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Flash Gordon Starring Buster Crabbe
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Before episodic TV, people used to go movie theatres once a week to watch serials. Buster Crabbe, a champion Olympic swimmer, turned his fame into an acting career and when the comic strip Flash Gordon was adapted into a serial, he played the title character. He repeated that a couple of times for other stories.
Space: 1999 by David & Dan Day
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David and Dan Day are Canadian artists with a number of comic book credits between them, plus they've continued to work as artists outside of comics. They're the younger brothers of the late Gene Day, who made a solid start in the business, particularly with Marvel Comics, before he passed away at a young age.
Assignment: Earth No. 1 Cover by John Byrne
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We return to one of my favourite topics, Gene Roddenberry's other ideas for TV series. The first one was Assignment: Earth, a back-door pilot that aired as the last episode of the second season of Star Trek in 1968.
Dalgoda by Jan Strnad & Dennis Fujitake
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Dalgoda by Strnad & Fujitake occupies the same place in my memory and experiences as Don Simpson's Border Worlds. Both were wonderfully unique works of science fiction material from the mid 80s. Strnad had worked with Richard Corben, and one of Fujitake's influences was Jean 'Mœbius' Giraud, and so the connection to Heavy Metal during it's best years was strong.
Star Trek for The Monster Times No. 2 Cover by Gray Morrow
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Gray Morrow was one of those classy-as-fuck illustrators moving seamlessly from commercial illustration to comics and graphic novels. I first saw his work in Heavy Metal in the late 70s/early 80s doing Orion and an excerpt from The Illustrated Roger Zelazny before I saw him in regular comics. Later I enjoyed his long run on the Tarzan Sunday comic strip.
Starfleet Navigator Class Starship
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Coming out of my work on the revised Star Trek Starfleet Technical Manual, it got me thinking about something a little sleeker that your average starship. It would be Starfleet's answer to the Romulan Bird of Prey.
Blade Runner: The Comic Book Adaptation by Williamson & Garzon
Blade Runner came and went during the summer of 1982, neither a hit nor an outright flop. The film would garner its audience and appreciation in the years that followed, aided by the growing home video market. Today it’s regarded as one of science fiction film’s best.
Flash Gordon by Jim Keefe
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From 1996 to 2003, Jim Keefe was the writer/artist of the Flash Gordon comic strip, the last in a long line of great cartoonists on one of King Features' most prestigious strips. It's a testament to his work that it remains in circulation on flashgordon.com for today's audience.
The Mechanoid Associates by Paul Gillon
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The world was different in the early 80s. No internet meant limited paths to new information. And for me as a teenager living in a small Canadian town, we were even more isolated from the dynamism of large cities. So when I discovered that Heavy Metal magazine existed on the newsstand, it was my first exposure to European comics and their creators, as well as some of the most progressive North Americans: Jean 'Mœbius' Giraud, Enki Bilal, Caza, Philippe Druillet, Richard Corben, Howard Chaykin and many more.
Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country Cover by Jerome K Moore
It was the last time the original Star Trek crew would be together and they sent the original cast off with a great story helmed by writer/director Nicholas Meyer – the man who'd been behind a lot of great movies: Invasion of the Bee Girls, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Time After Time, The Day After, and two previous Trek films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Star Trek DC v1 No. 1 Cover by George Pérez
In the US, Star Trek comics began with Gold Key and they spanned 1967–79 with tales based on the original series. With the release of Star Trek – The Motion Picture in '79, Marvel picked up the licence and published from 1980–82.
Star Trek DC v2 No. 16 Cover by Jerome K Moore
Star Trek has supported a number of comic book series, almost from the beginning of the original series. Gold Key, then Marvel had the licence, but it wasn't until it landed at DC Comics that the property found its footing and enjoyed longer runs. A return to Marvel in the 90s was short lived, and IDW has been steadily producing quality series for a number of years now.
The Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual 2.0
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In 1975, Franz Joseph’s Technical Manual was the perfect companion to his Enterprise blueprints. While there are more accurate sources now, these were two of the best items to have during the time after The Original Series went off the air and before the movies began.
Marvel Preview No. 4 : Star-Lord by Gan and Wrightson
Star-Lord first appeared in Marvel Preview No. 4, cover dated January 1976. The character was named by Marv Wolfman, and Steve Englehart created the character from there. Steve Gan was the artist.
eBook: Gene Roddenberry's Spectre by Robert Weverka
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Post-Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry made a series of pilots in the 1970s: Genesis II (1973), Planet Earth (1974), The Questor Tapes (1974) and Spectre (1977).
Fantastic Voyage Posters and Wallpapers
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Fantastic Voyage was released in 1966. Well-written, imaginative and with a good cast, it was one of the better science fiction films of the 60s.
The Original Star-Lord Covers
His mother murdered by aliens, Peter Quill wanted revenge and his only goal was to get out into space to see it through. The early Star-Lord adventures were darker in tone than what we see today. They also had some great covers by top illustrators. Here they are as originally published, and new versions as Star-Lord magazine.
Star-Lord by Byrne & Austin
Back in 1976, Marv Wolfman – then editor-in-chief for Marvel Comics – came up with the name Star-Lord and passed it on to writer Steve Englehart to flesh it out. The result appeared in Marvel Preview #4, January 1976.
John Carter of Mars: 1958 Sun Comic Strip
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From 1958, this A Princess of Mars adaptation by DR Morton & Robert Forest was published in The Sun from the UK. It has never been shown in colour.
Five years ago, when this was first posted, the tools were what they were, and my skills weren't what they are now. Improvements in scaling algorithms have allowed me to up-res the low res scans without loss in quality, which really helps Forest's ink hatching to maintain its clarity.
It didn't make much sense to try to enlarge lettering which had already been rendered rough by being a scan of an old newspaper, so the art was cleaned up with panel borders redrawn and lettering redone for clarity.
And, of course, new colour to finish the job.
Read more
AssignmentEarth.ca Relaunched
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The web's most complete site on this back-door pilot from Star Trek gets its seventh major update, with new design and content.
John Carter of Mars by Francesco Francavilla
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Francesco Francavilla makes great comic book art. He did this one back in 2010 for his Pulp Sunday blog. His subtle colour palette brings out the gritty pulp feel he was going for. He'd been inspired by Gold Key's Korak, Son of Tarzan comics of the late 60s. So here it is with those elements reconstructed and some more of my comic colouring.
Outland : The Press Kit
Outland was released in 1981, very much a product of the popularity science-fiction films were enjoying during the time period. While the film was expected to do well, it was a modest success at best, making back little more than its budget on initial release. Since then, it has remained in print in the home video market. The DVD and Blu-ray releases are very good – if a little light on special features – with the Blu-ray being exceptionally clear and vibrant.
The Blade Runner Spinner by Syd Mead
Syd Mead, futurist designer, has few peers in the fields of industrial design and commercial illustration. And he accomplished all that before he worked on Blade Runner.
Mezco Mars Attacks Action Figure
Mezco Toys has released an action figure based on the Martian soldier from the Topps trading card series (which inspired the Tim Burton film).
Pellucidar Covers by David B. Mattingly
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In 1990, David B. Mattingly was commissioned by Del Rey/Ballantine Books to paint the covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar series. Mattingly delivered some very nice pieces that were unfortunately paired with some pretty overbearing typography. The age of coverlines had finally taken over.
John Carter of Mars 2: The Gods of Mars Poster
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A set of teaser posters for John Carter of Mars II: The Gods of Mars. With Disney having let their option lapse after acquiring the Star Wars franchise, perhaps Warner Bros. will explore the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
John Carter of Mars Covers by Robert K. Abbett
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In 1963, Robert K. Abbett was commissioned by Ballantine Books to paint the covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series. 1965 saw the addition of John Carter of Mars as the 11th book, and Thuvia received a new cover in 1969. Abbett would also paint a Tarzan series of covers.
John Carter of Mars: Disney's Mars and Beyond
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Long before Andrew Stanton got the green light to make John Carter (of Mars) for Disney, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars was included in Mars and Beyond, aired as a Tomorrow Land episode of Disneyland on December 4, 1957.
eBook: A Princess of Mars Cover by Frank E. Schoonover
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One of the classic editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars is the first printing, published by A.C. McClurg & Co. in 1917. Frank E. Schoonover, a top illustrator of the day, painted the cover and interior plates. Schoonover was a student of the master Howard Pyle – as was NC Wyeth – and there are definite similarities between the artists.
John Carter of Mars Covers by Gino D'Achille
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As I have said elsewhere, my first encounter with Edgar Rice Burroughs was in the elementary school library in 1974. I was nine and I saw The Chessmen of Mars with a cover painted in 1973 by Gino D'Achille.
John Carter of Mars Covers by Michael Whelan
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In 1979, Del Rey/Ballantine Books commissioned Michael Whelan to paint new covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars novels, succeeding Gino D'Achille's 1973 series.
The Thunder Child Banner
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Here's a quick project for The Thunder Child blog, done in trade for some SF memorabilia.
The Starlost Compendium
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The Starlost was a television series that aired primarily on NBC in the U.S. and CTV in Canada during 1973. Created by Harlan Ellison – with technical details on the ship by Ben Bova – it was an early foray into Canadian-American co-production and syndication release.
eBook: Assignment: Earth
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"Assignment: Earth" aired in the spring of 1968 as the last episode of the second season of the original Star Trek. It began, however, as a completely separate pilot script by Gene Roddenberry almost two years earlier.
eBook: John Carter of Mars · Return to Barsoom
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I'm happy to announce the release of my first novel, Return to Barsoom, a modern look at Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars. Burroughs began his series of 11 books with A Princess of Mars in 1912, and ended with The Skeleton Men of Jupiter in 1942.
The Perils of Choice
The grade nine science trip to Calgary was pretty cool. Four-and-a-half hours by school bus (without seatbelts, woohoo) from Cranbrook to Calgary at some god awful early hour. A visit to the planetarium, another to the zoo, and a stop at a shopping centre (I think it was Chinook, but I can't really recall), and then four-and-a-half hours in the school bus back across the mountains. It was a very, very long day.
eBook: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
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My favourite novel was written by Philip K. Dick and first published in 1962. The Man in the High Castle won the 1962 Hugo award, the Oscars of science fiction, for best novel of the year.
Science Fiction Pulps
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I recently attended ConVersion here in Calgary and found a fellow selling old science fiction pulps in great condition.