A symphonic suicide is what I shall bring!

  A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke.— Vincent Van Gogh  

[mayanhandballcourt]

Photographer Sophie Hustwick

[titanomancy]

In Memoriam John Blanche October 1948 - June 2026

We're going to be doing this more often, you know.

John Blanche died this week, as reported by fellow former Games Workshop alum Trish Carden, passing away at the age of 78. Intensely private in his personal life - his birthday is observed in "late October" - details of his passing are understandably scarce. Although he retired a few years ago owing to poor health, I hope that his ultimate end was a peaceful one untroubled by sickness or infirmity.

I had the unique pleasure of meeting Blanche in a professional capacity, once, and he was precisely the sort of gregarious weirdo that one might assume from his work. Though our acquaintance was brief, it was one of the highlights of my association with Games Workshop.

In many ways, Blanche is synonymous with Warhammer - throughout much of Games Workshop's golden age in the 1990s, it was Blanche's art which formed people's first impressions of the setting and served as the initial hook to draw them into the grim darkness of the far future. It's certainly what hooked me.

His influence on the 40k aesthetic cannot be understated and is still felt, today, in ways both subtle and gross. In celebration of Blanche's life, take a moment to appreciate some of my favorite pieces of his.

Rest in peace.

[bleakmonger]

I am such a sucker for music that sounds like pterodactyls fighting above a suspension bridge that's getting it's cables hit my cranes

[agfe-talk]

[dankomaksimovic]

ph. Danko Maksimovic - Hamburg, Germany (2024)

Film: Kodak Portra 800

[astromechapunk]

[adicttive]

[titanomancy]

It is ironic that this creature, whose will extends to over a million worlds, is now unable to leave the life-giving machinery of his imperial throne, unable to so much as lift a shrivelled finger or twitch a shrunken eye. The living carcass of the Emperor is immobile, held fast within the bio-machine that sustains his spirit. The mass of this machine is contained within the imperial palace; room upon room of twisted technology, pulsing with a life and will of its own - living, breathing, reproducing and writhing like a giant, mindless organism. Held within this perversion of science lies the Emperor himself, or rather what now remains of his carcass, the seat of his omnipotent will.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1987)

[booby4649]

[stupidpetface]

[uxn]

[hard----onthe-outside]

[crisis-actor]

[beatchya]

Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992)

[sporadicinked]

[mayanhandballcourt]

Photographer Noah Kalina

[kingsanda]

Richard Kaylin