The Livingstone Art Museum

When I heard that Ian Livingstone -- co-creator of Fighting Fantasy, co-founder of Games Workshop, and without whom this blog would very probably have never been started -- was to receive a knighthood in the New Year's Honours, I thought I should probably come up with something to pay tribute to the great man. And what I came up with was this: a guide to the various times Sir Ian cameoed in the illustrations of his own adventure gamebooks.

#5 Deathtrap Dungeon

In a fitting start to this post, Ian's very first appearance (provided by Iain McCaig, these days better known for working as a concept artist in Hollywood movies, notably designing many Star Wars characters including Darth Maul and Princess Amidala) is as a prisoner in the titular dungeon who's had his right hand cut off. Should you free him, he'll explain that he entered the Trial of Champions four years previously but failed and has been a slave and prisoner ever since. How metatextual this is is up for debate, but he does provide an important clue as reward for freeing him (namely that collecting precious gems is vital to winning the game).

#9 Caverns of the Snow Witch

You may think that Gary Ward & Edward Crosby's unique "woodcut" illustrations might prevent Livingstone from making a recognisable appearance, but one of the Healer's masks has a very distinctive moustache:

#36 Armies of Death

Livingstone appears in two of Nik Williams' illustrations in this book! He's Obigee, the owner of the inn you stay at in Zengis:

If you listen to Obigee's stories of his days as a boat racer, he shows you an old picture of his crew:

Choosing to listen to Obigee rather than immediately retiring to bed also gets you a sword with a +1 SKILL bonus.

#50 Return to Firetop Mountain

But Obigee's stories also have a basis in reality; Games Workshop sponsored an Ultra 30 race team who won the Daily Telegraph Ultra 30 Grand Prix UK Championship in 1990 and 1991. (Yes, the other characters in Obigee's picture are based on members of the team.) Return to Firetop Mountain was dedicated to that team ("without whom this book would not have been necessary" -- this dedication only appears in Puffin editions, not the Wizard or Scholastic reprints), and their Ultra 30 boat was the basis for this illustration by Martin McKenna:

Livingstone himself also appears as the Inquisitor, who sets several maths-based puzzles for the player to solve, the first of which is regarding the values of his sword and dagger:

#54 Legend of Zagor

This is an interesting book for Livingstone to cameo in -- because, as is well-documented, it was ghostwritten by Keith Martin after Livingstone realised he wouldn't have the time to write it! (An explanation is available for this: this book was also illustrated by McKenna, who made a point of putting Livingstone into an illustration somewhere if he was illustrating one of Livingstone's books.) Regardless, he's the merchant in the castle, from whom the player can buy all manner of equipment, learn more if they've previously found out his real name, and also die if they attempt to steal from him:

(Also, this is something I think has literally just hit me for the first time right now: Keith Martin's real name was Carl Sargent. The castle is called Castle Argent. Maybe it shouldn't have taken Livingstone admitting the truth about the book's authorship over twenty years later for it to become more than rumour...)

#60 Eye of the Dragon

And similarly to the last example, McKenna also slipped Livingstone in as the merchant in the first new FF adventure in over a decade:

#65 Blood of the Zombies

Here's a nice one, especially for the 30th anniversary book -- Kevin Crossley slips him in as the stone bust here:

Livingstone also has two other cameos in FF spin-offs, in both of which he appears alongside co-creator Steve Jackson. Firstly, they're both portraits (with John Blanche's distinctive, Goya-inspired artwork) in the merchant's shop in the fourth Sorcery! book, The Crown of Kings:

And finally, from The Riddling Reaver, an offshoot of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy range designed for D&D-style multiplayer adventures, an illustration by Brian Williams which I feel it is best to end this article with, with no further context or explanation: