Warlock (magazine)

Warlock
	; Warlock Issue 5
Outline
Location:	Titan and various
Publication details
Editor(s)-in-Chief:	Steve Jackson &; Ian Livingstone
Editor(s):	Tony Lacey (Issues 1~4); Philippa Dickinson (Issues 1~5); Peter Darvill-Evans; (Issue 6); Steve Williams & Paul Mason (Issues 7~9); Marc Gascoigne (Issues 10~13)
Interior Illustrator(s):	various
Cover illustrator:	various
Publisher:	Penguin Books; (Issues 1~5); Games Workshop; (Issues 6~13)
First published:	May 1984~November 1986

For other uses of Warlock, see Warlock

Warlock – The Fighting Fantasy Magazine was a magazine published by Penguin Books and the British game manufacturer Games Workshop between 1984 and 1986. Originally dedicated to the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, the magazine rapidly developed a wider focus on the fantasy gaming genre, acting as a more junior version of the established White Dwarf magazine.

Introduction[]

Established and edited-in-chief by Fighting Fantasy creators Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, Warlock maintained an informal and lively character through thirteen issues before finally coming to an end with a "Special Horror Issue" in the December of 1986. The Warlock was a manifest character of the magazine, referenced through most of the features as a diabolical overlord of the publication (subordinate only to the Grand Wizard at Penguin for the first five issues); most likely originally an alter-ego of Jackson himself. Originally sub-edited by Tony Lacey and Philippa Dickinson, Warlock later gained much of its character when "real editor" Marc Gascoigne joined the publication following its transfer to Games Workshop from Penguin Books.

Main article: ウォーロック

ウォーロック (Warlock) was also published in Japan under the same title by Shakaishisou Sha. Established in December 1986, the Japanese version had a much longer lifespan (63 issues) and continued until March 1992. It began as a direct translation of the original magazine, but soon developed with its own original material.

Regular Features[]

The Arcane Archive[]

TBC

Arkenor & Max[]

TBC

Competitions[]

Main article: Fighting Fantasy Competitions

TBC

Derek the Troll[]

Derek the Troll, a regular comic strip written and illustrated by Lew Stringer, became one of the most enduring characters of the magazine, first appearing in the strip in Issue 7. He did not appear in Issue 8 but was then a regular until the end of the publications lifetime at Issue 13. The much put-upon Derek soon broke out of his strip to add "his" opinion to the book reviews section and other articles. In Issue 13 the strip was broken into an ultra-mini 16-frame version of the gamebook format, (Derek the Troll's 'Orrable Troll-Playing Game), inviting readers to navigate Derek past the malevolent force which was Trev the Vampire. Derek even took over the Warlock's Quill duties in Issue 10.

Fantasy in Miniature/Paint 'Yer Dragon[]

"Paint 'Yer Dragon", by Rick Priestley, consisted of regular tutorial articles on miniature-painting and model-making. Issue 9 introduced readers to effective figure preparation and painting, while issue 10 examined more advanced customisation of figures using techniques such as 'pinning'. Issue 12 considered the minutiae of figure bases.^[2]

Fighting Fantasy News[]

This section lasted from issue 3 to issue 5. It was essentially a forum to advertise upcoming Fighting Fantasy releases from the gamebooks to the more obscure items, such as Jigsaws, Miniatures and Boardgames. Notably, when Games Workshop took over publication from Penguin Books, this section ceased as the magazine became less focused on Fighting Fantasy and more on gaming and gamebooks in general.

Mini Gamebook[]

Main article: Mini-FF

Each issue of Warlock included a mini-solo adventure employing the Fighting Fantasy Rules used in the main gamebooks. Notably, the second and third instalments of the publication included mini-adventures that were shortened versions of gamebooks from the main series. Issue 2 had a short version of Caverns of the Snow Witch by Ian Livingstone and issue 3 had the short Fighting Fantasy adventure story The House of Hell by Steve Jackson. This short was later expanded into a full novel House of Hell and proved to be one of the more popular books.

There were also a selection of multi-player mini adventures based on the Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game set up.

Multi-Player Boardgames[]

Issue 3 - Market Mayhem
Issue 5 - In Search of the Mungies' Gold

Omens and Auguries[]

TBC

"Out of the Pit"[]

"Out of the Pit" was a bestiary of Fighting Fantasy monsters contributed by various authors and readers throughout the issues. Aside from the mini solo adventure, it was the only section to appear in all 13 issues. This section proved so popular that in Issue 3 a "Monsters" Book was advertised as being in production.^[3] In Issue 4 the book was again advertised as being in production with a working title of Out of the Pit: The Fighting Fantasy Book of Monsters.^[4] At around the same time as Issue 5 was published, so too was the book Out of the Pit in 1985, which featured creatures from the books that had been published to date plus all creatures that had appeared in this section of Warlock. However, the section continued to appear in Warlock after the book had been published, which led to some creatures from the "Out of the Pit" section of the magazine not being present in the book.

The Warlock's Quill[]

This section first appeared in Issue 3 and was continuous until Issue 13. This is with the exception of Issue 10 where it still appeared but under the name Derek's Quill, with Derek the Troll supposedly taking over from the Warlock for that one issue.

Non-Regular Articles and Features[]

TBC

Interior Illustrators[]

It should be noted than in issue 11, issue 12 and issue 13 the interior illustrators were no longer credited. Rather, only the Art Editor was named, which in all three issues happened to be John Blanche. However, many of the illustrations are credited throughout the issues either in text next to the image in particular or through the artist signing their work. The below indicates which artists have been identified as working on the issue in question (excluding comic strips).

**Interior Illustrators of Warlock Magazine**
Illustrator	Warlock Magazine Issue Number
Illustrator	Issue 1	Issue 2	Issue 3	Issue 4	Issue 5	Issue 6	Issue 7	Issue 8	Issue 9	Issue 10	Issue 11	Issue 12	Issue 13
Tony Ackland	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
David Andrews	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO
John Blanche	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NAMED AS ART EDITOR	NAMED AS ART EDITOR	NAMED AS ART EDITOR
Dave Carson	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES²
Darren Chandler	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO
Mark Dunn	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Dave Eastbury	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Simon Ecob	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Jon Glentoran	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Jes Goodwin	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO
Trevor Hammond	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO
Leo Hartas	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
Bob Harvey	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Bill Houston	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Anthony Kerins	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES¹	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Maggie Kneen	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Alan Langford	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Daniel Loveday	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES²	NO	NO	NO
C.B. Marshall	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO
Pete Martin	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO
Martin McKenna	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES²
Russ Nicholson	YES³	YES³	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Dave Pearson	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
Will Rees	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO
Tim Sell	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Duncan Smith	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
David Stevens	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO
Jane Walmsley	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO

Interior Illustrator Note[]

Illustrations reprinted from the book Maelstrom.
Illustrated in this issue, but uncredited.
Illustrations reprinted from the books The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and The Citadel of Chaos alongside two new illustrations.

Cultural Allusions, Easter Eggs and Tie-Ins[]

With regards to the Fighting Fantasy gamebook, titled Assassins of Allansia, the Hungarian (and iPadOS English app) version ("Allansia Bérgyilkosai") there are new illustrations by artist Krisztián Balla, one of which features an illustrated cameo of Ian Livingstone, the author as the shopkeeper Harold Cornpepper. Amongst the wares at Harold’s shop is a copy of Warlock magazine, clearly visible.