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Zur Erinnerung, bevor morgen der Januar ʼrum ist: Der erste Captain-Future-Roman erschien im Januar 1940!
Also vor 85 Jahren...
Also vor 85 Jahren...
#captainfuture #scifi #sciencefiction #spaceopera #anime #zeichentrick #pulps #kult #retro #80er #kultserie#lieblingsserie #85jahrecaptainfuture#spacehero #oldscifi #goldenageofscifi
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Star Wars art by Tsuneo Sanda
#art #arts #scifi #sciencefiction #starwars #illustration #painting #paintings #artist #artists #fantasy #fantasyart #darthvader #geek #nerd #nerds #gaaks #artwork #artgallery
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[Art and Inspiration] Johnny Bruck
They say quantity is a quality all on its own, and that certainly fits the artistic output of Johnny Bruck.
Johnny Bruck was a German artist mostly working in pulp magazines, most famously Perry Rhodan, that weekly science fiction pulp novel series that is at novel issue 3306 as I write this.
In fact until his death in 1995 he illustrated most of the 1799 covers of the series up to that point (only two (!) were from other artists, and his wife and daughter finished his last two pictures), as well as most of the Atlan spin off series (also 800 issues or so), most of the 400 books of the paperback series of novels, and a variety of other things for the series.
And he did interior illustrations.
AND he worked for other publishers and series as well.
It seems he was just the guy if you wanted a serviceable original science fiction picture on time, and for a reasonable price. Mind you, what he delivered could be amazing. It also could be a bizarre experiment in styles and techniques that only had the most tenuous connection to the novel it illustrated.
When I was a kid I thought his style was just that, until I realized that many of the more run-of-the-mill covers of the early series which actually showed stuff from the actual novel were also by him.
He was a working artist, and I deeply respect that.
The iconic first cover of Perry Rhodan for issue 1 “Unternehmen Stardust” (Operation Stardust) from 1963, in which a group of astronauts from the American Space Force meet aliens on the moon in 1971.
Bruck also loved his western themes. He also illustrated quite a few pulp western novels (they were a large part of the German pulp market for a long time) and brought in his wild west sensibilities whenever he could get away with even in his science fiction works.
I don’t have a clue what this one is about, this was from the Atlan story “Das Multi-Bewusstsein” (The Multi-Consciousness). But I never actually read the Atlan series. Not the first one at least. Atlan was a spin-off from the main Perry Rhodan series about a sexy immortal alien that constantly talked to himself.
I remember this one from when I bought the issue. As with many of his cover illustrations I don’t have a clue anymore what the novel was about and how it related to the story, but I certainly liked whatever he tried to show here. It just looks kinda cool.
Kartanin were cat persons from another universe. Because of course they were. Perry Rhodan could be weird.
The Planetenromane (Planetary Novels) were a sub-series of Perry Rhodan, mostly standalone novels that sometimes had quite interesting topics. In this case… I don’t have a clue, but considering it’s called The Knight of Arkon I bet it was again about Atlan doing some stuff either in the past of Terra, or using his experience living through the whole of Terran history to play the knight somewhere else.
I don’t know how many ancient spherical ships stranded on a desert world were explored in the series, but I seem to remember at least 4 different ones from the novels I read (and I didn’t read even a large part of them). I guess some themes just resonate with audiences.
That looks like a system monitor with a planetoid hull in the back (in Traveller terms)
I don’t know what this is about, but the whole cover looks so 80s.
Another Atlan cover. Looks very Sword and Sorcery.
This looks so Lovecraftian I wouldn’t be surprised if he was inspired by exactly that.
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Cover of Perry Rhodan #1 Unternehmen Stardust (Operation Stardust) showing three spaceman, a rocket, and a tank-like vehicle on the moon, Earth on the horizon
Cover of Perry Rhodan #1755 Die Fürstin und der Outlaw (The Lady and the Outlaw) showing a spaceship in front of a planet
Cover of Perry Rhodan #655 Die Vulkan-Diebe (The Vulcano Thieves)
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David Gerrold (1944-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?106
L, Paul Lehr, 1972; R, Boris Vallejo, 1983
L, Paul Lehr, 1972; R, Boris Vallejo, 1983
Cover for A Matter for Men. A muscular man with futuristic flamethrower attacks a large bug alien.
A surreal Paul Lehr cover for Yesterday's Children. A spaceship in what looks like a space box with various figures on the bottom.
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Artist Douglas Chaffee (1936-2011) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?26145
L, 1970; R, 1983
#artist #art #scifi #sciencefiction #books
Cover for Satan's world. Astronauts runs across a bleak alien surface. There's a spaceship above him.
Cover for Stableford's The Gates of Eden. Woman transforming into a reptile holds her spacesuit. There's a dome and another spaceman in the distance.
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8. Howard Waldrop’s “Mary Margaret Road-Grader” (1976). After the “Highway wars,” Native American groups within North-Eastern Texas are on the ascent. At the annual Sun Dance and Big Tractor Pull, the Fossil Creek people gather for masculine demonstrations of honor and strength. But something seems different this year. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/01/28/short-story-reviews-howard-waldrops-mary-margaret-road-grader-1976-david-j-skals-chains-1971-and-tom-purdoms-courting-time-1966/
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7. Clifford D. Simak’s “Conditions of Employment” (1960) operates on the premise that space travel places inhuman stress on the worker: intense work hours, sleep deprivation, the terror that a slight mistake would spell death, tension and psychical discomfort, and the existential “dead, black fear of space itself.” https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/07/11/short-story-reviews-clifford-d-simaks-conditions-of-employment-1960-retrograde-evolution-1953-and-youll-never-go-home-again-variant-title-beachhead-1951/
#9. Robert Abernathy’s “Single Combat” (1955). A nameless man, in a nameless city, plants a bomb in a basement. The city, cloaked with a heady dystopian gloom of racial violence and pollution, attempts to prevent his desperate escape. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/06/02/short-story-review-robert-abernathys-single-combat-1955/
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8. Howard Waldrop’s “Mary Margaret Road-Grader” (1976). After the “Highway wars,” Native American groups within North-Eastern Texas are on the ascent. At the annual Sun Dance and Big Tractor Pull, the Fossil Creek people gather for masculine demonstrations of honor and strength. But something seems different this year. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/01/28/short-story-reviews-howard-waldrops-mary-margaret-road-grader-1976-david-j-skals-chains-1971-and-tom-purdoms-courting-time-1966/
10. Fred Saberhagen”s “Birthdays” (1976),. Bart, fourteen years old, awakes alone on a colony ship. The nature of the Ship isn’t entirely clear as Bart’s memories have been carefully edited. His task? Serve as the sole human parent to a squalling group of babies. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/05/04/generation-ship-short-story-review-fred-saberhagens-birthdays-1976/
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#9. Robert Abernathy’s “Single Combat” (1955). A nameless man, in a nameless city, plants a bomb in a basement. The city, cloaked with a heady dystopian gloom of racial violence and pollution, attempts to prevent his desperate escape. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/06/02/short-story-review-robert-abernathys-single-combat-1955/
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15. Felix C. Gotschalk’s “The Day of the Big Test” (1976). A jarring and jumbling jaunt through a future mindscape conveyed via inundating linguistic displays, strange implanted tech, and subvocal communication. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2025/01/01/book-review-future-power-ed-jack-dann-and-gardner-dozois-1976-ursula-k-le-guin-damon-knight-james-tiptree-jr-gene-wolfe-etc/
#11. Lisa Tuttle’s “Stone Circle” (1976). As the forces of fascism transform a near-future America, a nameless female narrator attempts to find meaning in the ashes. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/09/08/short-story-reviews-lisa-tuttles-the-stone-circle-1976-and-grania-davis-new-way-groovers-stew-1976/
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10. Fred Saberhagen”s “Birthdays” (1976),. Bart, fourteen years old, awakes alone on a colony ship. The nature of the Ship isn’t entirely clear as Bart’s memories have been carefully edited. His task? Serve as the sole human parent to a squalling group of babies. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/05/04/generation-ship-short-story-review-fred-saberhagens-birthdays-1976/
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#14. Alice Eleanor Jones’ “Recruiting Officer” (1955) follows a shape-shifting entity on her recruit-collecting rounds. She takes the appearance of a grandmotherly woman named Mrs. Quimby. In her convertible, she preys on nubile young men. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/03/09/short-fiction-reviews-alice-eleanor-jones-life-incorporated-1955-miss-quarto-1955-and-recruiting-officer-1955/
#12. Clifford D. Simak’s “City” (1944). Cheap transportation technology gives humanity the opportunity to flee the cities for acred estates in the countryside. Effectively establishes the rest of the memorable series compiled in City (1952). https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/08/18/short-story-reviews-clifford-d-simaks-city-1944-ogre-1944-and-spaceship-in-a-flask-1941/
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#11. Lisa Tuttle’s “Stone Circle” (1976). As the forces of fascism transform a near-future America, a nameless female narrator attempts to find meaning in the ashes. https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/09/08/short-story-reviews-lisa-tuttles-the-stone-circle-1976-and-grania-davis-new-way-groovers-stew-1976/
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#13. Clifford D. Simak’s “New Folks’ Home” (1963) ruminates on age and memory and the possibility of a new path as death approaches. Frederick Gray, a retired professor, heads off on a fishing trip he used to take with his good friend Ben Lovell. He encounters a new building near a nostalgic spot. What is inside? https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/10/26/book-review-best-science-fiction-stories-of-clifford-d-simak-clifford-d-simak-1967/
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#12. Clifford D. Simak’s “City” (1944). Cheap transportation technology gives humanity the opportunity to flee the cities for acred estates in the countryside. Effectively establishes the rest of the memorable series compiled in City (1952). https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/08/18/short-story-reviews-clifford-d-simaks-city-1944-ogre-1944-and-spaceship-in-a-flask-1941/