Special Deliverance

For those of you into robots, here is a paperback cover illustration by Chris Moore for a 1977 Clifford Simak novel, Special Deliverance, employing inks and acrylics.

X-treme

The previous post reminded me of this X-treme guy that's been hanging out in my image morgue for some years now. Sorry, I don't have a credit or provenance for it, other than it's from a design periodical.

Luke . . . I AM Your Fathah

A great conceptual rendering by Iain McCaig for that pivotal moment of transformation of the boyish Anakin Skywalker into the dread Darth Vader. At this moment, the nascent Luke and Leia feel a disturbance in the force.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Realm of the Sea

Have I told you LATELY what a big fan I am of Wm Stout's art?

"It was no less than an underseas fairyland . . ."

Mermaid

Battle in the Deep

Sea Dragon

Valkyrie

Have I told you what a big fan of William Stout's art I am?

Valkyrie

Gryphon

Have I told you what a big fan of William Stout's art I am?

Gryphon

Flint Sketches

Good golly Miss Molly, I am under deadline pressure, now and over the weekend. I'll quickly post a few images so you don't go away empty handed. These are more sketches by Sir William Russell Flint:

Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra

'Simone'

Sheet of female studies

Flandry Redux

The graphic vision of Dominic Flandry, Agent of Imperial Terra, was revisited by Michael Whelan in 1979. While totally different from Kelly Freas' style, Whelan gave Flandry a young and adventurous flair.

Below is Whelan's preliminary sketch for the above cover:

Then the art director wrote comments over it:

Whelan then made a full size pencil drawing:

Below is the painting in progress:

Below, the completed painting (acrylics on illustration board):

Below, two more in the series by Michael Whelan:

Really, read these books. They're intelligent fun!

Flandry of Terra

Frank Kelly Freas had a style that nearly bordered on caricature. Yet his cover visions of Galactic Empires were always my favorite, never failing to put me in the mood to read the book. Of course it helped that Poul Anderson was pretty good at evoking Galactic Empires with word pictures. Flandry of Terra zoomed between stars in just hours, a necessary achievement if an empire consists of thousands of stars.

Oh, It Was Heaven

1966 was a very good year for comic and fantasy collecting. It was a golden age for many of us. In the midst of all that, Flash Gordon #1 was published, with Al Williamson channeling Alex Raymond, and oh it was heaven.

I'm not posting the whole story, nor am I necessarily showing these pages in consecutive order. These are just some favorite panels from my golden age.

Bridged the Ages

Al Williamson's comix art bridged the ages, bringing Golden Age excitement into the more refined aesthetic of the Silver and Bronze Ages.

Between the Panels

And then there was Flash Gordon. Who among us hasn't been mesmerized and seduced by the adventures created by Alex Raymond?

Between the panels.

Many of you know that phrase. A cartoonist creates a world so appealing, so dynamic, so fertile, that we, as the readers, use our imaginations to create what happens in the story between the panels. Raymond gave us a premise and fulfilled it with dynamic, ever-evolving artwork—inspiring generations of active imaginations to fill in the interludes between the panels.

The comic strip inspired movie serials that acted out scenes from the world of Mongo to show us what transpired between the panels. I just re-watched those serials last night. They were poorly written, poorly acted, and poorly staged. In short, they were magnificent. Buster Crabbe (Flash) was the perfect hero, saving Jean Rogers (Dale) as the perfect damsel from the clutches of Charles Middleton (Ming), the perfect villain. I watched the dvd as if I were in the audience of a theater from long ago, unspoiled by our modern aesthetics.

There really was a particular someone in that audience of long ago who thrilled to see Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon. Someone who would go on to dream of what happened between the panels, and go further on to create panels for the rest of us to step between. Of course I'm talking about Al Williamson who, more or less, had a lifelong obsession with Flash Gordon and carried on the tradition of Alex Raymond.

Directly below is probably the first Flash Gordon drawing by Al when he was seventeen.

And here, his drawing of Buster Crabbe in the role:

Williamson's fluid sketches from over the years were dynamite—bursting with energy, swirling with action. And yes, some of his thoughts were on Barsoom as well as Mongo:

Many of his panels would show us details of the exotic flora, fauna and females of the worlds of adventure. Below, a bootleg print of a preliminary sketch:

Helpless

Here is a handsome war story by Al Williamson from Battle #55—November of 1957. As was the case with a number of his stories, Al used himself as a character model.

Movie Love

The majority of Al Williamson's work may have been sci-fi related, but when you're starting out, well, ya gotta take what's offered ya.

This little bio of Bill Holden, the actor, is from Movie Love #8—April 1951. It looks very probable that Frank Frazetta had a hand in this as well, as these guys were apt to help each other out at this time of their careers.

Sample Page

At the age of 15 or 16 (1946-47), Al Williamson created this sample page to show to Planet Comics at Fiction House—certainly as good as much of what Planet was running those days.

A Toast to Al Williamson

So many legends have passed in the last decade, as I suppose is the case in every decade. No matter how inevitable, it's always sad to lose people who have enriched our lives and imaginations.

A toast to Al Williamson and to the far places he has taken us to.

Returning Home

Michael Parkes — Returning Home — 1980

In Morocco

I love old books that promise adventure.

Au Maroc (In Morocco) is a travel memoir from 1890 by Pierre Loti, recounting a month-long journey by horseback in Morocco through Tangier, Fez and Mekinez. Henri Matisse was influenced by the book, studying it before going to Morocco to paint.