In 1985, I hadn't yet encountered minatures, roleplaying or wargaming. I hadn't even read 'The Hobbit'. In fact, the closest I had come to the fantasy genre might well have been 'He-Man'. My older cousin was very much into AD&D, but we were under strict instructions not to look at any of the books or magazines in his pit of a bedroom. Why am I talking about 1985? Because Imagine Magazine published a Michael Moorcock special edition in January of that year:
Imagine Magazine ran for around 2.5 years, covering D&D and AD&D for UK readers. While roleplaying is something that's never really interested me, I've long had a soft spot for Michael Moorcock's fiction, and have spent many happy hours collecting Citadel's Eternal Champion range, based on Moorcock's characters.
Last year, in conversation over at the Oldhammer forums, it was mentioned in conversation that Jes Goodwin had done some illustrations for the Moorcock special edition. It's no secret that Jes Goodwin is my favourite miniatures designer - his Realm of Chaos era figures are sublime; his elves and Eldar are graceful and elegant. He is also a top notch illustrator, having studied Fine Art. If you have never had a look at any of his miniatures concept sketches, you should track down a copy of 'The Gothic and the Eldritch'.
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| A book well worth hunting down. |
Finally, last week, I managed to acquire a copy of Imagine Magazine #22. The magazine has plenty of retro-charm, but I was only really interested in seeing those Jes Goodwin illustrations. And I was not disappointed!
Pages 14-17 are devoted to 'The Last Enchantment' - an Elric short story by Moorcock. Jes has provided gorgeous illustrations - a comic panel style sequence occupying a third of a double page spread, and a smaller illustration of the creations of the Lords of Chaos.
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| Elric encounters a madman and a messenger before reaching a gateway in the realms of chaos. |
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| The Lords of Chaos create a disturbing vision. |
Further illustrations appear in the AD&D adventure 'Earl Aubec and the Iron Galleon' (p25-32).
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| Melnibonean outcast Dyvim Ka'aand, Captain of the Iron Galleon. |
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| Earl Aubec of Malador |
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| Jhary-a-Conel (and Whiskers) |
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| A'azzatz's - a bound demon. |
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| The Iron Galleon. |
For those of you familiar with Jes' work, you'll know that full-blown illustrations are something of a rareity. Yes, there's the image of the Eldar Dire Avenger walking through a Craftworld, and those early illustrations of Skaven when first launched in White Dwarf (and a handful of others besides). But even those were just done pencil - personally, I can't recall seeing any other Jes Goodwin pen and ink illustrations before (if you know of more, please tell me).
Miniature design's gain was fantasy illustration's loss in my view!
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| The iconic Jes Goodwin monogram (rune?!). |
Wonderful illustrations ! I'm a huge JG fan fan too and seeing his work is always such a pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI really like to see how his style has evolved from those ink drawing to his later pen only illustrations.
Other stiking detail is that there's a very huge similarity with JB's work (we all know both fit nicely together, but I had never seen it as clearly as on those) th eillos above would look just right next to some of Jb's from the Sorcery adventure books.
Thanks for sharing those wonders !
You're right - the style is very close to JBs from the same sort of era - I wonder if that is due to a general fantasy 'style', or whether there was cross-pollination between the two?
DeleteOh dear. Wish you'd let me manage to complete my Imagine collection before outing it as a goldmine of JG art. Prices will never be the same once the GW fanboys get wind of this! There is a lovely spot illustration of a dragon in Imagine #1, and various others dotted around, I don't have them to check. Deep breath: TSR UKs D&D module O1: Blade of Vengeance is a beautiful treasure-trove of JG Elvish design, all pen-and-ink (there are several of his 80s Elf Warrior miniatures that fit this design) and also CM7: Where Chaos Reigns has several fantastic pieces, including alien navigator types. There's also examples of Jez lettering in the Asgard adverts (in imagine) that match in style with his headings for the TSR UK modules. But Shhh. Keep it under your hat!
ReplyDeleteSmall correction - Skaven launch was citadel journal Spring 86 ;-)
One day all this art will be available online to view! I'd love to see more images, but Imagine holds very little appeal otherwise. I really must check out the TSR modules though...one question - 'Where Chaos Reigns' is CM6 - is the number or the title wrong in your recommendation? ;)
DeleteOne day all the old models will be 3D-scanned to download and print at home as well. Hooray! Yes, it's CM6, and you can preview and buy the digital version here: http://www.dndclassics.com/product/17120/CM6-Where-Chaos-Reigns-Basic?it=1 Still, digital always seems to loose some quality from the original.
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