Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-9026161-20130719005722/@comment-27890440-20160313183335

Ooooh, not so clear cut on the Space Marines, the Lensman books used the concept shortly prior to the original Starship Troopers (somewhere in the mid-late 1930s, could google it for the exact date but it's not important). On the other hand Rick Priestley stated on a number of occasions back in the day that the main inspiration was from Storm Troopers (check out the RT version and how different they were - it seems believable).

To me at least, though the most amazing re use that GW have engaged in is the Chaos Pantheon and specifically the eight pointed star which were both lifted from Michael Moorcocks "Eternal Champion" series.

Contrary to popular myth the star is neither a GW creation nor some traditional occult symbol of evil, rather it originated as a doodle he put on a cornflake box sometime in the 1960s, then interspersed through his Elric of Melnibone books as a paragraph divider. He opts not to quibble copyright as he's quite flattered by the homage GW is effectively paying him.

I had the pleasure of meeting him once (unlike a colleague of mine who has played drums for him on a number of occasions and can boast being on first name terms) and was amused to be told that he actually still has that cornflake box with the world's very first chaos symbol on it.