Science Fiction Cover Art

[Graham1973]

An old joke

 

[Graham1973]

Classic Syd Mead.

 

[Graham1973]

John Berkey's poster art for 'Star Wars'

 

[Charlesferdinand]

Another classic pulp scene...

Now there is villain's mustache if I've ever seen one

 

[Charlesferdinand]

In the pulp magazines of this time, illustrations of women abused by hunchbacks, greenish-skinned types, African savages, gangsters and sinister mandarins were frequent. Possibly because that was a good pretext to motivate the hero or to show some female flesh by circumventing censorship. But what I find fascinating is the SF illustrators' obsessive fixation on launching attractive girls into space inside a rocket or tied up on the outside. Was there a surplus of illustration models at that time?

If you put them inside, you wouldn't be able to see them, now would you?

 

[Graham1973]

Something I stumbled across on Deviant Arts, for which I need to provide some context.

This video is as good an explanation as any...

View: https://youtu.be/dqyPQ4_1nF0?si=BLZ3Z0ktfJVHVC-i


That chapter in the story has provided inspiration for many artists, but most focus on HMS Thunderchild's deathride. The artist here focuses on what followed as the Channel Fleet arrived in response to Thunderchild's last signal.

As to why, two quotes one from WWII, the other from the Napoleonic Wars give the answer.

"It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition.", Admiral Andrew Cunningham when ordering RN to assist in the evacuation of Crete in 1941.

"The Hell with it! Up wi' the hel'lem and gang into the middle o't!" Captain John Inglis of HMS Belliquex after trying to decode the series of signals sent out by Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown, 1797. (HMS Belliquex had not been issued with the latest version of the RN code book...)

 

[Graham1973]

Returning to cover art, the cover by Karl Stephan to the 11th volume in the German Sci-Fi series 'Terra Nova', 'The Threat From Space'.

 

[Graham1973]

The cover by Johnny Bruck to the 1753rd volume in the long running German Sci-Fi series 'Perry Rhodan', 1995s 'The Crypers'

 

[Justo Miranda]

Something I stumbled across on Deviant Arts, for which I need to provide some context.

This video is as good an explanation as any...

View: https://youtu.be/dqyPQ4_1nF0?si=BLZ3Z0ktfJVHVC-i


That chapter in the story has provided inspiration for many artists, but most focus on HMS Thunderchild's deathride. The artist here focuses on what followed as the Channel Fleet arrived in response to Thunderchild's last signal.

As to why, two quotes one from WWII, the other from the Napoleonic Wars give the answer.

"It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition.", Admiral Andrew Cunningham when ordering RN to assist in the evacuation of Crete in 1941.

"The Hell with it! Up wi' the hel'lem and gang into the middle o't!" Captain John Inglis of HMS Belliquex after trying to decode the series of signals sent out by Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown, 1797. (HMS Belliquex had not been issued with the latest version of the RN code book...)

When I first read this story by Wells I was moved by the Thunderchild's brave action, I wonder if that name has ever been used on a real ship.

"It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition.", Admiral Andrew Cunningham when ordering RN to assist in the evacuation of Crete in 1941.

Unfortunately, the Royal Navy's courageous tradition of not abandoning its own was not continued by some American naval officers who became presidents.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

When I first read this story by Wells I was moved by the Thunderchild's brave action, I wonder if that name has ever been used on a real ship.

"It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition.", Admiral Andrew Cunningham when ordering RN to assist in the evacuation of Crete in 1941.

Unfortunately, the Royal Navy's courageous tradition of not abandoning its own was not continued by some American naval officers who became presidents.

Some? Which ones?

Kennedy was a PT boat commander
Nixon was a supply and administrative officer
Ford was the recreation and morale officer on a CVL
Carter was a nuclear power submarine officer, and had already had a career in surface combatants.
Bush I was a naval aviator
LBJ was sort of a naval officer but never actually did anything

Of the group, the only one I have issues with being a US Navy Chief (ret.) is LBJ.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Some? Which ones?

Kennedy was a PT boat commander
Nixon was a supply and administrative officer
Ford was the recreation and morale officer on a CVL
Carter was a nuclear power submarine officer, and had already had a career in surface combatants.
Bush I was a naval aviator
LBJ was sort of a naval officer but never actually did anything

Of the group, the only one I have issues with being a US Navy Chief (ret.) is LBJ.

Iran hostage crisis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is not often that someone goes down in history remembered for what they did not do, but some succeed.

 

[Graham1973]

The cover by Alfred Kelsner, for the 2007th volume of 'Perry Rhodan', 2000s 'The Treasure Divers'.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Iran hostage crisis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is not often that someone goes down in history remembered for what they did not do, but some succeed.

On that note:

Bay of Pigs Invasion - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Justo Miranda]

On that note:

Bay of Pigs Invasion - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What is the first law of the sea?

We don't abandon anyone.

 

[Graham1973]

Another proof of the cultural shadow cast by the 1977 film 'Star Wars' in the form of Eddie Jones cover for 'Die Welten des Philip Totin' (1978) by Marianne Sydow.

 

[Graham1973]

Cover by an artist using the psudonym 'Morey' for the December 1936 issue of 'Amazing Stories'. This is the first appearance on the cover, but the second appearance in Sci-Fi history of 'Space Marines' (The first appearance was in the November 1932 issue of 'Amazing Stories' in a tale by the same author.), even if these ones probably derive from the USMC....

 

[Michel Van]

from Perry Rhodan issue 3305
cover by Dirk Schultz

 

[Graham1973]

The title illustration by the artist who used the psudonym 'Morey' to the 1932 short story 'Captain Brink of the Space Marines' by Bob Olsen, as far as can be determined the first time the term 'Space Marines' was used in Science Fiction.

 

[Hicks]

Cover by an artist using the psudonym 'Morey'....

A better version, found via reddit

P.S. : The reddit thread also got some related links that i copy here in case it get scrubbed.
https://fineart.ha.com/itm/fine-art...7016-96194.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

https://www.pulpartists.com/Morey.html

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1808

 

[Graham1973]

A Syd Mead picture with an interesting backstory. The artist was inspired by the designs from the bikes that appeared in the anime film 'Akira'. The designer for that film Katsuhiro Otomo stated he'd drawn his inspriation from the lightcycles Syd Mead had designed for the Disney film 'TRON', hence the title I've given the piece.

 

[Graham1973]

Bob Eggleton's vision of a world where things went only slightly different.....

 

[Graham1973]

Bruce Pennington's cover to the second volume of the 'Science Fiction Hall of Fame' anthology series. This 1973 volume was edited by Ben Bova.

 

[Justo Miranda]

If and more

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-3

 

[Justo Miranda]

Retro

 

[Justo Miranda]

Bob Eggleton's vision of a world where things went only slightly different.....

When the tail rubs against the lunar soil the suit will lose pressure, this mutation does not make sense in a biped that walks in a vertical position because in real life it evolved as a counterweight to an almost horizontal body.

 

[Michel Van]

Moebius (Jean Giraud)

If you ask "what to hell was he smoking ?"
The Answer: Cannabis, also Mescaline and possibly LSD
His Comic The Airtight Garage was drawn under cannabis influence...

 

[Graham1973]

The cover by Chris Foss for the 1973 edition of 'Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home' by Alice Hastings Bradley (Pen name: James Tiptree Jr.)

 

[Graham1973]

A scene from the 1980 book 'The Space Warriors' by Stewart Cowley. Possibly by Eddie Jones. If this looks familiar it probably drew inspiration from 'Star Wars' as did an artwork by William H. Keith featured earlier in the thread. As to where 'Star Wars' took it's inspiration, see the cover of 'Northwest of Earth' by C. L. Moore.

 

[Michel Van]

Moebius (jean Giraud) made also Sci-If book Cover for French Publisher

Sci-fi Magazine Fiction

Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny for French edition of Galaxy

Soldier, Ask Not by G.R. Dickson for French edition of Galaxy

Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut jr.

 

[starviking]

The cover by Chris Foss for the 1973 edition of 'Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home' by Alice Hastings Bradley (Pen name: James Tiptree Jr.)

Though originally the cover for “The View from the Stars” by Walter M. Miller.

Cover from ISFDB

 

[Graham1973]

An picture by an unidentified artist from an unidentified book, but which is clearly affected by the cultural shadow of 'Star Wars'

 

[Graham1973]

A 'Star Wars' influenced piece by artist David Hardy, just which book, or books it was used for is unknown.

 

[Graham1973]

The titling-free version of the cover Ralph McQuarrie created for 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' (1978) by Alan Dean Foster, the literary sequel to the film 'Star Wars' and a work that ended up being somewhat askew to the series as it developed. It's a credit to the rights holder's that this one is still in print.

 

[Justo Miranda]

A better version, found via reddit

P.S. : The reddit thread also got some related links that i copy here in case it get scrubbed.
https://fineart.ha.com/itm/fine-art...7016-96194.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

https://www.pulpartists.com/Morey.html

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1808

It is interesting that in 1936 the cartoonist did not know the concept of the anti-shock seat and it seemed natural to him that the marine's back was unprotected, as in the fighters of the First World War. The first examples of back armor were used during the Spanish Civil War.

The concepts of acceleration and inertia only began to reach the world of comics with some drawings of anti-G suits published in Flash Gordon (March 1939).

 

[Rhinocrates]

The titling-free version of the cover Ralph McQuarrie created for 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' (1978) by Alan Dean Foster, the literary sequel to the film 'Star Wars' and a work that ended up being somewhat askew to the series as it developed. It's a credit to the rights holder's that this one is still in print.

Read it some time ago back in the Cambrian.

The setting was on a mist-shrouded swamp planet and the caverns beneath its surface. The story I read about the book itself later that it was a potential sequel for Star Wars if it was only a moderate success and there would be a reduced budget. Fog and gloom certainly save on set construction costs. Of course the swamp planet idea was used in the end...

 

[martinbayer]

A word of caution - some of the covers posted in this thread I would consider pure fantasy rather than hardcore science fiction. Please keep mindless unicorn princess fairy dragon gnome wizard drivel out of this thread.

 

[Graham1973]

An Eddie Jones illustration (No idea what for.) dating from 1977, and clearly painted close to the release date of 'Star Wars'...

 

[Antonio]

A word of caution - some of the covers posted in this thread I would consider pure fantasy rather than hardcore science fiction. Please keep mindless unicorn princess fairy dragon gnome wizard drivel out of this thread.

The tittle and location of the thread is ok for posting art, regardless the more or less fantastic aspects. To me, that's ok.
May be another thread could be opened for hard science fiction art only?