Blog Archives
sJeff Jones (1944-2011) was one of the most important illustrators of sword and sorcery fiction. He started out with Canaveral Press’ I am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1967. Donald Wollheim (again) jumped on the new talent for paperback covers. Jones provided art for two of Jack Vance’s “Planet of Adventure” series and […]
Manuel Sanjulian (b. 1941) is the most successful artist of the Spanish invasion of the 1970s. His first American work was for Creepy #42 (November 1971). From December 1972 to April 1974, he produced all the covers for Creepy except two montage covers for July and August 1973. Ken Kelly then produced most covers through […]
Esteban Maroto (b. 1942) was part of the “Spanish Invasion” of comic book artists in the early 1970s. He started in the 1960s in his native Spain. He had been published in the U.K. and then in the U.S. Warren Magazines reprinted the first six issues of New English Library’s Dracula series. Maroto did both […]
Don Maitz (b. 1953) is yet another artist to emerge in the middle 1970s with a legacy of sword and sorcery illustration. His website has this biography: “A native of Plainville, CT showed an early interest in drawing and received initial art training from the Famous Artist’s Correspondence School at age thirteen. Maitz attended the […]
The mid-1970s was a golden age for new artists coming on the scene: Tom Barber, Carl Lundgren, Doug Beekman, Richard Hescox, Steve Fabian etc. One of those whose career weathered the changes in book cover art is Stephen Hickman (b. 1949). His website has this to say: “Hickman’s work has earned him critical acclaim, including […]
An artist with a thirty year career in paperback cover illustration is Douglas Beekman (b. 1952). The online Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states: “After briefly studying at the Columbus College of Art and Design in his home state of Ohio, he grew dissatisfied with the school and […]
Wayne Barlowe (b. 1958) has had a very successful career in science fiction illustration. He has also done some fantasy work. From his website: “Born in Glen Cove, New York to well-known natural history artists Sy and Dorothea Barlowe, Wayne Douglas Barlowe attended the Art Students League and The Cooper Union in New York City. […]
50 YEARS OF LUPIN III: The Castle of Cagliostro
Sunday , 13, August 2017 Art, Comics, Movies 7 CommentsHeroism goes along with my job.–Lupin III After stealing bags of cash from a Monaco casino, Lupin and Jigen dump out their entire haul, recognizing the money as legendary Gothic counterfeits. Resolving to find the plates for their next caper, the thieves slip into the small Italian principality of Cagliostro. Their search is interrupted when […]
“Believe me, the painting doesn’t do him justice. He’s worse than me.”–Lupin, describing General Headhunter. To keep his nation’s treasury out of the hands of thieves, the king of Zufu moved his nation’s gold reserves to a safe house on Drifting Island. After a coup topples the heads of the king and his son, Prince […]
50 YEARS OF LUPIN III: Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone
Monday , 17, July 2017 Art, Comics, Movies 2 CommentsI owe you a bullet wound, and I’m going to make sure that debt gets paid. – Daisuke Jigen Nine days after Queen Malta’s assassination at a peace concert, a sniper ends Lupin III’s latest jewel heist with a well-placed shot, sending a bullet into Daisuke Jigen’s leg. The thieves crawl away to safety before […]
I have a soft spot for Gardner F. Fox (1911-1986). Fox is probably best remembered today as a comic book writer. He created The Flash, Hawkman, the Justice Society of America. He gave us Batman’s utility belt. Fox also had a pulp career starting with “The Weirds of the Woodcarver” in September 1944 issue of […]
Jeremiah, one of our cover artists, comments on one of his pieces. The idea behind this piece will be immediately clear to anyone who has seen, or read, The Return of the King. The story includes a scene where a series of beacons warn of an impending invasion. This piece wasn’t meant to be a […]