammer Monthly was cancelled after issue 86 as sales were poor in comparison to the numerous novels Black Library were producing.

In 2006, Games Workshop licensed the comic books rights to Boom! Studios

Boom! Studios

BOOM! Studios is an American comic book company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The "BOOM!" in BOOM! Studios is always capitalized by the company.-History:BOOM! was founded June 22, 2005 with Zombie Tales #1....

. That publisher's first Warhammer 40,000 release was Damnation Crusade

Damnation Crusade

Damnation Crusade is a six-issue comic book limited series from Boom! Studios, written by Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton.Set in the fictional world of Warhammer 40,000, it is a vision of never-ending war. Its storyline follows several different Space Marines of the Black Templars chapter.-Characters...

, written by Warhammer Monthly stalwart Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, including 2000 AD...

.

In 2007, The Black Library started the Warhammer Monthly Archive, a site with free PDF versions of the comics which they hope to update regularly.

Awards

Warhammer Monthly has been nominated for two Eagle Awards

Eagle Awards

The Eagle Award is a series of awards for comic book titles and creators. They are awarded by UK fan voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's Eagle comic, the awards were set up by Mike Conroy, Nick Landau, Colin Campbell, Phil Clarke and Richard Burton, and launched...

 and has won one:

• 1999
  1999 in comics
  -February:* February 3: Pioneering editor Vin Sullivan dies at age 87.* February 26: John L. Goldwater, co-founder of Archie Comics, dies at age 82.-March:* Incredible Hulk is canceled by Marvel with issue #474.-May:...
  
   - nominated for Favourite British Comic
• 2000
  2000 in comics
  -February:*Strange Adventures vol. 2, #4, final issue cover-dated February - January :* January 5: Goseki Kojima, co-creator of Lone Wolf and Cub, dies at age 71.* January 6: Mad magazine fixture Don Martin dies at age 68....
  
   - nominated for Favourite British Comic
• 2004
  2004 in comics
  -February:*February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA will develop a new generation of fighting video games pitting Marvel superheroes against a new, original set of EA heroes....
  
  - won Favourite British Comic

External links

• Cached version of Black Library's Warhammer Monthly mini-site
• WHM downloads, PDFs of the full issues #0-13, Black Library
• Warhammer Comic #86, details of the last issue