Titan Comics Lose Warhammer 40,000 License

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**reds8n**

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/12/08/titan-comics-lose-warhammer-40000-license-from-games-workshop/

It seemed the perfect union. But it was unfortunately not to be. Bleeding Cool understands that the relationship between Titan Comics and Games Workshop over the Warhammer 40K license has broken down.

Titan Comics has been publishing comic books based on the popular tabletop gaming franchise sold by Games Workshop for some time now. However, I understand that there have been a lot of tension, principally down to copious notes from Games Workshop over what been described as minutea, to the extent that Games Workshop have told Titan that the fees earned from comics license don’t pay for the amount of attention they have to give the comic books for approval.

This has also led to late shipping comic books which has hurt sales for Titan Comics. The recent Warhammer 40K: Deathwatch four-issue mini-series saw its third issue scheduled for August ship in October.

Also there seems to have been a flat refusal from Games Workshop across the country to sell Warhammer 40K comics in store – where there may be an audience most open to picking up copies, and where Games Workshop would earn an additional income from the comic. This is while Games Workshops continue to sell Warhammer 40K prose novels.

This apparent conflict between the two parties has led to Games Workshop choosing not renew the license when it comes up and Titan Comics to publish any more original comics in the interim.

I understand that it is likely that Games Workshop will publish its own Warhammer 40K comic books in 2019. It is possible it may have an easier relationship with itself than with Titan Comics. Although of course there’s no guarantee of that.

..bit of a shame.

The refusal to not stock them in the stores did seem a bit self defeating.

**BrookM**

It was an okay run, a step up from the stuff BOOM! did a few years ago. The Deathwatch story certainly was the highlight of the run IMHO, mainly due to AD-B who did the writing for it.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Reckon GW need to get into bed with Rebellion if you ask me.

They already publish 2000AD, and do so with aplomb. Seems a natural fit for GW’s properties.

**Donomar**

reds8n wrote:
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/12/08/titan-comics-lose-warhammer-40000-license-from-games-workshop/

...It is possible it may have an easier relationship with itself than with Titan Comics. Although of course there’s no guarantee of that.

Love this bit

**BrookM**

Well, they are doing more and more stuff that was first outsourced in house now. Their audio dramas used to be done by Big Finish Productions until GW invested in a proper recording studio of their own.

While they may not have parted the best of ways, I am looking forward to seeing comics based on the franchise done by people who know the franchise in and out art-wise.

Who knows, maybe a return of Warhammer Monthly is on its way? (Unless this was already announced elsewhere..)

**Overread**

Lol funny line!

It does seem odd that GW refused to stock and speaks that there were likely lots of issues between the two in the background and that GW was just waiting for the time limit on the contract to end.

But you know who I'd like to see them hire for Comics - Humanoids. They have some outstanding artists working for them and could create comics of high quality artistic design that would blow many others out of the water. Image Comics would also be another very solid choice and they've arguably the better writers with series like East of West and Saga to their name.

**BrookM**

Well, they didn't stock BOOM! trades or FFG books / games either over the years.

I think the 40k Monopoly game may be the first one in years now to appear in stores if I read correctly?

**Fifty**

In a retail shop entirely stocked by the parent company, there is probably far less work for the manager to do. As soon as you have stock from external companies, I'd imagine the managers need to be better trained, work longer hours and be paid for greater responsibility. Only one thing might be fine, but it is always the thin end of a wedge. Not to mention that the profit margins must surely be better on their own items.

**Irbis**

A shame, but both BR and DW comics were very bad. Pity, though, DA one was somewhat acceptable, hopefully GW will do better than that.

BrookM wrote:
It was an okay run, a step up from the stuff BOOM! did a few years ago. The Deathwatch story certainly was the highlight of the run IMHO, mainly due to AD-B who did the writing for it.

Eh, I found the DW story terribad, myself. The writer had the opportunity to show exactly how the small kill teams blunt huge alien threats, instead, the first two comics were wasted on a whole kill team jobbing to a single xeno animal, next issue was more jobbing with ninja orks taking down their parked plane and its crew with no one noticing (techmarine didn't even managed to say a single word of warning? what?) then they took down terminator member of kill team with wooden spears. Punching straight through terminator plate

And they could have avoided this nonsense with ease, the stabs were all next to seals, all the writer had to do was asking the artist to move them 10 cm and have them punch through the weaker seal parts, which would at least be somewhat believable and didn't paint DW as mooks more incompetent than IG conscripts. Oh, and the planet rains acid that eats through power armour with ease but orks are for some reason completely immune to it and it didn't discomfort them one bit despite being naked.

Add to that the fact the artist never actually saw minigun in his life (or didn't stop for a second to ask himself what the hell he is drawing) and he mistaken trophy pole under assault cannon as a barrel producing this garbage (several times, too, it wasn't a single mistake) making you wonder if anyone making this comic actually cared one bit:

Spoiler:

**Absolutionis**

Thank you for posting the text so we don't have to give that site our clicks.

**Platuan4th**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Reckon GW need to get into bed with Rebellion if you ask me.

They already publish 2000AD, and do so with aplomb. Seems a natural fit for GW’s properties.

I'm hoping IDW myself, especially if they can get James Roberts(though not sure he's a Warhammer fan like he is Transformers or Dr. Who) or John Barber to write something. Both do some really good long term story work.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Reckon GW need to get into bed with Rebellion if you ask me.

They already publish 2000AD, and do so with aplomb. Seems a natural fit for GW’s properties.

I think the real problem with comics is they're a visual medium and so GW needs to keep a much closer eye on things, with novels (or even the RPGs) they find it easier to ignore things that don't quite match up with cannon, but with a comic it sticks out like a sore thumb,

comics also turn over much faster (so no waiting 3 months until bob the checker has a few days free to make sure stuff is ok, he needs to book a weekly slot), and comic writers have an inbuilt tendency to retcon and reboot stuff all the time than needs to be kept in check

as to not stocking the comics in Games Workshop/Warhammer stores that isn't going to have helped, but other than the occasional partworks have they stocked anything that wasn't 100% GW for ages? (after all they consider the stores their 'advertising' budget so might want to charge to selling other companies stuff even if it is 40k related)

**Malika2**

Am I the only one who would love to see a graphic novel writting by ADB or Abnett and drawn in the more old school style from the analog artists from back in the day? Imagine a whole novel drawn by Blanche!

**BrookM**

I'd happily settle for the black and white style they used back in the day.

**Irbis**

Malika2 wrote:
Am I the only one who would love to see a graphic novel writting by ADB or Abnett and drawn in the more old school style from the analog artists from back in the day? Imagine a whole novel drawn by Blanche!

Abnett, maybe (though his earlier 40K comics weren't that good, at least these I had chance to read), but ADB? His DW comic, like I said above, was really weak, had no coherent plot, was full of errors both in drawings (especially SM armor) and writing (too many to really list), all in all, I saw better written (and scarier, which is kinda sad...) episodes of My Little Pony than this

I especially liked flashback to team leader's past stating his wargear was pristine, 700 year old priceless relic, only to cut to present day where orks effortlessly punch through it with wooden spears, and xeno animal bites the sarge's arm off, as if his Mk VIII suit, muscles, and bones were made out of chocolate. It literally left the reader wondering how his gear lasted 7 minutes, never mind 700 years...

**ekwatts**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Reckon GW need to get into bed with Rebellion if you ask me.

They already publish 2000AD, and do so with aplomb. Seems a natural fit for GW’s properties.

Agree with this wholeheartedly.

Since being bought by Rebellion, 2000AD has been fantastic. They were fans of the comic beforehand, and have had the foresight to be very "hands off" when it comes to the operation. It was effectively a rescue job from their previous publishers. Difficult to imagine how close 2000AD was to closing its doors before Rebellion came along, actually.

Plus, if you consider the historically huge crossover of artists/writers between 2000AD properties and Games Workshop properties since the 1980s, it makes even more sense.

Whether Rebellion would want to make that investment is another matter. Though, they HAVE just dropped something like £100 million in building a studio complex to produce a Dredd TV show... so they're not afraid to splurge.

**BrookM**

If Rebellion were to pour money into a miniatures company or outright buy it, it would be Warlord, who has the rights to their stuff right now tabletop wise.

**Clockpunk**

That's a shame - I always did enjoy Titan's comics, but I recall the panel they held at Warhammer Fest in 2016 had an extremely low turnout. Almost empty, in fact - I think there were less than a dozen people in the audience. Several GW reps didn't look very happy about it.