Games Workshop announced last year that they would be republishing three of the most cherished Warhammer Fantasy graphic novel compilations. Of course I immediately got hold of three of all three and gave them a read. The three lucky enough to get selected were Condemned by Fire, Forge of War, and Crown of Destruction. Below is my look at each in turn.

Condemned by Fire

Rapier and Pistol in the Grim World of Warhammer

The graphic novel was written by Dan Abnett.  I’d never actually had the pleasure of giving it a read, which is strange, seen as I absolutely love Warhammer’s witch hunters. The basic plot sees Magnus Gault, a witch hunter of the Order of the Silver Hammer tracking down a heretic called Magister. Now, anyone who follows this blog will now that I love witch hunters. So this one had to be good. The blasphemous wretch is hunting eventually seeks refuge in a forgotten village called Loughville which Magnus is warned is the site of some foul sorcerous evil. Being the hardened witch hunter, he decides to go to Loughville to finish off Magister, only to realise that the place has been taken over by worshippers of Nurgle, the father of Decay. Magister has been killed by their unholy diseases and they attempt to inflict the same fate on Gault. He breaks free and through guile and wit overcomes them and sees them all blown to pieces. He then realises that the chaos taint was spread in the water. This causes him to then begin tracking the river back to its source. The story then becomes and episodic adventure with Gault moving from place to place overcoming enemies using his rapier, pistol and sheer Sigmarite faith. He meets two companions along the way. The first Franz Vogel, an imperial Greatsword of the Averland province. The second is Vargni Valnirsson, a dwarf. While I really enjoyed watching Vogel and Gault beat up various enemies together, I feel that Vargni was introduced too late in the book for me to feel any significant attachment to him. The plot is reasonably predictable as is to be expected of anything to do with Warhammer. It does however, allow itself a few twists and turns, including who is behind the taint in the river (hint: it isn’t followers of chaos!) and some various details pertaining to specific characters.

The primary artists, Ian Edginton and Rahsan Ekedal, really evoke a real sense of the dark and brooding nature of the Warhammer world with their bright and crisp artwork. When Franz Vogel tells his story, we’re treated to a different artist which really allows us to experience that micro-story in a different and original way. The explosions and fighting are visceral, violent and vibrant, something which does the book credit. Overall I would recommend this republication of Condemned by Fire to anyone who likes Warhammer Fantasy and misses the Old World. I hope that this might signal a return of fantasy novels by Black library. I won’t however  hold my breath just yet.

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