preload
Nov 26

Westward Ho!Click for larger image

Good Show Sir Comments: I think it’s a tale of Merlin showing a boy Robin Hood his model airplane collection and time machine, but I don’t care enough to read it and actually find out.

Published 1952

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: 6.88 out of 10)
Loading...

Tagged with:

14 Responses to “Vault of the Ages”

  1. fred Says:

    Merlin likes ‘holding a candle’.

  2. Bruce A Munro Says:

    The title says “location of epic grandeur”, the cover pic says “old coot’s souvenir collection.”

  3. THX 1139 Says:

    A Nick Nolte-full of secrets.

  4. MakkaPakka Says:

    Boy to the fourth wall: He asked us in to see his rocket.

  5. Francis Boyle Says:

    Some masterful use chiaroscuro there. If Caravaggio had just thought to give all his light sources haloes he could have saved himself a lot of effort.

  6. B. Chiclitz Says:

    Nice ascot.

  7. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @FB—Thanks for the Caravaggio note. The next time I study “The Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus” I will look for the Tesla coils hidden up in the shadows.

  8. Bibliomancer Says:

    “Now remember, our ‘rocket time’ is our secret. Don’t tell your parents.”

  9. Tat Wood Says:

    Elon Musk: Let me tell you, Sunny, back in 2018 I was rich and famous and about to launch my own starship. Then everyone realised I was an idiot and the shareholders bought me out.

    Kids from Next Door: Yeah, right Gramps. Crank up the generator and show us the old-timey cyber-porn they used to have before the Crash.

  10. Raoul Says:

    And then young Robin Hood took out his dagger and stabbed the old geezer to death. But they never did find any of the money they thought he had hidden inside the pages of his old books.

    The End

  11. GSS ex-noob Says:

    This is so peak 50’s and Golden Age of SF (both the 1930s-60s, and 12 years old) that I am compelled to say “Golly gee whiz!”

    It’s… actually a good piece of art. No anatomical issues, no font problems. It’s just dated and thus has unfortunate implications that everyone above has noted.

    I’m thinking shifty kid down right is going to be the villain. Or at least break something vital.

    Huh… Turns out I have read this, many years ago! @Tat Wood (9) is closest to correct. YA post-apoc, the boys enter the ruins of the city (which is Forbidden, as is tech and books from the Before Time) to find stuff in said vault to defeat the evil tribe who’s attacking their tribe.

    Perfectly suited for straight white 12 year old boys of all ages.

  12. Tat Wood Says:

    The artwork looks a bit like 50s US advertising but also oddly like Joseph Wright of Derby. Was this deliberate?

    (especially these https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-alchymist-61181/search/actor:wright-of-derby-joseph-17341797/page/2 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/an-experiment-on-a-bird-in-the-air-pump-114302/search/actor:wright-of-derby-joseph-17341797/page/6/view_as/grid )

  13. Francis Boyle Says:

    @Tat Wood

    I was reminded of that too (he bell jar is a dead giveaway) but went with Caravaggio because anyone who get’s to go by one name is automatically way cooler than someone who needs three.

  14. Hammy Says:

    Vault of the Ages?

    1) I don’t see anything that looks like gymnastics…

    2) a vault of the Ages would have to be so good that it got 10s across the board – even from the Russian judge (if they’re even allowed to officiate anymore).

Leave a Reply