‘Stormbringer’ (graphic adaptations)

Stormbringer

Stormbringer by James Cawthorn;
Manchester: Savoy outsized paperback, 1976;
original price:  £1·00 (not shown);
32 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-7045-0226-7 (not shown);
cover artist:  Cawthorn (also interior).

OMNIBUS
Elric: The Eternal Champion Collection;
London: Titan outsized hardcover, 2021 (23rd February);
graphic adaptations by James Cawthorn and Philippe Druillet (see below…);
(originally published separately, as Stormbringer [above] by Savoy, 1976, and Elric: The Return To Melnibone (sic; script by Michael Moorcock) by Unicorn, 1973)
original price (omnibus):  £17·99;
72 pages;
includes Introductions (non-fiction) by Michael Moorcock and Druillet;
also includes ‘Elric And The Artists’ (non-fiction, q.v.) by John Davey;
I.S.B.N.:  9781785869556;
cover artist:  Druillet.

(+ later reprint[s])

Contents:-
p. 4: Introduction (non-fiction) by Michael Moorcock;
p. 5: Introduction (non-fiction) by Philippe Druillet;
p. 6: Stormbringer (graphic adaptation) by James Cawthorn;
p. 38: Elric: The Return To Melniboné (graphic novel) by Moorcock & Druillet;
p. 60: ‘Elric And The Artists’ (non-fiction) by John Davey.

Law And Chaos by Wendy Pini;
Poughkeepsie: Father Tree Press outsized hardcover (signed ltd. ed.; 1,000 copies) and simultaneous paperback, 1987 (November);
as “Law & Chaos” on front cover (only);
sub-titled “The ‘Stormbringer’ Animated Film Project” on title page;
alternatively sub-titled “The Stormbringer Art Of Wendy Pini” on copyright page;
original prices:  $40·00 (h/c), $16·95 (p/b);
128 pages;
I.S.B.N.s:  0-936861-05-3 (h/c), 0-936861-04-5 (p/b);
cover artist:  Pini (also interior).

Not an adaptation, as such, but graphic nonetheless: conceptual artwork for a film that was never made.

Elric: Stormbringer: eight-part graphic adaptation by P. Craig Russell (coloured by Lovern Kindzierski); New York: Topps Comics/Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 1996/’97 comics.

No. 0 (a “prelude”): Neil Gaiman’s ‘One Life – Furnished In Early Moorcock’, August 1996, $2·95, 32 pages (includes ‘Stormbringer: A Preview’ (pp. 27–32), published by Topps (only).
No. 2, March 1997, $2·95, 28 pages.
No. 4, June 1997, $2·95, 28 pages.
No. 6, August 1997, $2·95, 28 pages (includes “a bibliography of the Eternal Champion” by Michael Moorcock).
OMNIBUS
Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics outsized paperback, 1998 (June);
original price:  $17·95;
224 pages;
introductions (non-fiction) by Mike Friedrich & Russell;
includes Neil Gaiman’s ‘One Life – Furnished In Early Moorcock’,  ‘Stormbringer: A Preview’ & covers gallery;
afterword (non-fiction) by Russell;
I.S.B.N.:  1-56971-336-7;
cover artist:  Russell.
No. 1, February 1997, $2·95, 28 pages, published by Dark Horse & Topps.


No. 3, May 1997, $2·95, 28 pages.
No. 5, July 1997, $2·95, 27 pages.
No. 7, September 1997, $2·95, 29 pages.

London: Titan Comics hardcover, 2021 (July 20th);
dated “June” on copyright page;
part of the Michael Moorcock Library;
original price:  £21·99;
208 pages;
includes  ‘My Friend Elric: An Introduction’ (non-fiction) by Russell;
does not include Neil Gaiman’s ‘One Life – Furnished In Early Moorcock’ or ‘Stormbringer: A Preview’, but does include covers gallery & “Next Issue Art”;
I.S.B.N.:  9781787737259;
cover artist:  Russell.

N.B.
Elric: Stormbringer, 2014 (Glénat, France)/2015 (Titan, U.K.), written by Julien Blondel & Jean-Luc Cano, art by Julien Telo, Robin Recht & Didier Poli, is not a graphic adaptation of the novel Stormbringer, but the second half of a two–part adaptation of Elric Of Melniboné.

The Stormbringer Sessions: Sketches For A Graphic Novel by James Cawthorn;
London: Jayde Design (in association with Savoy Books) outsized hardcover, 2021 (March 1st);
“This edition includes one hundred [decorated] slip-cased copies numbered from 1 to 100, one hundred trade copies branded ‘TR’ and fifty complimentary copies (for contributors, legal deposit, review, etc.) branded ‘C.C.’.”;
limited edition issued with loose-leaf print;
original prices:  £90·00 (ltd.), £35·00 (trade);
272 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  978-09575764-3-8;
cover artist:  Cawthorn (also interior);
introduction by John Davey;
afterword by David Britton.

The Stormbringer Sessions is not a finished graphic novel, as such. Neither is it merely a book of rough sketches. While organising James Cawthorn’s archive for deposit at Oxford University’s world-renowned Bodleian Library, two boxes were discovered labelled “Stormbringer Roughs” and “Stormbringer Strip Photocopies”. In combination, they comprised a complete set of the artist’s incredibly detailed preliminary sketches for an ultimately unrealised, brand-new graphic adaptation of Stormbringer.