Blanche: The Rise of Grimdark

by John Wombat, Ruth Moreira

Genres: Biography, Art, Nonfiction

218 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2023

Reviews

[E.J. Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this on two levels: one getting to both relive an era I remember as I was first discovering Warhammer and discover behind the scenes things about Games Workshop I'd never known. Two, getting to see his amazing art, especially some I'd genuinely never seen before

[Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the sections written by folks who knew him, as well as Blanche's extended quotes. I also really enjoyed all the art in the book. The other parts that were written by the unnamed author had a kind of bland and mediocre style, to be honest. The other parts were the majority of the book, though.

I particularly liked Blanche's comments about inspiration - he found inspiration from real world things, history, classic art, etc, that were then filtered into fantasy and scifi, rather than being inspired by fantasy and scifi directly. I think that's part of the trick of creating good fantasy - if it comes from the broader world, it will feel unique, rich, living. If it comes from just other fantasy, it will feel retread, familiar, bland.

Overall, you know if this book is for you. If you know what Blanchitsu is, then it's worth reading.

[Kevin Low · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars just for the glorious blanchitsu images strewn throughout the book. A great if all too short look at John's life, career and art. One hilarious but apt error does see John failing his elven plus in the sixties. I could have happily read much more and would have loved even more pictures of his models and artworks.

[Mesreg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely read about the hobby's most influencial hero.