Happy 40th Birthday, Zagor!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the publication of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, by Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone.

Who knew, back in 1982, that four decades later, brand new Fighting Fantasy gamebooks would still be published, the series having sold in its millions all over the world? This achievement has been marked in a number of recent publications, including Fortean Times magazine and Tabletop Gaming magazine.

The latest titles to be released - Secrets of Salamonis by Steve Jackson, and Shadow of the Giants by Sir Ian Livingstone - will be available for sale, next Saturday, at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4.

I must be said that Zagor is looking very good after 40 years. To celebrate this landmark occasion, FF author and historian Jonathan Green, and publisher Snowbooks, are preparing a newly updated and revised edition of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, and this time it's going to be interactive!

So here's to Zagor the Warlock and his creators, Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone, and to the next 40 years of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks!

Happy 40th Birthday, Zagor!

Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks in the NME

When the Warlock was but an apprentice wizard back in the 1980s, Fighting Fantasy gamebooks were a publishing phenomenon. Do you know what else was a phenomenon? That's right - the New Musical Express.

So it seems somehow appropriate that today Fighting Fantasy gamebooks are featured on NME.com. You can read James McMahon's piece about how video games took him back to the golden age of Fighting Fantasy here.

Ian Livingstone in BBC Click's interactive 1,000th episode

To mark its 1,000th episode, Click - the BBC's user-friendly guide to the latest technology news, issues, gadgets and apps - has gone interactive. And not only that, but it features an interview with Fighting Fantasy's very own Ian Livingstone, and even a sneak peek of his new gamebook, Assassins of Allansia. Just remember to #keepthehat.

Click here to watch the interactive episode of Click.

Fighting Fantasy hasn't only been in the news online, it has also made an appearance recently in two magazines. The latest issue of Starburst magazine includes a plug for Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, while The Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Gaming features a retrospective of your favourite adventure gamebook series.

However, for a more in-depth look at the origins and influence of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, you really can't beat Jonathan Green's YOU ARE THE HERO histories.

     

Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone interviewed in Phantasmagoria Magazine

The latest issue of Phantasmagoria Magazine is a Fighting Fantasy special, featuring interviews with not only the co-creators of the series, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, but also sometime FF cover artist Les Edwards.

Other tidbits to tantalise readers include a personal tribute by the magazine's editor, Trevor Kennedy, a fiendish Top Ten of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, and an interview with FF author and historian Jonathan Green.

Available now from Amazon, and both Forbidden Planet and Comic Book Guys in Belfast, it is a must for every Fighting Fantasy fan, and even contains some exclusive FF-related news.

Fighting Fantazine #16 is here!

It's been over a year since the last edition of Fighting Fantazine was published, but now issue #16 of the fan-fuelled fanzine is here, and just in time for Scholastic's relaunch of the series too!

To download the ezine for yourself - for free! - follow this link.

Out today, Comic Heroes - featuring Freeway Fighter: The Comic!

In shops today is the latest issue of Comic Heroes...

And inside the latest issue of Comic Heroes is Ian Livingstone's Freeway Fighter: The Comic!