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The Retro Pulp Art of Tim Anderson

The Retro Pulp Art of Tim Anderson

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blade-runner-pulpWe love pulp fiction. And we love classic SF & fantasy movies.

So what’s not to love about Tim Anderson’s re-imaginings of classic SF films as pulp paperbacks?

Anderson is a concept designer for Electronic Arts in Salt Lake City. He’s also worked as a concept designer for Paramount Licensing, Inc., Radical Comics, and various independent filmmakers.

He’s started working on a personal side project that he hoped would motivate him “into thinking more graphically,” a series of highly detailed period paperback covers for some of the most famous SF films of the 20th Century.

Here’s what he says about his Blade Runner piece at right (click for a bigger version):

If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a huge sci-fi fan, and a huge fan of Ridley Scott. Here’s a pulp cover I have had in the works off and on for a while now. I was inspired by the detective pulp covers of Robert McGinnis. If ever there was a sci-fi movie that lent itself well to a detective pulp cover, it’s Blade Runner.

Anyone who’s a fan of the great Robert McGinnis is okay by us.

Check out Tim Anderson’s versions of Alien, The Matrix and others here.

Art of the Genre: Top 10 Literary Sci-Fi/Fantasy Covers of the 1970s

Art of the Genre: Top 10 Literary Sci-Fi/Fantasy Covers of the 1970s

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John Berkey WILL appear on this list... but where and when?
John Berkey WILL appear on this list... but where and when?

I was born in 1971, which makes me old, but not too old, at least in my mind. Although I was indeed a living creature on this planet during the bulk of the 1970s I didn’t really have much conscious thought that was dedicated to anything resembling fiction.

Sure, I saw Star Wars at the local cinema, I had the action figures, but that was about as close to anything literary as I got, the bulk of my time sucked up with Hot Wheels and green-plastic army men. However, while I was learning to walk, potty on a toilet, ride a bike, and crushing on my first girlfriend, the forces of American fantasy art were going into overdrive around me.

Truly, the 1970s was a creative bloom in fantasy and science fiction art, and although I do enjoy both the 60s and even the 50s, I think it is best I start with the decade where this genre moved from the minds of a chosen few to the big time of the greater American consciousness.

As I grew along up, my appreciation for art in general started to move me into the realm of fantasy books and their unreal covers. That’s not to say that 1970s art played directly into this progression, as I was really a child of the 1980s, but the greater knowledge I gained of the industry as a whole, the more I appreciated the groundbreaking art from the decade of my birth.

So, today, having spent nearly twenty years studying the fantasy art industry, and ten of that working directly in it, I’ve grown to love the literary art of the 1970s and wanted to share with you my thoughts concerning some of the very best it had to offer.

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Return of the Barbarian Prince

Return of the Barbarian Prince

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barbarian-prince-256If you’ve spent much time on the Black Gate website you’ve probably seen Barbarian Prince get mentioned at least once.

A solo board game from the 80s designed by Arnold Hendrick, Barbarian Prince is a little like one of those old “choose your own” adventure books, except that the order of events is far more random, for they’re generated by rolling on a number of tables depending upon your location on the map and are partly affected by choices you have made and gear and allies you may have accumulated in your travels.

It never plays the same way twice, and a lot of us find it glorious fun — although it is difficult to win. John O’Neill is a huge fan of the game, and he got me interested some years back when he gave me an extra copy he had lying around.

When I heard rumors of an unofficial redesign over at BoardGameGeek, I dropped by to take a look and was incredibly impressed. Someone — Todd Sanders, as it turns out — had gotten permission to create a new game board, pieces, and redesign the layout of the rule and event books.

The result was brilliant, beautiful, and a completely professional product.

It’s available, free, for anyone who wants to download the files and create their own version of the game (the original version of Barbarian Prince is also available for free download, courtesy of Reaper Miniatures and Dwarfstar Games).

I contacted Todd to learn more about his redesign and what had inspired it, and discovered he was responsible for a number of stunning games of his own creation.

We talked last week about game design, Print and Play games, and, naturally, Barbarian Prince. Larger versions of the lovely game boards can be seen by clicking on their pictures.

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Cinderella Jump Rope Rhymes

Cinderella Jump Rope Rhymes

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cinderella-jump-rope-rhymes1Cabinet des Fées presents Cinderella Jump Rope Rhymes!

These are not the rhymes you jumped rope to as a child.

Erzebet YellowBoy announced on March 12th:

“Cinderella Jump Rope Rhymes shows you what a childhood pastime looks like when you dial macabre up to eleven. If playground fun got married to the genetically engineered child of Joss Whedon and Neil Gaiman, their offspring would be Cinderella Jump Rope Rhymes.

…In tribute to all of the animal friends and helpers without whom our fairy tale heroines and heros would themselves be lost, CdF has decided to fund animal charities with this publication. Fifty percent of all profits will be donated each quarter, beginning with the quarter starting April 1, 2012.

Our first batch of proceeds will be donated to HULA Animal Rescue: Home for Unwanted and Lost Animals. HULA is an independent UK charity with a non-​​destruction policy for every healthy animal, in service since 1972.

Our second batch of proceeds will be donated to the Oldies Club, and our third to Dolly’s Foundation. We’ll post more information about those two charities when their times comes. If you have any suggestions for the fourth quarter donations, please send them along!”

Edited by Francesca Forrest, illustrated by Adam Oehlers (for an interview with the illustrator, click here), this chapbook contains contributions from Francesca Forrest, Sonya Taaffe, Samantha Henderson, Erik Amundsen, Rose Lemberg, Nadia Bulkin, Julia Rios, and Kyle Davis.

Cinderella Jump Rope Rhymes can be purchased at Amazon​.com, Amazon​.co​.uk and  The Book Depository as well as at other online sellers. Please support independent sellers if you can!

Finding the Right Cover Artist for your eBook

Finding the Right Cover Artist for your eBook

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serpent-without-skin2When I resolved to publish the two novels in my Heart of Darkness series as eBooks, I figured I was all set. The books had already been edited and re-edited; I had the future plotlines mapped out in my head. That was everything, right?

Of course not. My wife — aka “Queen of Internet Research” — cautioned me, “Everything I’ve read says you need a great cover that really catches the eye.”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I’d always dreamed of being picked up by a major publishing house that had its own artists.

I mean, I like fantasy art as much as anyone, but I’m good with words, not pictures. I had no idea how to locate a good cover artist.

So I asked a friend of mine who is an artist to do it. He begged off, citing his current, non-artistic workload. Nor did any other personal connections pan out.

Ahead of me yet again, my wife told me about several options she’d read about on the internet. The most interesting was a contest where artists compete for the prize of being your cover artist. You are presented with several custom options and only pay if you accept one.

An intriguing concept, but I wanted to know more about my prospective artists. So my friend recommended deviantart.com. There, my wife and I posted a job description and waited, though not for long.

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New Treasures: Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction

New Treasures: Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction

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strangeworlds-wally-woodWow.

Wally Wood is one of my all-time favorite artists.  When Scott Taylor asked me to provide my list of nominees for his Top 10 Fantasy Artists of the Past 100 Years post, I had Wood right near the top.

Wood died over 30 years ago, but his influence on SF and fantasy art in the 1950s — especially his groundbreaking work with EC comics, and the more than 60 covers he did for Galaxy magazine — was staggering.

Virtually all of Wood’s EC work has been now been collected, in handsome volumes showcasing his brilliant art for Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Tales from the Crypt, and many others, as have his covers for Marvel, DC, and other top-tier comic publishers.

But Wood first made his name in now-forgotten science fiction comics of the 50s such as Strange Worlds, Captain Science, and Space Detective. Now Vanguard Publishing has collected a fabulous trove of nearly two dozen complete tales from this era, dating from 1950 to 1958, in a thick oversized volume titled Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction (click on the image at left for a larger version).

Strange Worlds is an absolutely beautiful production, 224 pages mostly in full-color. It is edited by J. David Spurlock and designed by Mark McNabb. The paperback edition is $24.95, and I got mine from Amazon for just $16.47, after the Amazon discount. It’s also available in a slipcased Hardcover Edition for $69.95.

The book also includes an extensive gallery of some of Wood’s best covers from the 1950s, as well as a complete story from the pre-Marvel Journey Into Mystery (“The Executioner,” Oct 1956, from issue 39), and a sampling of his full-page Sky Masters of the Space Force comic strip from 1958, with art by Wood and Jack Kirby.

Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction is my most exciting purchase of the last six months. I have no idea what the print run was, so I strongly advise you to get your own copy before it sells out.

Art of the Genre: The Art of Kickstarter

Art of the Genre: The Art of Kickstarter

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Abandon Hope... and yet we enter anyway... certainly one of the most iconic images from artist Jeff Easley
Abandon Hope... and yet we enter anyway... certainly one of the most iconic images from artist Jeff Easley

Kickstarter… the name in itself is evocative. I’m sure many of you have heard of this new website that supports creative people by giving them a place to ask for pledges in return for project assistance. It’s really an incredible took, and I blogged recently about a Kickstarter project done by former TSR artist Jeff Dee. His initial work with the fan-based pledge site got me thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in 2012.

I mean I had art contacts, right? In fact I had loads of them, so why not try to use some of the old school nostalgia I loved so dearly and market it toward others who felt the same way? In a sense, it’s kind of what Black Gate already does with each and every post on this site.

We get to relive awesome stuff from our past here all the time with stores about classic horror flicks, adventure movies, venerable series books, and comic book heroes. Black Gate, for all intents and purpose is a portal into a lost generation, or perhaps several lost generations.

So for all of you out there who have ever thought about doing something creative, and I mean anything, I’m going to run down how Kickstarter works and how it might apply to your dreams.

First, you have to come up with an idea, in my case I decided to do a project with legendary fantasy artist Jeff Easley. The concept was simple, I would write a short book like those found on dime store shelves in the 60s, 70s, and even the 80s that we all loved. You know the books I’m talking about, 45K words, 180 pages or so that you could read in 5 hours, and then get Jeff to cover it with an awesome old school Swords & Sorcery image. If we got enough pledges, he’d also do some original black and white interior work to help capture the tone. Simple, right?

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Art of the Genre: Game Review, Paizo Bestiary Collection

Art of the Genre: Game Review, Paizo Bestiary Collection

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pzo1120_500

One day, long ago, I went to a Waldenbooks and picked up a copy of TSR’s Monster Manual II. It was my first monster compendium, the only other I’d seen was a borrowed copy of Monster Manual I with the rather mundane David C. Sutherland III cover. It was this book, covered by Jeff Easley, that taught me just what it was to hold the power in your hand over a world of fabled monsters.

Still, the journey into the realm of the enemy, the monster, was on well its way with that purchase, as was my apprenticeship in the profession of Dungeon Master. That trip has taken a long and twisting road through more realms of imagination that could be spoken of this day, but nonetheless, it’s been a truly special one.

Monsters, you see, are the key to everything that truly IS a role-playing game. Sure, you could make the argument that it’s about the players, the story, the social interaction, but at the core it all revolves around the conflict. This conflict, and the experience points born from it, is inherently tied to the realm of monsters.

Simply put, to be an effective Game Master [as the term Dungeon Master has become antiquated over the decades, I guess, although I still use it…] you need to have a plethora of monsters at your disposal.

This is true of any system, but even more so in a fantasy setting, and as I started playing Paizo’s Pathfinder upon its release, I’ve had the pleasure of filling my shelves with some of their rather incredible monster supplements.

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Art of the Genre: I.C.E.’s Middle-Earth Roleplaying Part Two, Angus McBride [1931-2007]

Art of the Genre: I.C.E.’s Middle-Earth Roleplaying Part Two, Angus McBride [1931-2007]

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merp_rivendell

It’s the day after Christmas here in L.A. as I write this, the office quiet, but I felt like going in anyway and getting some work done. Perhaps it was because yesterday, after a wonderful feast of turkey, potatoes, and all the fixings, I took a walk with the family three miles from my home out onto the Palos Verdes peninsula. This walk, in seventy degree temperatures with a slight easterly breeze and done in shorts and a T-shirt, held an immense amount of physical beauty.

With a cloudless azure sky, and a tranquil ocean all the way to the mountainous shadows of Catalina Island, the channel is was an epic vista. Still, what strikes a writer’s soul is often the movement of it all, the flights of pelicans looking like pteranodons sailing at eye level as you walk atop the hundred foot bluffs that drop into the whitewater curls of water churning below. If you look down into the kelp fields further out from the breakers you can spy the blazing orange Garibaldi, the state fish of California, as they shine under the waves amid the deep green strands, and further out into the endless blue go the whales.

Gray’s this time of year, majestic and high breaching, they spew mist into the air in pods traveling south, their monstrous tales fully lifted from the waves before plunging down once more into the depths.

It’s a stirring event, these migrations, and as I went home I couldn’t help but think about my next article and how the artist I’d be featuring had first seen and been moved by similar events, this time humpbacks, off the western cape of South Africa.

This gift of nature, and having shared his life between England and Africa, helped shape an artist who transitioned from full-time historical military drawer to the role of visionary painter in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.

So, today I bring you the next part of my argument as to why the Middle-Earth Role Playing game is the most beautiful RPG ever made.

PART TWO:

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Art of the Genre Review: Jeff Dee’s new Kickstarter

Art of the Genre Review: Jeff Dee’s new Kickstarter

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set__god_of_evil_and_the_night_by_jeffdee-d4if4wn

Last month I was intrigued to see that former TSR artist Jeff Dee had started a project on Kickstarter to recreate his classic images from the Egyptian pantheon in Deities & Demigods. Now, first, I didn’t really know anything about Kickstarter, but the more I looked at it the more interested I became.

If you don’t know about it, I’ll give you the Cliff’s notes version. Kickstarter is a site that provides creative people an outlet to connect with fans and take contributions for projects they might otherwise not get to do.

In this fashion Jeff, who hadn’t seen work from TSR in nearly 30 years, got to go back and recapture some of AD&D’s faded glory.

You see, in those early days of TSR things were changing fast, money was coming in like water into a sinking ship, and nobody really had any idea what they had. That being said, all of Jeff’s original works for the company were unceremoniously tossed in a dumpster to make room in the files for newer artwork, so original copies of his stuff no longer exits.

Jeff decided that it was high time he remedy that fact, and so he went out to recreate the images he did for Deities & Demigods, one pantheon at a time, with an added caveat that he’d also create several new images of Egyptian gods that the former TSR deadlines didn’t allow time for.

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