Dean Ellis · Look Here

Look Here: Three SF covers with art by Dean Ellis

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The art on the covers of Judgment on Janus and Eye of the Monster is uncredited, and no signatures are visible, but as luck would have it, Judgment on Janus is identified as a painting by Dean Ellis on this page at The Illustration Exchange: Science Fiction and Fantasy Art Collectors’ Site, and Eye of the Monster is clearly by the same hand, though if you had told me that the Norton covers were painted by Paul Lehr circa 1980, I likely would have struggled to provide stylistic or technical reasons to reject the attribution. If Ellis in such paintings was actually trying to copy Lehr’s style circa 1970 — which, given Lehr’s reputation and success in SF circles, is by no means out of the question — he erred on the side of a type of over-simplification that Lehr himself often flirted with but did not fully embrace until a decade later.

Truth be told, I don’t really like Ellis’s technique here — or Lehr’s technique circa 1980. It’s too stripped down. The paint is boring. Yes, it’s precisely and decisively applied, but it lacks subtlety, depth… mystery…

Keywords: Judgment on Janus, Eye of the Monster, Space Skimmer.

Art Collection · Look Here

Look Here: Five tiny creatures by Aeron Alfrey

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Back in 2006, I purchased five small creature sketches drawn in fine-line marker on card stock by digital artist, illustrator, comicker, and blogger Aeron Alfrey. As I recall, Alfrey’s goal at the time was to draw and sell a thousand sketches and to integrate the creatures in those sketches into his “Hob Bob” comics. Here are the creatures that I selected (numbers 207, 208, 210, 226, and 281, respectively):

[CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE]

Aeron Alfrey’s Web of Sights:

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Jim Steranko

Look Here: A paperback and a “visual novel” with cover art by Steranko

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I’ve seen a few fantasy and SF paperbacks with covers by James Steranko on the shelves at local bookstores and thrift shops over the years, but I’ve rarely bothered to buy any. Here’s a scan of one that I did buy:

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I also found a copy of Steranko’s 1976 “visual novel” Chandler priced at $3.99 at the local Value Village, so I bought that, too, and scanned the cover for display:

Enjoy!

Keywords: Police Your Planet, Chandler.

Elaine Lee · Heads Up! · Michael Wm. Kaluta

Heads Up: Help Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta publish HARRY PALMER: STARSTRUCK

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Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta’s Harry Palmer: Starstruck — or “Old Proldiers Never Die” is projected to be a 176-page, “sci-fi noir graphic novel,” set in what the creators call the “Starstruck Multiverse.” The book will include 140 pages of sequential art, plus a gallery, a glossary, and special features intended “to immerse you deeply in Harry’s corner of the Multiverse.” If all goes as planned, the creators will complete work on the project in December of 2013, and the books will be printed and shipped in early 2014.

Sixty pages of Harry Palmer’s 140 page-plus story will be reprinted, in revised form, from the Marvel/Epic Starstruck series, episodes #2 and #3, while eighty brand-new story pages by Lee and Kaluta will detail Harry’s past as a rebel fighter in the revolution and a mercenary “proldier” fighting for Cyberforms in the Droid Wars as well as take us further into his very strange future.

If the fundraiser reaches its $44,000 goal — if it is 100% funded — Harry Palmer: Starstruck will be published in black and white, but if the total amount pledged reaches $69,000 — if it is 156.8% funded — Lee and Kaluta will hire a colourist and the book will be published in full colour.

I’d prefer full colour.