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Jun 18

I, Kidd. You, not.Click for larger image

Tom Noir Comments: Rather inexplicably, the artist has chosen to sign this.

You might remember this from last Flashback Friday.

Published 1985

Actually, that cover IS a classical work of art!I would touch it without protective gloves.I've seen worse. Far, far, worse.Interesting, but I would still read it in public.Middlng: Neither awful nor awfully goodWould not like to be seen reading that!Awful... just awful...That belongs in a gold-lame picture frame!Gah... my eyes are burning! Feels so good!Good Show Sir! (Average: 6.92 out of 10)
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25 Responses to “The Game of Empire”

  1. THX 1138 Says:

    “Ricicles?! I suppose you think that’s funny?!”

  2. Bibliomancer Says:

    He may never learn to really walk upright. But he has a career ahead of him as a baseball catcher.

  3. Raoul Says:

    @Bibliomancer – Maybe the Detroit Tigers should draft him. He’s a natural.

  4. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @Raoul— 😉

  5. B. Chiclitz Says:

    Looks like that tiger’s holding an old 35mm camera. Are they eco-tourists or something?

  6. Alice Says:

    If Tony the Tiger is the catcher, then the lady is playing “The Game of Umpire”.

  7. fred Says:

    I think her pose was cribbed from any one of 100,000 Pulp Western covers. Is she a descendant of Randolph Scott?

  8. Tat Wood Says:

    Opposible claws, so Diana can legitimately request: ‘Hold that, tiger’.

  9. Ray P Says:

    She fell in love with a starship trooper. But he didn’t like the look of her scary big pussy.

  10. Anna T. Says:

    I get the impression there’s something off with her neck and shoulders, just a little bit. There is definitely something wrong with her left hand, though.

    As for what happened to her shirt, maybe the tiger shredded it. The presence of a mutated tiger-person can easily be explained, though: it’s THE FUTURE.

    It’s nice to know that both covers for this book seen keep to the theme of “woman and cat-man”.

  11. B. Chiclitz Says:

    GSS Tiger 1: Hey, did you see that cover for THE GAME OF EMPIRE?

    GSS Tiger 2: Yeah, that guy needs a “weird tiger pecs” tag, for sure!

  12. Tom Noir Says:

    @Anne T – not to mention the theme of ‘refugee from the 70s disco’.

  13. JuanPaul Says:

    I love that the artist was thoughtful enough to consider an outdoor lighting solution in his fantastical world. That 100 watt floodlight above the tiger will brighten the place right up.

  14. GSS ex-noob Says:

    I looked at the top half of this as it was loading and said to myself “SFBC”. And lo.

    I… guess it’s better than the last one? Or not that much worse? It isn’t gold lame, and while she’s still in slutwear, there’s no white lace-up go-go boots. But kitty just looks ridiculous even if he’s not in a birdcage.

    OTOH, the random background blobs don’t add anything but muddle and I don’t know what’s with her neck and left arm either.

    It’s a toss-up. We may have the first-ever situation where the BAEN (etc.) cover is better. Or at least not worse and not as busy.
    As I write, this one has 8.75, the other 8.55.

    @2,3,6: GSS! (and lady)

    @JuanPaul: It’s a different architect than the rest of the city — concave rather than convex.

    At first glance, it made me think tigerman had wings.

    @Tag Wiz: this edition isn’t from BAEN (etc.) it’s SFBC, therefore Doubleday.

  15. Tag Wizard Says:

    @GSSxN – Who says it can’t be SFBC and BAEN?
    Here’s a copy up on eBay that has a photo of the title page.

  16. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @Tag: Gosh! I never knew. I guess for the republishing of paperback originals, they still credit the original. Gotta slap their own cover on it, though.

    A lot of books only come out in hardback thanks to the various book clubs — movie novelizations, for instance.

    We belonged to SFBC for many, many years, and it was swell when they finally changed to NOT automatically sending you the book. We used to switch back and forth between our names every time we moved so we counted as a “new subscriber” and got the Lots O’Books For a Buck deal. We stopped when we realized neither of us had ordered anything for a year or so, and hadn’t moved in 5 years.

  17. GSS ex-noob Says:

    Is there someone who comments upon video game covers like we do book covers?

    Because I’ve found horrific font abuse, Sir Mix, Ting! and much more.

    http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/image/174668606386

  18. Innocent Bystander Says:

    Is that cat wearing a collar made of human molars? And I think that woman lost a horse somewhere. Those look a lot like riding boots to me.

  19. Tor Mented Says:

    @GSS ex-noob: Wow, that art in your link just keeps on giving. At first it seems like a collection of random shapes, then they resolve themselves into forms that no sane artist would paint. I like the Norse god in the lower right wielding a tack hammer.

  20. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @IB: I think you’re right about the collar and the boots. Her stance looks like she’s used to horse-riding too. Not in that outfit, I hope.

    @Tor: I couldn’t make it out at first either. I had to go back and look in small glimpses, lest my mind rave at the eldritch and uncanny non-Euclidian forms.

    I still can’t tell what’s the tattooed stuff under the bum of the girl at upper left. She has ridiculous thunder thighs? And I thought the Norse god was holding a meat tenderizer. The girl center left appears to have Space Sheep’ed herself.

    Japan makes Baen look like the height of decorum.

  21. Tracy Says:

    The tiger-man’s torso is way too long for a humanoid. And the woman is pointing a dagger! In a very wimpy, non-threatening way. “Will you give me five bits for this?”

  22. Longtime_Lurker Says:

    Non-Euclidean forms eh. Obviously

    THE MÖBIUS THAT CAME TO SARNATH.

  23. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @Tracy: With the extra-long torso and the fact that his legs and arms don’t match in length, I don’t see how he walks at all, on two legs or four.

  24. A.R.Yngve Says:

    “Tom, I’ve got a special job for you. Could you paint a cover that would cash in on the current craze for that comic strip ‘Calvin and Hobbes’?”

    “You mean a comic-book cover, Jim?”

    “Nah. This Poul Anderson potboiler. Just get a talking tiger and his pal in the picture. Could you do that?”

    “I could certainly try.”

  25. Bruce A Munro Says:

    Seems legit, @A.R.

    “Well of course I gave the tiger a gun and the human a knife: what with the claws and fangs, the tiger doesn’t need a knife!”

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