This is a small pencil drawing of a certain “Kaleb Daark” that I once did a long time ago when I should have been reading “Under Milk Wood” by Dylan Thomas in my old English class! I had recently read an episode of “The Quest of Kaleb Daark” by John Wagner and Alan Grant in a friends old copy of “The Citadel Journal” and took an instant liking to the character. The picture is a direct copy of one panel from the comic-strip itself which is why it looks so polished (in my opinion). I had the magazine on my lap in the classroom as I did the sketch!
I still have the original sketch tucked away for safe keeping and it was made on one of those square-block post-it pads. The writing looks a little crooked as I added that later while I was on the bus home.
Kaleb Daark was an interesting character that never really got started. As far as I know there were only ever three episodes to the story that Wagner and Grant wrote. “Creative differences” between the creators and Games Workshop (who owned the Warhammer Fantasy setting that Kaleb Daark took place in) led to difficulties and thus the final instalment was sadly cancelled and remained unprinted.
Kaleb Daark, the champion of the outcast fifth Chaos god known as “Malal” (who was also a creation of Wagner and Grant), found himself allied with the forces of good during his quest. His appearance was only half mutated compared to the normal servants of the Chaos gods and he wore all-black armour. His weapon of choice (not shown in the sketch) was a soul-drinking daemon axe with a pterodactyl-like head atop a haft made from a bone. This axe was known as “Dreadaxe” with Kaleb’s battle-cry being, “Come Chaos, Dreadaxe thirsts for you!“.
I don’t know if the comic has ever been republished (probably not) or even if it is possible to get a hold of today. Therefore, for the sake of posterity, I have decided to post the three instalments of the comic that do exist. I hope that you enjoy them as much I as I did. Of course, if anyone has a legal problem with this then feel free to contact me and I shall of course remove them. Just click on the links below and then click on the individual page you want to read (you might need to use your browser zoom).
The Quest of Kaleb Daark
- Part I: “The Quest of Kaleb Daark” (from “The Third Citadel Compendium”, 1985)
- Part II: “The God-Slayer!” (from “The Citadel Journal”, Spring 1986)
- Part III: “Evil of the Warpstone!” (from “The Citadel Journal”, Spring 1987)
- Part IV: “God Amok!” (Unprinted)
Cool stuff Crispian,
I remember Brett Ewins Kaleb Daark tales from the old Citadel Journal, this takes me right back.
Thanks for posting.
I just fell on your page from a google search. I was completely obsessed by that character and his axe back when i was 10 year old. Thanks so much for posting this.
i luv u
You’re quite the artist, Crispian! Do you still do illustrations? I’m afraid I’ve never heard of the character before, but it looks really interesting. 🙂
Haha! Why thank you! 🙂 It’s probably the best picture I’ve ever copied.
I do some sketching now and then, but I’m really not very good. Whenever they invent a USB port for the brain, I’ll be first in line and get those images drafted straight into Illustrator…
Kaleb Daark was a great character. There was quite a lot of fan-fiction around in the past, but for licensing reasons I don’t think there was any ‘official’ novel (I could be wrong). Shame.
That is a shame. You could always get in touch with the publisher, see if there is an interest in producing a novel! For comics, it is usually the publisher that retains the rights to a character and his universe…. You never know!