Marvel fleshes out new Warhammer 40K book

The war-torn universe of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40K is coming to Marvel Comics, and it’s set to tell the tale of Marneus Calgar.

In the grim darkness of the far-future…

While there have been Warhammer 40K comics before, the new series from Marvel is pretty easily the ‘biggest’ yet. For one thing, it’s set to come out of a massive publishing house. But also, the book will tell the story of a major character from 40K: the Ultramarines’ Marneus Calgar.

The book is set to be brought to life by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jacen Burrows. Those are both names that comic fans should be familiar with.

From the press release:

Gillen, a veteran player of the Warhammer tabletop miniature wargame, can barely contain his enthusiasm for the series. “I am venerable enough to have bought Rogue Trader in 1987,” he reveals. “Since then, I like to think every hastily dry-brushed Necron, every badly edge-highlighted Marine, every ignored Harlequin (as painting Motley petrified me) has prepared me for writing the first Warhammer comics for Marvel. If I said, ‘Getting to explore the roots of Marneus Calgar and setting the stage for Marvel’s Warhammer comics is a dream come true,’ I would be betraying everything this grim future should be since ‘dream’ implies the possibility of hope.  But getting to do this is the sort of thing Slaanesh would wave in my direction if she wanted me coming over to the tentacle-y side.”

“Or to translate for those less indoctrinated in 40K,” he concludes, “I’m excited.”

Jon Gillard, Games Workshop’s Global Head of Licensing adds: “When we first started working with Marvel on comics, we knew it was going to lead to something exceptional, and it really has. We were both keen to focus on one of the most central Warhammer characters there is and tell their origin story, something that Marvel does oh so brilliantly. Kieron’s depth of Warhammer knowledge mixed with his extraordinary comic writing skill has delivered a unique series that further expands upon the already massive 40K lore. As huge comic fans ourselves we couldn’t be more excited about this first expression of our partnership with Marvel.”

Marvel Comics

Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #1 hits stores this October.