Dan Abnett's Blog, page 9

Weblogs are Go!

The first of the promised weblogs are now up, thanks to Adelie High (thanks, Adelie!). If you'd like to hear me talking about Prospero Burns, click here, and if you'd like to hear me talking about the Ghosts, click here.

Adelie recorded about two hours of me rabbiting away, so there will be more to come, and I honestly did work through every question that appeared here or on Facebook (though my answers to some queries may have been so incomprehensible that they ended up on the cutting room floor).

In case it does get snipped, I'll just go on record here and say IN A LOUD VOICE how much I recommend The First Heretic by New York Times Bestselling Author Aaron Dembski-Bowden. See the man himself talk here. I knew him when he was all fields, you know.

Also of gigantic excitement is the unabridged (yes, una-fething-bridged) audio book of Graham's Thousand Sons. Can we contain ourselves? No, I don't believe we flippin' well can, actually.

Thanks to Nathan Long, I discovered the following four pieces of genius. Enjoy.

Xhalax - a prize was awarded for the most compelling question, and the asker knows who they are. Your questions were splendid, and much appreciated, however. And the knitted Ghostie has indeed got a name. You know what it is, don't you? It's Ban. Of course it is.

Our Hussar ghostie is very active right now, BTW. Maybe Halloween shook him up. I'm not sure what he's up to, but the cats are really bothered by something. Maybe it's because they're building a new library across the road where the original barracks was sited in 1797. Maybe they've dug up something they shouldn't have. Maybe there's a spooky story in that. Maybe it's a real life spooky story, and I'm in it.

It's Saturday, so let's finish by taking a peek in the note book.

Idea for a one panel cartoon #12
A very inebriated wine maker is showing some guests around his winery, gesturing towards the vast wooden vats.
Caption: "But it was when we fell into the vat of red wine that we started to see things with greater clarety."

Idea for a one panel cartoon #23
In the dark and claustrophobic confines of a U-boat, a chiseled commander in a white polo-neck retracts the periscope and looks at his smartphone.
Caption: Subtext.

Idea for a one panel cartoon #641
We are looking in through the cockpit windows of the Millennium Falcon as it accelerates into hyperdrive and the stars go stripy. Han glances casually across at Chewbacca.
Caption: "I like what you've done with your hair."

Mentioned in Despatches

Forgot to add yesterday what a great time I'd had on my visit to Folkestone Library last Saturday. They made me feel very welcome, and I didn't appear to bore anybody too much. I'll also be doing a little comics workshop at Faversham Library on the 27th.

Now, to be a little shameless, the frankly cataclysmic final part of The Thanos Imperative came out from Marvel yesterday (Wednesday, in the US) and, to paraphrase Tess, the scores are in:

"Architects Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have made Marvel's space-faring heroes the cream of the publishing crop." –WeeklyCrisis.com

"The Marvel Cosmic Universe is the most entertaining portion of Marvel's U, and DnA have outdone themselves this time in creating a story so epic that it dwarfs their previous efforts. Kudos, guys." –IGN.com

"The Thanos Imperative has made a name for itself as being one of the most epic and thrilling books on the stands. Thanos comes out of this story receiving exactly what he deserves…DnA have made the most of their storytelling potential…DnA pay off on years of buildup and deliver a satisfying conclusion to various character arcs. Fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy will find this issue to be extremely bittersweet, doing justice to the quirky…Miguel Sepulveda's art is impressive once again…this series has seen Sepulveda rise to a new artistic level…we could be looking at the end of a long, memorable saga that began humbly with Keith Giffen's Drax the Destroyer mini-series. And while The Thanos Imperative is a fitting end to that saga, how many readers won't still be craving more after this issue? Let's hope next month's epilogue paves the way for more cosmic goodness." –IGN.com

"The heroic catharsis this band of galactic adventurers reach made for a very satisfying, even moving, conclusion…a sweeping saga." –ComicVine.com


Just to prove this isn't all me, me, me (or DnA, DnA, DnA), I'd like to recommend once again Matt Forbeck's novel Amortals. Go git it!

Stuff, some of, various.

Thanks for all the questions that have been pouring in via this blog and the Facebook and Twitter feeds. Lots of juicy things to answer there. Keep them coming, but be advised that if I can get Adelie to set up, I'll try to record the weblog this weekend. Seems like ages since I did one.

I also need to take a quick moment here to mention Thought Bubble. This is taking place in Leeds on the 21st of the month, and I was due to be attending as a guest. I'm sorry to say I'm going to have to miss it after all. Please accept my sincere apologies for this. It's simply that I've got a lot of deadlines to meet right now. I should, however, be coming to Leeds in the new year to promote Prospero Burns, so it's not like I've got anything against the place. I urge you to head along to Thought Bubble whether I'm there or not: it's going to be a great event, and there will be some fabulous people to meet. See?

Now is probably also a good time to mention that Titan is about to publish a paperback edition of Extinction Event, the Primeval novel I wrote a little while back. Oh, look at the lovely cover! The book was a lot of fun to write. Come on, stompy Tyrannosaurid death-kill. How often does a guy get to write that in his career? Baba Yaga, the big black She-Rex, is still one of my favourite bad guys.

Speaking of bad guys, I'm delighted to say that Sinister Dexter is back in 2000AD at the moment, in a six part story called Are You Being Severed? Gigantic kudos to Anthony Williams for the wonderful art. The Mighty Tharg is also about to start publishing Insurrection II in the pages of the Judge Dredd Megazine. This is the follow up to (a-duh) Insurrection, which ran a little while back to some acclaim. Story by me, art by Colin McNeil. That's ART BY COLIN McNEIL. See for yourselves.





We all understand why this is exciting now, right? It starts in Judge Dredd Megazine 305, on sale 8 December.

Our Marvel Editor Bill Rosemann forwarded me a picture earlier today. It was a commission done by Jeff Lemire, and he thought he'd share it with us. With Jeff's kind permission, I thought I'd share it with you too.



I've been a Lemire admirer since I read Essex County, and I urge you to go look for that, or Sweet Tooth, or his new run on Superboy. Check out Jeff's website here. Thank you, Jeff!

Anyway, it isn't Saturday, but let's have another one from the note book anyway. This one's not mine, it's from the demented mad of brain-man Dan Hart, but he says he's prepared to take the blame.

Idea for a one panel cartoon #84
In a haberdashery, Jean-Luc Picard is impatiently thrusting one of the machines at an assistant.
Caption: " Make it sew!"


And scene.

Gunpowder Plotting...

I'm thinking of getting Adelie to film me again for a weblog - it's been ages since I did one. I'm therefore going to need some questions to answer. They can be about 40K, Marvel, 2000AD, Angry Robot, cloning for pleasure and profit, whatever you like, really. Post them here and I'll see what I can do to answer them. There may even be a prize for the most imaginative query.

Thinking caps to maximum.

Tricks and Treats!

Nik and I would very much like to thank every one who came to see us at our signing this afternoon at Waterstones in Maidstone. You can't beat playing to a home crowd. And we'll be in the KM too!



We were there, and so were lots of books.



Major thanks to Toby, and all of the staff at the Earl Street branch, for making us feel so welcome.




While I remember, can I just take the opportunity to say that the long awaited Knights of Pendragon (volume 1) trade paperback collection is out now from Panini? I can, can't I? Oh, I just did.

Anyway, it's Saturday. Time for some more from the note book:

Idea for a one panel cartoon #254
(Thanks to Andy Lanning) In an Italian Restaurant, Sarah Connor looks up in alarm from her dish of spaghetti polpette as a T-800 Terminator smashes through the door to confront her.
Caption: "Pasta la vista."

Idea for a one panel cartoon #66
A female patient lying in a hospital bed screams in terror as a nurse shows her a photograph of an earthworm. The specialist explains what's going on to the patient's concerned husband.
Caption: "She's lack toes intolerant."


Happy Hallowe'en!

Waterstones Maidstone - signing!

A quick reminder that I will be signing at the Earl Street Branch of Waterstones in my hometown Maidstone this Saturday (October 29th), and I would love to see you there if you can make it. I'll be around at noon for an hour, and then again and three in the afternoon, for another hour or so. Looking forward to meeting you in person!

Uhm, you know I'm talking to you, right? Yes, you.

A Maidstonian Werewolf In Oxford

I may have mentioned that October is Birthday Month. Off we went this weekend to Oxford, to interpret Jess's birthday through the medium of dinner and presents. Jess is at St Edmund Hall, which is where I also spent my undergraduate days. For those of you who haven't visited the city, it looks a bit like this.



Rain threatened from time to time, in a moody and atmospheric way, but it held off long enough for us to enjoy a few wanderings and visits.



This is us, for example, in the Oxford Museum of Hogwarts Movie Sets, also known as the Bodleian Library.



We also spent some time in our hotel room playing Make Your Own Mark Rothko.



On Sunday morning, we visited the Ashmolean Museum, which is one of my top five all time great museums. Considering two of the other four are also in Oxford (the Pitt Rivers, the History Of Science), you may think me biased. The Ashmolean, recently and very dynamically renovated, is free, so there's no excuse for not going to find out how good it is for yourself. It's based on the private curio collection of Elias Ashmole (1617 - 1692), much of which was inherited from the collection of John Tradescant and son, and is the first University Museum in the world. It's full of art and artifacts that will simply take your breath away. This was the museum at dawn, long before it opened. The moon in shot is the lycanthropic orb that's been haunting me for the last few nights, bright as a bright thing, causing me to wake up naked and covered in blood at the bottom of a tube station escalator holding a beer mat marked "property of the Slaughtered Lamb, Yokelshire".



Anyway, here's what sunrise looks like in Oxford when everyone else is asleep, apart from the guy downstairs in the hotel kitchen who's warming up the grill to cook my breakfast. This last year, I have become a very early riser. And/or a werewolf.



Towards the end of our visit, a sudden heavenly insight hit me.


(A flash of insight from heaven, earlier)

Remember my account, a post or so back, of Nick Kyme in Modena? The tale of the Warm Milky Drink? Quite clearly, he should have visited this cafe in Oxford's Covered Market first:

Italy: what was The Point of that, then?

Yes, what WAS the point of the Italian Games Day Expedition? Did it have a point? Or was it pointless? What's the point of anything? And, depending on your point of view, is there any point going on?

In an effort to answer these pressing and pointedly critical concerns, a team of Top Government Scientists (from The Department of Indicative Signifiers, Centre Point, Pointon) has been examining photographic evidence provided by Mal ("Malbuquerque") Green of BL. The Top Government Scientists now believe they have successfully identified the point in question or, at least, narrowed it down to a number of likely talking points... Up to a point.

Exhibit #A. This shot, from Mal's POV, may have been the actual point:




However, it clearly wasn't the whole point, as Exhibit #B clearly reveals:



The Top Government Scientists conclude that this, Exhibit #C, was probably the ultimate point:




All of which is clearly beside the point.

A Grande Day Out

Just so you know, this blog entry might equally well have been entitled "Put Your Chocolate On My Cream Mountain". Or "Taste the Blood of Doctor Acula".

The Black Library's Expedition to Games Day Italy was marked by an unusually large number of actual rotfl moments, all born out of idle conversations that are now impossible to forensically reconstruct. I could spend some time explaining that "Put Your Chocolate On My Cream Mountain" was something Mr Nicholas Kyme requested, straight-faced, of the over-decorative dessert chef at the restaurant we frequented in Modena, one of those things you say before you've entirely thought it through. That, however, doesn't adequately explain why it reduced our entire table to helpless laughter. Helpless, weeping, fist-banging laughter.

We'll get the grande thing later.

In the company of Mr Kyme, and Mal Green (aka "Malbert", "Malbatross" etc), I headed for Modena, where we were joined by our very fine hosts from GW Italy, and our conversational co-conspirators from Forge World and the Studio, including Ead Brown, Tris Buckroyd, Jes Goodwin, Christina Burton, Alan Merrett, Joe Tomaszewski and Andrea Wright. In the days that followed, a number of conversations took place that, as Ead put it, caused us to go to bed with 'laughter headaches'. This is no bad thing, although It Was Really Funny But You Had To Be There stories do not a good blog make.

I can tell you that Games Day Italy was a roaring success, that we were made to feel very welcome, that the Italian staffers and the fans were incredibly friendly and enthusiastic, and that Modena is a beautiful town. I can also tell you that "grande" is Italian for large, and "latte" is Italian for milk. These things are useful to know.

I can also tell you that the mid-sized items of luggage that some passengers insist on bringing aboard as carry on, because the flight's 'only two hours long' and they can't be arsed to check them through baggage, despite the fact that said luggage will occupy ALL available locker space and caused untold invoncenience during disembarkation, will henceforth be known as "carry on douchebags". This is a blanket term for both the luggage and the owners thereof, and is named after the imaginary Carry On film of the same title. I can also tell you that at Bologna airport, we went down a ramp to board our flight home and were confronted, twenty feet away, by a plane. We knew it couldn't be ours, because there was a bus between it and us, a bus we were required to get on. Our plane is waiting at another stand, we decided. We got on the bus. It started up, drove around the plane in a tight circle, and stopped again as far away from the boarding steps as we had been from the nosecone in the first place.

I can't, on the other hand, tell you why our "League of Master Supervillains" (a work in progress), caused quite so much hilarity, though I can mention it includes The Menguin, The Crouton (aka, mild-mannered Bob Gently), The Pixilator, The Manchovie, Subliminal, plain old Liminal, and Mr Acula (he'd been struck off). And probably The Procrastinator.

So to Fair Modena, where we lay our scene.



Pretty isn't it? I took a LOT of photographs of the streets and general civic loveliness, but I'll spare you the holiday snaps because a) you get the idea, and b) it's clearly a hard life, jetting off to handsome locations like Modena to 'work', and I want us to still be friends by the end of the blog.



There were fine things to see, such as this famous statue depicting St Francis Lamenting The Loss Of His Smartphone In The Pond.



We also discovered that the chief local delicacy was not, as one might expect, pasta. It turned out to be the wrap.



Suffice to say, it was a very nice place to wander around. I recommend it, and its cathedral and museums, very highly indeed. There were an inordinate number of pipe shops too. Pipes for smoking, that is. And lingerie shops. Man, can you buy a lot of good lingerie and pipes in Modena. We never saw anybody smoking a pipe but, to be fair, we never saw anybody wearing lingerie either. I think the long Italian lunchtimes, where the only things to be seen on the streets are English idiots wandering around in search of beverages, must be a great deal more louche and exotic than we first imagined. Fancy a shag? Si, but let's have the sex first.

One place we were determined to find was the Modena branch of GW, except that Mal had forgotten to write down the exact street address. After some aimless wandering and several abortive plans ("Let's find a news stand and look up the address in an Italian copy of White Dwarf!", "Let's go into the computer shop and look up "GW Modena" on the interweb while we pretend to explore the display models!"), I came up with the blisteringly great idea of ringing Nik back home in Maidstone and asking her to google the address. As a result, shortly thereafter, we saw this:



And Andrea and his customers were delighted to see us.



It was in a street nearby that the grande thing happened. We're well aware that in Italy you don't drink hot milk after noon, and that coffee comes AFTER food, but - heck, we're English and its hard to quit our barbarian habits. Late in the afternoon, we sit down at a cafe, and Mr Kyme orders a "latte grande", just like, you know, in Starbucks. It's what he wanted, okay? He maintained his desire for it all through the waiter's increasingly panicked interrogation. There, in a nutshell, is the falsehood of marketing. Starbucks use the words in an attempt to convince us we're ordering something exotic and cosmopolitan. Chic, if you will. Starbucks can bollocks. Nick got a glass of hot milk. Not only that, but it was a large one, as he had specified. He insisted it was quite nice. We insisted he might like a lovely nap after his milky drink. We also took the piss relentlessly for the Whole Rest Of The Weekend. You play the hand fate deals you.



The show itself was in a terrific modern venue built to hold the AGMs for Ferrari. Seriously. Modena is slap bang in the middle of thoroughbred Italian sports car country. Exhibition space surrounded a main auditorium where the talks and readings were to be held. Not intimidating at all, then.



We had, of course, brought stock. English language stock, which was both brave and slightly passive aggressively jingoistic of us.



Still, who could resist piping hot Prospero Burns's fresh out of the book bakery?



The local carabinieri had, by that stage, circulated images of the usual suspects. This was due, we believe, to an incident of Da Vinci Code-esque mystery and adventure which had taken place the previous day during our wanderings. Mal, Nick and I had inadvertently strayed into a private, sacred and downright prohibited part of the cathedral during out touristy ramblings. A clerical official appeared and repeatedly hissed the word "Scusi!" at us. Scusi is, of course, an Italian word meaning "Absent yourselves from the bishop's bedroom immediately". We had already discovered that the custodians of the Duomo guarded their secrets jealously. A sign at the main door read "Please do not take photographs inside this building or you will be invited to get out". I love that. "Invited to get out". It's on a par with "Encouraged to die" or "Coaxed to burn".



A number of additional crimes were duly taken into account.



Then Nick and I faced our audience. I told you the auditorium wasn't intimidating. No sir, not one bit.



A roaring trade in signed books then followed. Here we see Mal, slightly stunned at the amount of business he is doing. In all fairness, he had drunk so many espressos by then, he was vibrating like a humming bird and could see through time.



I noticed this banner, one of the many brought to the show. From my perspective, it covered a number of interests close to my heart.



I also can't end this post without letting you glimpse the wonder of the Eldar craftworld constructed by one of the Italian clubs. I am trying to find out what the Italian for awesome sauce is.



I'd like to thank everyone who came to see us there, people like this happy band of GW enthusiasts. I would also like to thank the GW Italy crew: Elmes, Mauru, Gerry, Antonio, Andrea, Manuela and all the others who gave up their weekend and put in the hard work to make the third Italian Games Day a roaring success.



See you next time and, as they don't say in Italy, but do say wherever large milky drinks are politely requested, ding dang do!

Then This Happened

Anyway, so I went to




for the





and hung with




(that's Todd Nauck and Andy Lanning breakfasting at the Tick Tock Diner, fyi)

and we saw lots of friendly




and several



(that's our old buddy Eddie Berganza in his editorial lair)

and we saw lots and lots of



lots and lots of them



and we weren't late for any of our signings, no sir



and some of our signings also involved ace artists Brad Walker and Miguel Sepulveda



and I talked to people about mucho projects, including



and



(Rocket Raccoon, not to scale)

and the Ultramarine wanted to know why I hadn't written the movie about a, you know, actually COOL chapter like the Space Wolves or the Blood Angels, and we lolled, and he suggested I had better go spend some time somewhere like



and think about what I'd done, mister, and I said "No way", and he said "Yes way", and that didn't end well



and then I got home just in time for



Lily (and Hannah's) Eighteenth Birthday Party, which was circus themed and apparently went brilliantly, except that everyone looked like Pennywise, which was creepy

and then Lily's birthday was over



and it was mine instead.

Busy week, as you can see. More busy to come, as I shoot off to Games Day Italy this weekend. I can't wait to be there. I hope the flight is better than the one to NY, where we circled Newark in the rain for so long, we ran out of fuel and had to land at an unrated airfield in Connecticut, and finally got in six hours late.

Andy and I would like to thank Legion fan extraordinaire Dave Rash for his support during the NY visit, and Todd for his forbearance, and say a huge "Peace and Love" to all the people who stopped by to say hi, or interviewed us, or tolerated our diva-like antics. And The Karaoke Incident. And thanks to Banks Wine Bar in Maidstone for being a brilliant party venue (tell your friends).

And anyway, you know how Customs and Immigration officers are REALLY serious, especially going in and out of the US, and you must never EVER try to be amiable or josh with them, because that way surprise cavity searches lie (I'm not mocking, it's a serious job, and they're trained to treat joviality with the contempt it deserves). So, Sunday night at JFK, heading home, Andy's gone through the barrier and is putting his stuff on the X-Ray, and I approach the Very Serious And Very Armed officer at the station, and he takes my passport off me, and looks at me and I know, I just KNOW that it's My Turn for a random spot check, or I've accidentally stepped over a line, or had a funny look on my face, and I brace myself, and he says, "When are you going to finish that Space Wolf novel, then?"

And grins.