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Oct 08

B-52 or M-42?Click for larger image

Wendy Comments: Studied to be a cosmologist. Ended up a cosmetologist.

Published 1953

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: 7.86 out of 10)
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23 Responses to “The Black Flame”

  1. Stevie T Says:

    So is the flame supposed to be shooting out of her head?

  2. Tat Wood Says:

    The reason the pilot for Miranda Hart’s version of ‘The Generation Game’ was never aired.

  3. Stevie T Says:

    “Do people want a fire that can be fitted nasally?”

    Not really, but they do apparently want it as a hairpiece, and available in colors other then red and yellow….

  4. THX 1139 Says:

    If even the cover model’s sceptical, I don’t see why we should take this seriously.

  5. Francis Boyle Says:

    Like I always say “If a cover’s not working just bung a giant chrome* dildo in the background”.

    *O.K. probably more stainless steel, but it was the fifties – Ford and General Motors were probably stockpiling all the chrome.

  6. Bibliomancer Says:

    Whoa! A science-fiction beauty parlor! Harlequin Books was on the cutting edge of scientifiction-romance back in the early days.

  7. THX 1139 Says:

    Apparently on the new Star Trek Discovery, Mr Spock was either to have a hipster beard or a beehive hairdo. This cover proves they chose wrongly.

  8. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @Bibliomancer—definitely ahead of their time. Those appear to be giant cannabis buds stored inside the big vacuum tubes in the upper left cover. These folks must’a been a bunch of hipsters.

  9. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @THX 1139—Synchronicity! Wowie Zowie! I wrote “hipster” before I saw your comment—then posted it and saw you’d just used the word—coincidence?
    I’d better crawl out of this vacuum tube before my head aplode.

  10. Anna T. Says:

    The only “black flame” I see around here is her hair.

  11. fred Says:

    It’s like Boy George starred in an Ed Wood production.

  12. Tor Mented Says:

    So the character’s name is “The Black Flame,” but they cast a white woman? I call whitewashing.

  13. Raoul Says:

    @Tor – Perhaps The Black Flame is her boyfriend?

  14. THX 1139 Says:

    @B. Chiclitz: Oh, you could put it down to coincidence… but I prefer to put it down to FATE! *Uproarious, echoing laughter*

  15. GSS ex-noob Says:

    Hair Ting! is pretty rare, but she’s making up for that all by herself.

    Another hyphenated “science-fiction”. WTF, old people? At least this is proper SF; today all they publish that even vaguely approaches genre is werewolf romance.

    Why is the giant pizza cutter rocket-propelled?

    ISFDB says this is from the “Margaret of Urbs” series, so I guess that’s Margaret?

    Author died in 1935 (tragically young) so at least he didn’t have to see this. The original printing even came out posthumously.

    Margaret thinks this is as dumb as we do. Or maybe she’s just wondering WTF is wrong with her shoulder and giant upper arm. Or is mad b/c the hipsters are bogarting all the bud.

    @Tor: heh.

    Hey, it’s free on Kindle and likely public domain everywhere. Blurb sez:

    “”The Black Flame” starts several hundred years after most of mankind is wiped out by a plague and tells the story of a family of immortals who seek to conquer the world with advanced science. Its story concerns a brother and sister who have become immortal.”

  16. GSS ex-noob Says:

    In other news, am quite chuffed about the new Doctor. She’s very Doctor-y; had a discussion today along the lines of “more like 4 or more like 10?”

  17. Tor Mented Says:

    @THX 1139: Apparently on the new Star Trek Discovery, Mr Spock was either to have a hipster beard or a beehive hairdo …”

    I hate to be such a fanboy, but this is from an episode of Star Tress.

  18. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    The background seems awfully similar to this one: http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/?p=14202

  19. A.R.Yngve Says:

    This cover was the germ of all those countless TV ads where models toss their hair about in slo-mo.
    Science Fiction DOES predict the future, folks!

  20. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @ARY: You really think she could toss that? No way. Margaret’s wiped out the ozone layer of at least one planet with the spray she’s used to lacquer that into a beehive that will resist outer space.

  21. THX 1139 Says:

    Could this possibly be a slimmed-down Divine from Female Trouble?

  22. GSS ex-noob Says:

    squints in vicinity of adam’s apple

    @THX: I wouldn’t rule it out, no. This cover is kinda campy.

    Could be a combo with what @Fred said in #11 — Boy George IS Divine IN… The Black Flame!

  23. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    Hey it’s Fran Drescher!

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