Comic Review 108 // Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar Issue 1

What happens when you combine one of the biggest wargames franchises with one of the biggest comic book franchises? The answer is right here, so you best keep reading. As always please take the time to hit subscribe to support my blog it means a lot.

So earlier this year, sometime during the early phase of COVID, Games Workshop teased that Marvel was creating a Warhammer 40,000 comic. The theme of the first series is the poster boy himself Marneus Calgar and the Ultramarines. So the hype train ready to leave the station I am hopping on board and seeing where this adventure will take me.

Genres: Sci-Fi

Publisher: Marvel

Writer: Kieron Gillen

Artist: Jacen Burrows

Publication date: October 14, 2020

Fluff: In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war…The saga of WARHAMMER 40,000 comes to Marvel Comics! MARNEUS CALGAR, the legendary Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, leads his elite Space Marines against humanity’s greatest threats in a galaxy engulfed in endless war. Kieron Gillen (UNCANNY X MEN, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, The Wicked + The Divine) spearheads the initiative with this introductory miniseries, illustrated by Jacen Burrows (PUNISHER: SOVIET, MOON KNIGHT, Crossed)--and we’re just getting started! Now, witness Marneus Calgar’s never-before-told origin story, from his beginnings on Nova Thulium, to his campaigns in the Black Crusades, and to the unfolding mystery of the BLACK ALTAR, as a deadly threat from his past reemerges to threaten the present of the Ultramar system. This all-new tale is essential reading for 40K aficionados, as well as the perfect primer to the world of WARHAMMER 40,000 for those new to the universe. See the Ultramarines in glorious combat, the strife between the worlds of the Imperium, and witness the larger than life characters who preside over it all! This is but the first foray into the larger darkness that is to come from Warhammer and Marvel Comics. Be prepared.

Well it sounds good so far, the cover is what I've come to expect from franchises, meaning it clean and kid-friendly, no grimdark to be found here. Marneus is front and centre blazing away at some unseen foe and the colour palette is bright enough to be eye-catching, so far okay feelings.

Some great full-page images greet us and get the story moving. Set after the 13th Black Crusade the Imperium is battered and bruised. Marneus is overseeing the restoration of Nova Thulium, an agri-world in the Macragge System, which is seemingly having a heretic problem. We also discover in these opening pages that this is the birth world of Marneus himself! Here begins the first flashback.

In our flashback, we have a young Marneus child of an aristocrat training with his childhood friends in the hopes of becoming a Space Marine. His parents wanted this to become a reality and so have hired a tutor to train the young Marneus. Wishing his friends to have the same opportunities and training, Marneus has spent his inheritance in ensuring they are apart of his training too. Soon the four youths are shipping off to a frozen moon above Nova Thulium - their first challenge is to cross the frozen valley and survive the Ambulls that are native to the moon!

Back in the current timeline, the story moves to the same moon. Here we find two tech adepts discussing rebuilding before being ambushed by two traitorous Black Legion Space Marines who are seeking to ambush and kill Marneus.

Here endeth the first issue. To be honest, this was a lot better than I could have expected, artwork though kid-friendly was gory and awe-inspiring. The story seems to have a good plot and the flashbacks are a welcomed edition as we finally get to learn of Marneus and how he became the hero of 40K. I am excited to see where it goes from here,

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and thanks for reading.

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