A great performance of a great song:
Out of Context: “You’re a real pal! I think you’re swell!”
Ragged Claws Network now on Twitter…
RCN’s Twitter handle is @RaggedClawsNet:
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Heads Up: “Team Cul de Sac” art auctions now open for business!
The bidding at Heritage Auctions actually opened on 27 May 2012, so I’m a bit late with this, obviously — although RCN did feature information about the auction back on 17 November 2011 — but anyway, not to worry: you still have until 10 June 2012 to make a play for a beautiful work of original art like this one, entitled “Queen Alice in Wonderland,” by cartoonist David Clark:
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You can browse through the various Team Cul de Sac auction listings via this link.
From the official auction announcement:
Team Cul de Sac was created to honor Richard Thompson, creator of the award-winning comic strip, Cul de Sac, after his recent Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Cartoonists, artists, illustrators, and animators have donated original artwork for this auction, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the Michael J. Fox Foundation to support Parkinson¹s research. The auction ends June 10 at 10:00 p.m. The artwork is also collected in a book, Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson’s (Andrews McMeel Publishing), to be published June 5, 2012. A portion of the proceeds from the book will also be directed to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Look Here: Two paperbacks with first-rate cover art by Frazetta
Freshly scanned by yours truly:
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Out of Context: “Here’s a bag full of nickels!”
Rest in Peace: Leo Dillon (1933 – 2012)
In a post on the Tor.com blog dated 29 May 2012, Irene Gallo announced the passing of Leo Dillon, one half of the legendary husband-and-wife illustration team of Leo and Diane Dillon. Leo was 79 years old.
Here, in remembrance of Leo Dillon, is a teeny-tiny sampler from the magnificent body of work the Dillons created together (although the Tolstoy cover from 1961 is just signed “Dillon,” so I suppose it might just be rare example of a solo cover illustration by Leo; yes, Leo and Diane were married in 1957, but my understanding is that they didn’t immediately begin to do all of their illustration work as a team); the covers have been scanned by yours truly, from books in my own collection:
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Not that it matters, but I have to say 1) that Who’s in Rabbit’s House? is one of my favourite children’s books of all time, and 2) that my enduring affection for the book is entirely due to the Dillon’s expressive character designs and sly, energetic, innovative staging of the story.
To view all of the covers with art by Leo and Diane Dillon that I’ve posted so far here at RCN, click here.
BONUS IMAGE:
From an online auction, here’s a scan of Leo and Diane Dillon’s original art for the cover of John Brunner’s The Traveler in Black:
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Look Here: A fifth obscure paperback cover by Frazetta
Yes, here it is, another “treasure” from my very own library of folded, spindled, and mutilated SF&F pulperbacks:
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Obscure for a reason, obviously…
Look Here: Three John Boyd novels with cover art by Peter Cross
I only have three paperbacks with covers by Peter Cross, and here they all are:
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Truth be told, I don’t think any of the above covers is really very good. They deliver an immediate visual punch, and so are well-suited to their purpose, which is to attract attention on crowded bookstore shelves, but they don’t reward close examination for the simple reason that the drawing is weak, and the technique, much too simple. They’re the cover-illustration equivalent of black-light posters and black-velvet paintings, both of which were at the height of their popularity in the 1970s, which is when those editions of John Boyd’s novels were published.
Out of Context: “I see it! I’m getting out of the way!”
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