Logan’s Run No. 6 Cover by Paul Gulacy

Logan’s Run premiered in the summer of 1976 and was a hit at the time. It remains a film I really enjoy, but it was overshadowed less than a year later by Star Wars, which was an evolutionary step forward in special effects and had a lighter tone to it.

It’s unfortunate. The opening sequence, a live shot of the massive miniature of The City and automated cars travelling through clear tubes, is a scene that never fails to impress me, even if that kind of special effect’s days were now numbered. The world building throughout the film is quite interesting, and the first peril Logan must face is that he has a limited lifespan, because no one lives past 30 in The City, unless you can renew on carousel.

Michael York as Logan was enjoying his leading man years, and girl-next-door type Jenny Agutter as Jessica complements Logan. A supporting role for Peter Ustinov helps ground the film in a reality we can understand and believe in.

It wasn’t a film really aimed at young people, but it certainly appealed to them, and so it was inevitable that it was adapted for TV, lasting a single season in a more kid-friendly Fugitive-style format. And Marvel had the comic book licence which lasted seven issues. Malibu and Bluewater later did their own comic book series.

Marvel’s version sported some early art by George Pérez, and also this early piece by Paul Gulacy displaying his Jim Steranko influence.

New colour and packaging by me.

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As published.

Original art scan found on the web.

While a great illustration, it required some surgery to have it conform with societal norms. Logan’s neck was more in line with a snapping turtle’s for length, but the bigger issue was Logan and Jessica being too large to fit the cover format. So, like Marvel did for the original cover, I shrank the figures to fit.

You spend long enough colouring a piece you start to see things. In colouring Jessica’s face, I saw a young Susan Sarandon emerge with her big soulful eyes like Clara Bow or Bette Davis, and the mid-70s fashion æsthetic of Eric Boman’s photo for Roxy Music’s Country Life album. Whether these images were floating around in Gulacy’s mind or not when he drew this, he certainly had more going on than being a Steranko-styled illustrator.

New colour version.

Re-created and new trade dress added.