Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett
Abnett at the Midtown Comics booth at the New York Comic Convention in Manhattan, 10 October 2010.
Born	12 October 1965 (1965-10-12) (age 46)
Occupation	comic book writer, novelist
Nationality	British
Period	1988 –
Genres	comic book, science fiction
danabnett.com

Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is a British comic book writer and novelist. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, including 2000 AD. He has also contributed to DC Comics titles, and his Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels and graphic novels for Games Workshop's Black Library now run to several dozen titles and have sold over 1,150,000 copies as of May 2008.^[1] In 2009 he released his first original fiction novels through Angry Robot books.^[2]

Early life

Abnett graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1984.^[3]

Career

As one of the more prolific 2000 AD writers, Abnett was responsible for the creation of one of the comic's better known, and longest-running, strips of the last decade, Sinister Dexter. Other original stories include Black Light, Badlands, Atavar, Downlode Tales, Sancho Panzer, Roadkill and Wardog, based on the game of the same name. Abnett has also contributed to some of the comic's major ongoing series, including Judge Dredd, Durham Red and Rogue Trooper.

His work for Marvel includes runs on Death's Head 2, Battletide, Knights of Pendragon (all of which he co-created), The Punisher, War Machine, Annihilation: Nova and various X-Men titles.

At DC he is probably best-known for his 2000 relaunch of Legion of Super-Heroes as the limited series Legion Lost and then the ongoing series The Legion.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} His work for DC is usually co-written with Andy Lanning and they are often referred to as DnA.

For Dark Horse Comics he co-wrote Planet of the Apes: Blood Lines with Ian Edginton, as well a penning Lords of Misrule and HyperSonic.

He has written novels set in Games Workshop's Military science fiction-themed Warhammer 40,000 universe. They include the Gaunt's Ghosts series, the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and more recently, as part of the Horus Heresy series, the SF best-sellers Horus Rising, Legion and Prospero Burns. He has also authored four comic strip series, later collected as graphic novels, for Games Workshop's black Library imprint: Damnation Crusade, Lone Wolf, Inquisitor Ascendant and Titan.

Having written two Doctor Who audio dramas – The Harvest and Nocturne – for Big Finish's series, as well as Torchwood: Everyone Says Hello for BBC Audio, Dan was also the author of two novels based on the BBC's revived science-fiction series: The Story of Martha and Torchwood: Border Princes.

In 1994, he wrote a promotional comic to promote the opening of the Nemesis roller coaster at Alton Towers.^[9]

2000s work

Abnett and frequent collaborator Andy Lanning at the Midtown Comics booth at the New York Comic Convention, October 10, 2010.

At 2000 AD he finished the final book of The V.C.s and started Black Atlantic in the Judge Dredd Megazine, which was drawn by Steve Roberts (seen working on Bec & Kawl) in black and white.

In 2008 Abnett and Lanning took over The Authority as part of the World's End relaunch of the core Wildstorm titles.^[10]

In addition, Abnett has done a lot of work on Marvel's "cosmic" characters. They expanded on their work in Annihilation: Nova^[11] and Nova,^[12][13] and piloted the next big event Annihilation: Conquest. They said "we were approached by Andy Schmidt, who edited the first 'Annihilation' event, and asked to pilot the next event, which Bill Rosemann is editing." They ended up writing the Prologue, the Nova series crossover and the main Annihilation: Conquest limited series.^[14] The characters then became the core of a new Guardians of the Galaxy.^[15]

In June 2008, that Abnett and Lanning had signed an exclusive deal with Marvel, which they hope will give them time to work on the "cosmic" characters they have been dealing with, as well as more earth-based ones. The contract allows them to finish existing commitments, so they will be able to finish their fifteen issue run on The Authority.^[16] In addition Marvel has allowed the contract to include "a couple of exceptions that are not direct competition, for example, Dan's 2000AD work in the UK and his Games Workshop novels."^[17] The first major work to emerge after this deal will be War of Kings, a crossover storyline, emerging from Secret Invasion, that pitches Black Bolt (and the Inhumans) against Gabriel Summers (and the Shi’ar Empire) but also draws in other teams and characters, including Nova, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Starjammers.^[18][19] This then led straight into "Realm of Kings" which deals with how the different groups deal with the fallout from the events in War of Kings^[20][21][22] and this, in turn, was followed by The Thanos Imperative.^{[23][24][25][26][27]} DnA have also written an Iron Man/Thor limited series.^[28]

He and Lanning have also written Fusion, a crossover series between Marvel and Top Cow.^[29]

He has also started Insurrection, a series in Judge Dredd Megazine that aims "to bring to the Dredd Universe something of the epic war-in-space scale of the stuff I write for Warhammer 40K."^[30]

Abnett wrote the screenplay for Games Workshop and Codex Pictures's CGI film Ultramarines^[31] which was originally due for release on 29 November 2010.^[32] The actual release date of the movie was 13 December 2010.

Original fiction

On 19 March 2009, HarperCollins' science fiction, fantasy and horror imprint, Angry Robot, announced the acquisition of three original fiction titles by Abnett. The press release from Angry Robot announced:

“

The three novels for Angry Robot will allow Abnett to play to all his strengths as a writer. His penchant for wildly imaginative world-building and lovable characters comes to the fore in TRIUMFF, a ribald, swashbuckling alternate history set in a warped version of our present day … only with Elizabeth the XXX on the throne, ushering a new Elizabethan age of wonder and exploration. This will be published, in both the UK and US, in October 2009. Next year will see two novels set in the same stunning future-war setting. EMBEDDED sends a journalist into the frontline of a distant planetary war… chipped inside the head of a combat veteran. When the soldier is killed, the journo must use all his resourcefulness to get safely home again, reporting on a live feed all the way.[2]

”

Bibliography

Main article: Dan Abnett bibliography

Dan Abnett has been writing comics and novels since the mid-1980s, producing hundreds of comic stories and dozens of novels.

References

1. ^ "Black Library Blog". Blacklibrary.com. http://www.blacklibrary.com/blog/default.asp?id=http://blacklibraryblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/3242318688526479580. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Marco. "Dan Abnett joins our robot horde". Angry Robot Books. http://angryrobotbooks.com/2009/03/dan-abnett-joins-our-robot-horde. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 
3. ^ The Colleg: Famous Graduates, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, accessed 19 January 2011.
4. ^ Abnett, Lanning and Coipel talk 'The Legion', Comic Book Resources, 23 October 2001
5. ^ Time Trappers: Abnett & Lanning talk 'Legion' & help new fans get up to speed, Comic Book Resources, 18 March 2002
6. ^ Getting Hip to Interlac: DnA talk 'Legion', Comic Book Resources, 16 September 2002
7. ^ 'Legion' of Two: DnA talk 'Dream Crime' and fate of Sensor, Comic Book Resources, 9 January 2003
8. ^ 'LEGION'aires: DnA talk issue No.25 & life after 'Dream Crime', 3 July 2003
9. ^ "Alton Towers Almanac: Gallery: Nemesis Comic Book". Gallery.towersalmanac.com. 30 June 2006. http://gallery.towersalmanac.com/thumbnails.php?album=146. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 
10. ^ NYCC '08: LIVING IN THE RUINS: WS Editor Ben Abernathy on 'Worlds End'. Newsarama. 19 April 2008
11. ^ Abnett & Lanning on Annihilation: Nova, Newsarama, 23 December 2006
12. ^ Abnett & Lanning: On the Eve of Nova's Return to Monthly Fun, Comics Bulletin, 9 April 2007
13. ^ Galactus, and Surfer and Skrulls – Oh My! Abnett & Lanning on Nova, Newsarama, 10 April 2008 Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
14. ^ Cosmic Conquistadors: DNA Talk "Annihilation : Conquest Prologue" & "Nova", Comic Book Resources, 30 March 2007
15. ^ Abnett & Lanning on The Guardians of the Galaxy, Newsarama, 6 March 2008
16. ^ WW Chicago: DnA Sign Exclusive Deal with Marvel, Comic Book Resources, 29 June 2008
17. ^ WWC: Abnett and Lanning...About that Marvel Exclusive, Newsarama, 28 June 2008
18. ^ CCI: DnA and Rosemann on “War of Kings”, Comic Book Resources, 27 July 2008
19. ^ Abnett and Lannig: Readying for War of Kings, Newsarama, 18 December 2008
20. ^ Richards, Dave (9 August 2009). "CCC09: DnA's "Realm of Kings"". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22467. Retrieved 9 August 2009. 
21. ^ McGloin, Matt, Luoma, Mike and Meneese, Bill (19 August 2009). "Interview with Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Bill Rosemann". Cosmic Book News. http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/articles/dnabinterview. Retrieved 31 October 2009. 
22. ^ Richards, Dave (17 November 2009). "DnA Map Out Their "Realm of Kings"". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23755. Retrieved 21 February 2010. 
23. ^ Beard, Jim (12 February 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: The Thanos Imperative". Marvel.com. http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.11310.exclusive~colon~_the_thanos_imperative. Retrieved 24 February 2010. 
24. ^ McGloin, Matt & Brewer, Byron (23 February 2010). "DnA Crank Things Up: The Thanos Imperative: Ignition". Cosmic Book News. http://cosmicbooknews.com/articles/dnat_int/. Retrieved 24 February 2010. 
25. ^ Richards, Dave (4 March 2010). "DnA Issue "The Thanos Imperative"". Comic Book Resources. http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25088. Retrieved 19 March 2010. 
26. ^ Brownfield, Troy (4 March 2010). "DnA Bring Back the God of Death in "The Thanos Imperative"". Newsarama. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Thanos-Imperative-Announcement-100304.html. Retrieved 19 March 2010. 
27. ^ Tacopina, Robert (28 May 2010). "Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning: A Cosmic Trip Through the Thanos Imperative". Comics Bulletin. http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/127503202162686.htm. Retrieved 3 June 2010. 
28. ^ Richards, Dave (23 July 2010). "CCI: DnA Go High Tech & Mythic For "Iron Man/Thor"". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=27380. Retrieved 31 July 2010. 
29. ^ Furey, Emmett (8 June 2009). "Abnett & Lanning on Marvel/Top Cow's "Fusion"". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21504. Retrieved 9 June 2009. 
30. ^ "Dan Abnett on Insurrection". 2000 AD Review. 7 March 2009. http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/site/index.php/Interviews/Dan-Abnett-on-Insurrection.html. 
31. ^ "ULTRAMARINES: Codex Pictures Announce Director and Writer!". 18 November 2009. http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/news/2009-11-18/ultramarines-codex-pictures-announce-director-and-writer. Retrieved 12 May 2010. 
32. ^ "Ultramarines movie official site". Ultramarinesthemovie.com. http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/shop. Retrieved 26 December 2010. 

External links

• Official website
• Dan Abnett's blog
• Dan Abnett at the Grand Comics Database
• Dan Abnett at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Dan Abnett at the Internet Book List

• "Dan Abnett joins our robot horde", Angry Robot, 19 March 2009
• Lexicanum page
• Loose Cannons, a 4 part mini-series (drawn by Mark Harrison) for Marvel which was never published but has been put online.

Interviews

• New DnA, Sequential Tart, December 2001
• 2004 interview with 2000ADReview
• Interview: Dan Abnett on The Real Ghostbusters, Proton Charging, 17 December 2005
• Dan Abnett talks Boom’s “Warhammer 40K” Comic, Comic Book Resources, 11 September 2006
• Bringing The Warhammer Down: Dan Abnett on Warhammer 40K: The Damnation Crusade, Newsarama, 22 December 2006
• Droid Interrogations: An Exclusive interview with Dan Abnett, Thrillpower Thursday, Hypergeek, 31 July 2009
• Comic Geek Speak Podcast (December, 2009)
• Exclusive: interview with "Legion Lost" writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning!", Legione dei Super-Eroi. 26 July 2011

Preceded by Terry Kavanagh

Iron Man writer 1995–1996 (with Terry Kavanagh)

Succeeded by Terry Kavanagh

Persondata
Name	Abnett, Dan
Alternative names
Short description	British comic book writer, novelist
Date of birth	1965-10-12
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death