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Nov 21

Keith really needed to get a new loincloth after his buttock enhancements.Click for full image

Tom Noir Comments: It’s the little details that separate the good artists from the bad. For instance, notice the bit of man-bun sticking out from under this fellow’s fuzzy tutu. GENIUS!
Published 1984

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: 8.28 out of 10)
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25 Responses to “The Forgotten Planet”

  1. Adam Roberts Says:

    The giant strawberry in the background looks past its sell-by date.

  2. Claire Says:

    Is that a tongue that the cute little guy with the great furry bikini bottoms is standing on? And if it is, what is she squatting on?

  3. THX 1138 Says:

    “I forgot my glasses – is the spider near enough to hit yet?!”

  4. A.R.Yngve Says:

    Also, brilliant header: “Classics of MODERN Science Fiction”!

    As you know, Bob, giant spiders and helpless half-naked women are a staple of modern science fiction.

  5. A.R.Yngve Says:

    With a FOREWORD BY ISAAC ASIMOV, explaining why giant spiders are anatomically and structurally impossible.

  6. Jaouad Says:

    Speaking of little details: are those tan lines, on his buttocks?

    Re: the giant sabre tooth spider and the dodgy strawberry – I’m sure these are actually regular size. The people have been miniaturised. Now THAT’S modern SF for you.

  7. SI Says:

    THe more I look at the that spider the more I am convinced it has a beard!

  8. Jaouad Says:

    There’s a picture of the first edition here:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Forgotten_planet.jpg

    Because no space adventure book cover should be without compass and slide rule.

  9. Adam Roberts Says:

    >> SI: me too! A beard AND a piercing.

  10. Tom Noir Says:

    You’ll note the Vol. 6 on the bottom*. Doesn’t this cover make you want to run out and collect volumes 1-5???

    * Of the cover! Get your mind out of the gutter.

  11. Phil Says:

    What, no comments on the magnificent mane sported by our hero? (This is how Kenny Rogers pictures himself, I’m sure.)

    Strange: the more a publisher tries to convince you that you are holding a “classic” or a piece of “connoisseur’s science fiction”, the more the art department try to prove otherwise.

  12. fred Says:

    Screw the spider, I want to see the creature that “spear” came from.

  13. Jon Says:

    @ Phi:

    I think it’s that the publisher is trying to compensate for the art department.

    “This is a CLASSIC! I swear!!”

  14. Ian Says:

    Oops my feather boa slipped…

  15. Jane Says:

    “Now hold the spear so the shaft is precisely parallel to your arm and shoulder. Be sure to keep a little bend in your wrist. Chin up. Perfect!”

  16. Infoqueen Says:

    “Hang on, sweetie: I’ll get you that fur coat in just ooooooone second…”

  17. Tim Says:

    OMG. I just pulled this off my bookshelf, yep, you guessed it, it has this cover. Don’t guess I’ll be reading this one on the train….

  18. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    The way the woman is posing, you would think that she is anxious for some spider meat.

    “C’mon Jed, hit ’em right b’tween the (two?) eyes!”

  19. RachelJ Says:

    @Jaouad. No, it’s a giant spider and a giant strawberry. Not that I can recall any strawberries in the book, but giant cabbages definitely get a mention. The best part of the book is the preface wherein the author insinuates that the whole thing is really quite plausible, due to the fact that spiders *actually exist*.

  20. Tom Noir Says:

    Early cavemen surfers were hindered both by the appearance of ginormous aquatic spiders, and their un-aerodynamically shaped surfboards.

  21. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    Oh, right, this cover. I’d forgotten it.

    @RachelJ: I remember a rather combative blog entry by the scriptwriter for The Core many years ago, in which he made much the same arguments.

  22. Perry Armstrong Says:

    “Introduction by George Zebrowski”
    “Foreword by Issac Asimov”

    What, no preamble?

  23. anon Says:

    I’d be having a poop too, if I came across that.

  24. RachelJ Says:

    @Dead Stuff. Just to be clear, though, Leinster does not straight out claim that everything in his novel is absolutely factually correct- because spiders!!! Nor does he heap scorn on “%%#%% ignorant” reviewers who may fail to follow this line of reasoning. So I wouldn’t say the arguments are quite the same…

  25. GSS ex-noob Says:

    That is not so much a fuzzy tutu as a feather boa wrapped around. Which means that while we’re seeing just a soupcon of butt, the spider may be seeing a lot more. Might explain spidey’s expression.

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