Oct 24
Click for full imageBoaz Comments: Two people — enraptured, motionless, poised, transfixed by a flying troll/dragonfly/scaled creature…
Published 1975
(Average: 7.59 out of 10)
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Boaz Comments: Two people — enraptured, motionless, poised, transfixed by a flying troll/dragonfly/scaled creature…
Published 1975
(Average: 7.59 out of 10)Loading...
(9.25 out of 10) (9.18 out of 10) (9.01 out of 10) (8.97 out of 10) (8.93 out of 10) (8.93 out of 10) (8.93 out of 10) (8.92 out of 10) (8.88 out of 10) (8.88 out of 10)
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October 24th, 2011 at 9:13 am
I bet there’s far more than two people transfixed by that hovering beast this morning. I know I am!
Wikipedia has the cover artist as Hannes Bok, by the way.
October 24th, 2011 at 9:16 am
The 1975 World Staring Championships took an unusual turn.
October 24th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Humans are always so clumsy when going to other planets. I mean look at them. Just off the ship and they’ve ripped their clothes already!
October 24th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The guy looks like Jude Law…. a pasty Jude Law…
October 24th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
You guys are missing the drama of the story. The high level of argon in this atmosphere is causing irreversible hypertrophy of the cheekbones! That poor woman already looks almost exactly like the alien Shelleyan dragonfly.
October 24th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Lets see, Chesley Bonestell spaceship, Brad and Janet on the cover – this is a sequel to Rocky Horror, they’re on Transexual Transylvania, and that’s Tinkerbell without the glamour.
October 24th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Woman: Brad, did you stop taking your meds? Are you hearing the voices again?
Man: No … er, no, no.
Pixie: Burn it! Burn it all!
October 24th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Surely the title should be “Over the Triple Suns” right?
October 24th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
I dig the old-school racing-fin rocket ship! I think they made a mistake when they decided to go with a flying troll doll over robot nazis, though.
October 24th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
The shadows and lighting on this cover are wacky given the position of the suns on the horizon.
October 24th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Couple: Excuse me there Miss Dragonfly, we have been walking for hours and can’t seem to locate where Miss Ladybug’s party is being held?
Dragonfily Girl: The party is that-a-way…
October 24th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
My first thought was surprise that Hannes Bok painted the cover, given that he died in 1965 and at first glance this looked like a bad ’70s pastiche of old pulp cover art (yellow sky, check, parabolic parked rocket, check, dude and chick in ripped clothes, check, wacko alien, check). But no, this is a reprint of a 1955 edition and Bok did indeed paint the cover.
Boy, he sure phoned this one in. It just goes to show that anyone can have a bad day. Bok is usually a lot better than this.
October 24th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
The artwork does give me a strong children’s book vibe.
Note how there seems to be no logical connection between the couple and the spaceship. (Do they look like astronauts to you? Did the pixie arrive in the rocket? Who knows?)
October 25th, 2011 at 6:43 am
…And then I realized this was actually the cover of a commercially-published novel, and not a self-published online “book’s” clip-art explosion.
October 25th, 2011 at 7:25 am
According to the internet, this is about the last three surviving humans who, after having to abandon Earth because it was destroyed — right in the middle of a dinner party, from the looks of it — are now trying to get set up on a new planet and Keep Humanity Alive.
Look out, hideous bug-treasure troll-person, they’re after your land!
October 25th, 2011 at 8:45 am
Pixie: “We don’t want you here, stealing out jobs and our pixie womenfolk! We’ll build a fence around the planet!… Oh, and we need someone to mow our lawns and take care of our kids, if you’re looking for work.”
October 25th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Flying pixie-troll-thing has waaaayyyyy too many fingers (on one hand). And far too few toes.
October 19th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
I like to sing-a, about the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a, I like to sing-a
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj1FifK3bbg&feature=related )
July 30th, 2015 at 4:51 pm
‘Ya know what? I’m not gonna sting you after all. Cuz that’s my choice.’
July 30th, 2015 at 7:49 pm
The planet Morkon 5 is invaded by a completely different art style!
August 18th, 2020 at 12:20 am
My God! Lucy Mabel Atwell on LSD!
February 10th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
Points for at least getting all 3 of the suns on the cover.
Nil points for proving, once again, that feet are hard to draw.
February 10th, 2023 at 11:16 pm
Hannes Bok strikes me as something of an acquired taste, depending on whether or not his distinctive style resonates with you. I think he works better as a fantasy artist: much of his art strikes me as too stylized to work very well for SF save at its most trippy. Of course, that’s just my opinion: other people may find it entirely appropriate.
A gallery of his Curious Critters work, including this one, over at Monster Brains:
https://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/2011/08/hannes-bok.html
February 10th, 2023 at 11:22 pm
After a long trip in the rocket, Brad and Janet were thrilled to be invited to lunch by the sweet pixie alien.
After completely forgetting that she promised to bring “something uniquely delicious” to the family potluck, Tinkerpix happened upon Brad and Janet…
February 11th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
China is seriously upping their aerial spy game with genetic engineering.
February 11th, 2023 at 4:49 pm
@Bruce
Well, thanks for that link to Hannes Bok’s other artwork. Now I will never have to go on a journey of self-discovery with LSD.
February 11th, 2023 at 8:06 pm
I find myself vaguely puzzled about the relationship of those two to the rocket. As SI said back in 2011, they’re awfully ragged for just having landed. Is this a different rocket from the one they arrived on and they’re hoping for a ride to somewhere less tough on their wardrobe?
“That rocket? No, no. If you need a ride you’ll just have to join the line over _there_ and wait for a ticket like everycreature else.”
February 11th, 2023 at 11:13 pm
@Bruce: Nice find! I agree that his fantasy work was much more suited to his art style.
This is not only too stylized, but is stiff, lacking the dynamism of his work, as can be seen in that collection.
Regarding their clothes, I’m thinking “accident in the laundry”, because they look well-groomed and clean, not all raggedy like their outfits. Maybe these were all they could save from the clothes carnage?
@Emster: LOL.