John Blanche is one of the most prominent artists of the Warhammer world who spent 40 years collaborating with Games Workshop and very much shaping the world of Warhammer Fantasy and, fittingly, 40K as we know it today. Now, Wombat Wargames will release a biography of the artist and allow fans to follow his career through the grim darkness of the Warhammer universe.
The ‘Father’ of Warhammer Gets a New Bio
In Balance: The Rise of Grimdark, available to preorder from December 1, will span the artist’s entire career. Evidently, we are specifically interested in his work on Games Workshop, which first fixated the Emperor of Mankind and the Golden Throne in our minds.
Blanche took his leave from Games Workshop on May 31, bidding farewell to four decades of drawing concept art and designing miniatures and serving a stint as the head of design at Games Workshop’s studio.
As you can expect, the book comes with plenty of his artwork, and many unpublished illustrations. There are personal photos that glimpse into who Blanche truly is and how he spent 40 years imagining the world of Warhammer, a feat that has been pulled off by very few authors. Ral Partha Europe, which will be selling the book for $50, is both existing and daunted at the task.
Although preorders will begin on December 1, there is no guarantee the book will be with its owners in time for Christmas, the company cautioned. The book also collects contributions from many of Blanche’s colleagues and his work proves truly seminal, as it has also served as the basis of many other wargames that found in his art inspiration to imagine their own worlds as vividly and determinedly as the Warhammer universe.