Everyone loves the covers from the classic RPG era of White Dwarf. The Covers Compendium page is one of the most popular on my blog – literally… handfuls of visitors per week! Those early covers were an eclectic mix of fantasy and science-fiction art – some bona fide classics, one or two misjudged, and more than a few out-and-out bonkers – invariably memorable, one way or another.

[You should check out @the40kmodeller on twitter too, who regularly posts White Dwarf covers for your enjoyment. (Although strangely they seem to have covers beyond issue 106 – what’s that all about?)]

But, what about all the great interior art; doesn’t that deserve some love and attention too? Well, I certainly think so; with that in mind, here are my top five “interior artists” from the pages of White Dwarf. Each one has an instantly recognisable style, producing wonderfully evocative artwork that lives long in the memory. (Don’t forget to let me know your favourites in the comments.)

Counting down, pop pickers…

5. Iain McCaig

Iain McCaig – one of the great fantasy artists, best known in the UK for his superlative work on some of the early Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, which took him forwards to Hollywood, Lucasfilm, Darth Maul, and on and on…

So, why have I only put him at number five? Mainly it’s because he didn’t do that much interior art for White Dwarf – he was soon called away to bigger things. But the artwork he did do left a lasting impression on me – the first issue I ever bought, number 26, just happened to be the one for which Iain McCaig did all the interior art (as well as the cover). Fantasy spaceships, dungeon rooms, Traveller scenario maps, dire tribes of D&D monsters – all were beautifully rendered: just check out that hatching on the blast walls of the spaceport landing bay – wonderful stuff! While these are from early in Iain McCaig’s career, they already show his versatility – compare the playful quality of his illustrations for The Dungeon Architect with the menace of his Dire Tribes. There were one or two other pieces from Iain in later issues, but these from issue 26 are the ones I will always remember.

4. John Mould

I mainly remember John Mould’s White Dwarf artwork for the arresting illustrations he produced of the demonic nobility for Dave Morris’s Dealing with Demons article series – they really do convey their “terrifying power”, together with a sense that these beings are eons-old. He also produced some great illustrations for Fiend Factory, depicting creatures from both Julian Mays’s The Saga of the Exiles and Robert Silverberg’s Majipoor series. There was also a group portrait of Griselda and friends for all you Gloranthaphiles.

The shading in the artwork gives all these images a wonderful sense of depth, which really draws you in as the viewer. Again, it’s just a shame he didn’t do more in White Dwarf.

3. Dave Carson

The undisputed king of tentacled excess! I first came across Dave Carson’s work in the pages of Carl Ford’s fanzine Dagon, but his art also featured in a number of issues during White Dwarf’s Second Golden Age™. His stark, monochrome artwork perfectly captured the nastiness of various Lovecraftian monsters, heaped conglomerations of dripping tentacles, gaping mouths and bulging eyes. There were a number of putrid Cthulhoid nasties (naturally) in the pages of the Dwarf, but he also turned his hand to some more restrained images, even illustrating a MERP scenario in one issue!

Dave Carson was given a double-page spread in the Illuminations feature in issue 92, that said his artwork “can pack quite a punch”, and where Dave was quoted as saying, “I guess I’m not over keen on subtle monsters”. Can’t disagree with any of that!

2. John Blanche

Synonymous with Warhammer in all its various guises, the artwork of Games Workshop’s own John Blanche appeared in many issues of White Dwarf. Mixing grungy gothic sensibilities with a real punk attitude (plus a slice of humour on occasion), his characteristic style was a big influence on the “chaos spikey bits” aesthetic of Warhammer. But he turned his hand to many different elements of interior art in White Dwarf over the years, including quite a few monsters for the Fiend Factory, not to mention also showing his prowess at miniature painting – so much so that he even got his own figure painting column: Blanchitsu!

1. Russ Nicholson

At number one, it can only be – the late, great Russ Nicholson. I don’t think any artist contributed more interior art to White Dwarf during its RPG heyday than Russ, and his ubiquity was well-deserved; monster artist par excellence (so much so that he featured heavily in TSR’s Fiend Folio), he could turn his pen to fantasy and science fiction with equal aplomb, and became a mainstay of White Dwarf art (never a cover though – why?!), as well as supplying much-loved artwork for many Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

Russ Nicholson’s heavily-inked black and white style was used to great effect to convey mood and menace in much of his artwork, but he was equally adept at depicting dynamic action set-pieces. He was also honoured with an Illuminations feature in issue 101, although this focused more on his contributions to Games Workshop products like Warhammer 40000 and Warhammer Siege than his “classic” art from the pages of White Dwarf. I’m more than happy to rectify that omission now, with a small selection below – enjoy!

That’s ‘D’ for Dwarf, of course. Over on Twitter, Jet Simian suggested adding the covers for the ‘Best of White Dwarf’ compilations to the Covers Compendium I did a few years ago. Since there are only six covers in total, rather than add them there, I thought I’d put together a separate “appendix” post to enable you to look at them in all their glory.

Volume I

Both covers by Steve Brown; definite Frank Frazetta vibes here.

Volume II

The cover for Articles is an excellent balrog-type beastie, from the instantly recognisable brush of John Blanche. Scenarios, meanwhile, features a bar room altercation by artist Ed Dovey.

Volume III

It’s combat all the way for Volume III, both dynamic covers by the late, great Chris Achilleos.

Issue #39 of White Dwarf saw the introduction of Dave Langford’s Critical Mass book review column. While other columns came and went over the years, Critical Mass was a mainstay of the magazine, one of the first pages you turned to with a new issue. Until its demise in issue #106, the column was the place to go for Dave Langford’s acerbic and irreverent opinions on the new releases in the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. Which is not to say Mr. Langford didn’t bestow praise when it was deserved – oh no, he recognised talent alright, and introduced me, and I suspect many other readers, to a number of authors I otherwise might never have encountered. First among these is undoubtedly: Jonathan Carroll.

Jonathan Carroll is easily my favourite contemporary writer. His novels are usually referred to as ‘modern fantasy’ or ‘magic realism’, but he defies obvious classification, examining themes like love, family, magic and metaphysics. He can enthrall us (Bones of the Moon), move us (Outside the Dog Museum) and shock us (Black Cocktail) – his compelling stories are always centred on engaging, real characters, who it’s a joy to spend time with.

His latest novel, Mr. Breakfast, is a wonderful example of his art. A failed comedian gets the chance to see different possible lives, and with this knowledge to then choose his future. To say too much more would spoil the surprises in store, suffice to say it’s a beautifully constructed novel. But not in the way that a Swiss watch is constructed – it’s more like a Jenga tower, with blocks pulled out and and reinserted in surprising, unusual positions, and yet still it stands, held up by its own internal logic. An engaging, exciting, often funny, story, it considers the question of what it is to lead a good life, and examines how the past, present and future of our lives are connected, how moments, phrases and thoughts can recur and echo through the years. Jonathan Carroll even turns that conceit on himself at one point in the novel. Highly recommended.

Sometimes it felt like it would never see the light of day, like it was eternally trapped, wandering the gloomy corridors of Zagor’s maze, but after five long years, gamers across the land have finally got their hands on Dice Men, by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. And boy, was it worth the wait.

Billed as the origin story of Games Workshop, if you’re a grognard of a certain vintage, you may be wondering: haven’t I heard this tale before? Well, to an extent, you may have, but it’s told by Ian Livingstone with such an engaging, conversational tone, that you’re happy to hear it all over again; this isn’t a dry history, it’s a friendly chat with Ian, like being down the pub with your mates, listening to anecdotes you’ve heard many times before, but loving every minute, smiling at the recollections.

And among the familiar stories, there are numerous new anecdotes and personal details to enjoy: Ian’s letter to his parents in the early days of the company, letting them know he was still alive, but homeless; Steve Jackson’s quest for the red box version of Warlord; his and Ian’s epic coast-to-coast wheeler-dealing USA road trip; the occasional mis-step with Games Workshop’s own board games; to name just a few. Occasionally you’re left wanting more, although you do have to remember that these are recollections from 40-odd years ago!

The book is a real feast for the eyes, starting with Ian McCaig’s cover, a clever reworking of his design for Games Workshop’s carrier bags. The many “behind the scenes” photographs wonderfully evoke the late 70s / early 80s era, and the smiling faces of the personalities involved bring a real human dimension to the company’s story, while the beautifully reproduced artwork from the games and publications trigger so many memories. The book contains a number of one-off rarities too, like Ian Livingstone’s first D&D dungeon, and the maps they drew up when writing The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. It all adds up to a sumptuous volume, one to lose yourself in as you’re swept away on a tide of nostalgia.

Reading it through, what struck me was that Games Workshop’s ascent was no accident – it was driven by the smart business acumen of Ian and Steve in those early days. Business acumen with a friendly British face though; the book features a roster of names of the great and the good in gaming – Gary Gygax, Don Turnbull, Russ Nicholson, Albie Fiore, Bryan Ansell, Jamie Thomson, among many others – and Ian has warm words for each, recalling them all with affection. And underlying everything is Ian and Steve’s love of gaming – a life-long passion that they wanted to share with as many people as possible.

If you ever opened an issue of White Dwarf and marvelled at the magic within, if you ever rolled dice around the Talisman board (maybe your game is still going on?), if you’re a 40K warmonger and have wondered what Games Workshop did back in the day – this is the book for you.

By gamers, for gamers.

Nineteen scenarios, twenty six articles, nine different roleplaying games, one man: Marcus L Rowland.

To coincide with The Grognard Files podcast interview with the man himself (Episode 49), here’s an index of all his many contributions to White Dwarf during its RPG hey day. (I’ve not included his many reviews in Open Box; those are all listed here.)

He could seemingly turn his hand to just about anything. Whether it was investigating the machinations of Cthulhu cultists, righting wrongs while dressed in spandex, or busting perps on the mean streets of Mega-City One, his contributions to White Dwarf always featured a great mix of action, intrigue and humour.

So, dig out the old issues, and find your favourites from the list below. You won’t be disappointed.

Here are all the White Dwarf covers, from issue 1 to 106 (when I stopped buying it), arranged and listed next to their credited artist. It’s a veritable feast of RPG artwork (albeit in thumbnail form).

The great Chris Achilleos has the most covers, with a whopping 13, followed by John Blanche and Emmanuel with 6 each. For those artists who did provide multiple covers, it’s interesting to see them side-by-side, to identify their styles and common themes, and in some cases to see how their style developed over time.

Side note: I decided I would include a small thumbnail of each of the covers, however questionable a few of them are now (and were back then). Please don’t take their inclusion as an endorsement of the image.

Some well-renowned artists like Rodney Matthews, Gary Chalk and Ian Miller only ever had one cover, which is a bit of a surprise, and there are a few others like Dave Pether and Ken Kelly who I’d have liked to see more from.

But enough waffle, on with the list.

Artist	Issues	Covers
Chris Beaumont	1, 6
Christopher Baker	2
Alan Hunter	3
John Blanche	4, 7, 11, 42, 79, 83
Polly Wilson	5
Derek Hayes	8
Christopher Perigo	9
Eddie Jones	10, 12, 13, 15, 22
Emmanuel	14, 23, 25, 34, 37, 40
Les Edwards	16, 19, 35, 55, 102
Angus McKie	17, 20, 49
Star Trek the Motion Picture	18
Robert Adams	21
Dave Pether	24
Iain McCaig	26, 51, 96
Alan Craddock	27, 44, 48, 52, 71
Terry Oakes	28, 50
Andrew George	29, 33
Nicholas Bibby	30, 38, 39
Alan Howcroft	31
Jim Burns	32, 43, 103
Brian Bolland	36
John Harris	41
Gary Ward	45
Gary Mayes	46
Gary Chalk	47
Angus Fieldhouse	53, 85, 104
Peter Andrew Jones	54, 59, 64, 76, 97
Chris Achilleos	56, 58, 60, 61, 62, 65, 66, 77, 78, 81, 89, 91, 94
Tweddell	57
Gino D’Achille	63
Mark Bromley	67, 69
Brian Williams	68, 70
Lee Gibbons	72, 73, 75
Frank Brunner	74, 87
Ken Kelly	80
John Sibbick	82, 90, 93, 95, 100
Ian Miller	84
Rodney Matthews	86
David Gallagher	88, 92, 105, 106
Dave Andrews	98
Collective Creativity Inc.	99
Colin Dixon	101

Keehar, one of the presenters of the old Dissecting Worlds podcast, has been running old White Dwarf adventures using David Black’s ‘The Black Hack’; check out his and his players’ thoughts on the two-part epic The Sunfire’s Heart here: https://clarkythecruel.wordpress.com/2020/08/04/the-sunfires-heart-white-dwarf-56-57-spoilers/.

Just goes to show, even after 36 years, White Dwarf remains the RPG magazine that keeps on giving.

As an aside, when I came out of The Deep Freeze™ a few years ago and got back into RPGs, it was a game of Gangbusters GMed by Keehar at Grogmeet 2016 that persuaded me to have a go at GMing again myself. It was a really enjoyable game, and he made it all seem like a lot of fun.

I couldn’t resist. Ben McVay on Film Goblin posted his top 10 Dragon covers of the 1980s. So, here’s my pick of the top 10 covers of White Dwarf magazine from that decade; dare I say it, a more eclectic and idiosyncratic mix than those of its US contemporary.

My list is in chronological, rather than any kind of preference, order. And I’m bound to have missed out your favourites; let me know where I went wrong in the comments. Enjoy.

White Dwarf 19 (June / July 1980) – Les Edwards

White Dwarf 26 (Aug / Sept 1981) – Iain McCaig

White Dwarf 32 (Aug 1982) – Jim Burns

White Dwarf 42 (June 1983) – John Blanche

White Dwarf 46 (Oct 1983) – Gary Mayes

White Dwarf 57 (Sept 1984) – Tweddell

White Dwarf 60 (Dec 1984) – Chris Achilleos

White Dwarf 72 (Dec 1985) – Lee Gibbons

White Dwarf 78 (June 1986) – Chris Achilleos

White Dwarf 79 (July 1986) – Amazonia Gothique, John Blanche