"This day's experience, set in order, none of it left ragged or lying about, all of it gathered in like treasure and finished with, set aside." –Alice Munro, "What is Remembered"
I bought these two paperbacks with covers by Richard Powers on Thursday morning at “Poor Michael’s Bookshop, Art, & Cafe” in Onanole, Manitoba, just south of Riding Mountain National Park, along with several increasingly-hard-to-find paperbacks with Robert McGinnis and Paul Lehr covers that I’ll post another time and a delicious cup of dark-roast coffee, black, no sugar. Actually, I have quite a few paperbacks from the fifties and sixties with McGinnis covers that I’d like to post. It’s just a matter of finding the time to scan them and type the captions…
ABOVE: Clifford Simak, Destiny Doll (New York: Berkley, 1975), with cover by Richard Powers.
ABOVE: Judith Merril, ed., Path into the Unknown (New York: Dell, 1968), with cover by Richard Powers.
To view all five of the covers by Richard Powers that I’ve posted so far, click here.
I purchased the following Andre Norton paperbacks with covers by Jeffrey Jones on Monday from a small shop in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. I found the shop totally by accident. My wife, our son, and I were en route to Dauphin, Manitoba, but since we were ahead of schedule and had some time to kill before lunch in Yorkton, we decided to drive around a bit and see what stores were open in the downtown area. We went up and down a couple of streets, and then we noticed a shop called “Thrifty Mama’s” that had a display of books in the window. Being a trio of bibliophiles, we couldn’t resist checking it out — and discovered that at least half of the floorspace in “Thrifty Mama’s” is dedicated to used books, mostly paperbacks. Score!
Now, I know I’ve posted the cover of Uncharted Stars before, but the book this time around is in much better condition. In fact, all four are really glossy and tight. And they all sport excellent Jones covers. Enjoy!
BONUS IMAGE (added 04 October 2013):
A more recent acquisition:
Keywords:Postmarked to the Stars, Sea Siege, Uncharted Stars, Sargasso of Space.
The cover of The Three Faces of Time, which I bought yesterday at a used book store in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, is uncredited, and no signature is visible, but it sure looks like the work of Jeffrey Jones, circa 1968-69, to me.
ABOVE: Jack Williamson, Seetee Shock (New York: Lancer, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Frank Belknap Long, The Three Faces of Time (New York: Tower, 1969), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
UPDATE (24 July 2010):
This just in: reader Patrick Hill points out in the comments section of this post that Jones informed him ten years ago that he (Jones) swiped the pose of the main figure in Seetee Shock and The Three Faces of Time from “H2O World,” with story by Larry Ivie and art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel. Here’s the ocular proof:
ABOVE: Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel (artists), first page complete, "H2O World," Creepy #1 (1964), page 10.
ABOVE: Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel (artists), first page detail, "H2O World," Creepy #1 (1964), page 10.
If nothing else, the above news should make Maroto fans smile.
This story from Epic Illustrated #27 (December 1984) not only is “dedicated to the memory of Roy G. Krenkel” but also includes a lovely tribute to Jeffrey Jones, whose girl sculpture — according to comic-book creator, film-maker, and friend of Al Williamson, Kevin VanHook — sat behind Williamson at his drawing board around the time the story was created.
It is also interesting to note that Williamson based the character of Kirth on British actor Stewart Granger (1913 – 1993). Williamson has made Kirth’s nose somwhat shorter and more rounded than Granger’s, but Granger is definitely Williamson’s model here. Enjoy!
ABOVE: John Buscema, pencils and inks, Conan the Barbarian #162 (Marvel Comics: September 1984), page 1.
ABOVE: Joe Kubert, pencils and inks, Tarzan #213 (DC: October 1972), p. 1.
Buscema, in answer to the question, “Who is your favourite comic artist?”:
I’ll tell you, I’m at the point where I’m not impressed with anyone anymore. I was always looking for the good draftsmanship. Later on, I became interested in the story-telling aspect of comics. I think Hal Foster is perhaps the best story-teller in comics. As was Milton Caniff. A lot of guys, like Roy Crane — all great.
I did admire them, but now that I’m older, I’ve been in it for so many years, I can see things that I didn’t see before. I have the experience now. I have all the books of the collected works of Raymond, and of Hal Foster, and I’ve looked at the work of the old timers, and I’m not as impressed anymore. In fact, I see a lot of things they did, they could have improved upon. I see things now that leave me cold. I’m not impressed with anything in comics today. The only thing in recent times that I was impressed with, but not really floored by, was Tarzan by Joe Kubert. I think it was one of the best comics produced, of all times. I admire the guy. I think he’s fantastic, I really do. But that’s it. Maybe I’m too close to comics.
[The Art of John Buscema: Volume One (Sal Quartuccio, 1978), p. 9 (or 11, if you count the front cover and inside front)]
Kubert, on the importance of life drawing vs. copying from the masters:
Fine artists have learned through the ages by painting from sculptures and copying classic works but, when it comes to really knowing the figure, if you try to learn from copying other people’s drawings you end up with a double exaggeration. This especially holds true when the person who has really affected you and inspired you to draw like them is drawing an exaggerated figure to begin with. When you try to learn from an artist (comics or other) who is adding exaggeration, you end up exaggerating even more, which removes the figure from reality. One could be copying Mark Silvestri, who’s copying John Buscema, who’s copying Hal Foster, who did Life [sic] drawing! I find that, going back to Life drawing is like going back to the well — the source of inspiration — and it is a necessity which I find it [sic] absolutely essential.
Continuing my little tribute to Al Williamson here at RCN, here is a story from the farewell issue (#34 [February 1986]) of Epic Illustrated, with story by Archie Goodwin and art by Al Williamson. The story includes a number of references to other artists and their work, including an homage to Frederic Leighton’s Perseus and Andromeda (1891) and a swipe from a publicity photo of Sophia Loren that was taken 35 years before “Out of Phase” was published! I’ve posted JPEGs of both of those swipes, dear reader, just because I think you might enjoy seeing them:
BONUS LINKS:
The Golden Age: Al Williamson: March 21, 1931 ~ June 12, 2010, posted by Mr. Door Tree — includes the story “Food for Thought” from Incredible Science Fiction #32 (Nov.-Dec. 1955), with suitably incredible art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel
Somebody out there likes Paul Lehr’s work; I know this not because people post to tell me they like it but because the Ragged Claws Network blog stats show regular visits to the Paul Lehr category. So, on with the show:
ABOVE: Josephine Bell, Easy Prey (New York: Ballantine, 1959), with cover art by Paul Lehr.
ABOVE: Robert Wells, Candle in the Sun (New York: Berkley, 1971), with cover art by Paul Lehr.
ABOVE: Larry Niven, John Brunner, and Jack Vance, Three Trips in Time and Space (New York: Dell, 1974), with cover art by Paul Lehr.
Keywords:Easy Prey, Candle in the Sun, Three Trips in Time and Space.
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