Oct 18
Click for full imageJohnny Comments: What can you even say?
Published 1948
(Average: 8.48 out of 10)
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Johnny Comments: What can you even say?
Published 1948
(Average: 8.48 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 18th, 2012 at 10:46 am
The nail varnish! Good GOD the nail varnish!
October 18th, 2012 at 11:12 am
yeah, it’s weird, but it is kinda cool 🙂
October 18th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
I think her enormous, misshapen cheeks are freaking me out more than those nails.
October 18th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
More importantly, are they friend or foe?
October 18th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Now now, be kind to that three eyed beauty! That’s an admittedly bizarre representation if the monster from the eponymous story – which was the inspiration for a particular John Carpenter film. So that’s not just any old strange thing – that’s The THING. 😀
Yeah, no, but this is a pretty damn trippy cover.
October 18th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
What makes that cover even weirder is that this is the novella upon which the various movies called The Thing are based. Did the cover designer bother to at least read the synopsis?
October 18th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Perhaps Hannes Bok (the artist) struggled to depict the gruesomeness of The Thing, but had to give up and use a cover for an entirely different story…
October 18th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
An expression that says: “I can’t believe his jazz hands. And he’s half squirrel.”
October 18th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
This is one that’s well executed, but weird; true of so much of Bok’s work. I’m particularly fond of the back-cover hairy legs, and the extraordinary robot with size 15 feet on the spine.
October 18th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
By the way, I think we should have a tag for wraparound cover art (or whatever the technical term is in the trade).
October 18th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
“Make sure you use red to highlight his nipples.”
October 18th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
She just can’t keep her eyes off of him.
October 18th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
You know, if John Carpenter had cast David Bowie in the 80s The Thing movie, I can totally see the thing on the left making an appearance.
October 18th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
The robot needs big feet to counteract its top heavy design.
1948 – 33 1/3 records, the first monkey astronaut and the birth of Ozzy Osbourne
October 18th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Actually, it’s not just the robot who has disproportionate feet. Old hairy legs does, too. And if I’m honest, the red-haired beauty is a bit out of proportion, too. Just a tiny, tiny bit.
Hannes Bok: great artist, not so great when it comes to feet.
October 20th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
I’m still trying to figure out how the three-eyed creature’s right arm works. It looks like it should be folded up, thus covering the breasts, judging by what appears to be an elbow in the middle of the body mass, but the right hand is clearly next to the right knee. Does “she” have two elbows on her right arm or am I misinterpreting something?
October 20th, 2012 at 7:13 pm
@Andrew: I think it might be a really big shoulder that you’re seeing. Maybe.
October 23rd, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Three eyes, and still unable to see who goes there?
October 30th, 2012 at 7:06 pm
But that’s Hannes Bok, one of my favorite pulp illustrators. He’s awesome! And renowned for his weird, creepy illustrations.
And the story is the one the movie “The Thing” is based on, as others have noted.
Bok is an inspired choice to illustrate a shapeshifting doppelgänger alien that doesn’t quite get it right.
I love this cover.
June 19th, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Dearest Tag Wizard,
Kind sir, might I suggest the above submission as a candidate reinforcing your most excellent and astute suggestion for an ‘intrepetive dance’ tag? Indeed, gazing upon this cover I can almost hear thr bongos and a flute.
Warmest regards,
FeaÃ…â„¢ofMusic,esq
June 19th, 2013 at 11:05 pm
Cheers, Fears!
June 20th, 2013 at 4:58 am
Oh, and Sir Wiz, I know I shouldn’t importune your most excellent self, all honor to ye, but, really, vermillion nips? Concavities where none should be, including a sinkhole at the base of the throat? May I once again invoke the “weird pecs” tag?
June 20th, 2013 at 5:19 am
Messr Chiclitz,
I thank you most graciously, good sir, for hoisting aloft that banner. I find myself unable to gaze at that region of anatomy any longer. They tell me this will pass. In the meanwhile, I salute you.
June 20th, 2013 at 9:42 am
FeaÃ…â„¢ofPecs, I did laugh. And added yon tag at thine bidding, Monsieur Chiclitz. Although surely the weirdest thing about these nips is that there are only two of them. Young Tag Wizard was told that he was normal and that all the other little wizzes at Tag School had three under their cloaks as well.
June 20th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
@T-Wiz: you da man, however many nips you may or may not possess!
January 12th, 2018 at 2:08 pm
This cover’s so old it’s in black and white.
January 12th, 2018 at 2:09 pm
What’s the oldest cover on the site, anyone know?
January 12th, 2018 at 3:01 pm
@THX 1138—That sounds like a job for GSSxn, who seems to have become the unofficial archivist for the site (hey, you’ve got my vote at least!).
It’s a good question.
Another good question is what was the first cover ever posted on GSS?
January 12th, 2018 at 3:55 pm
This is a Campbell short story compilation. Explains the robot. Maybe.
https://www.burnsiderarebooks.com/pictures/150417023_3.JPG?v=1429322469
January 12th, 2018 at 4:12 pm
The next earliest I can think of is this http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/?p=6386 from 1950 (a reprint of a 1924 book but not, apparently, the same cover).. The first was this Manilowtastic offering from nearly ten years ago. http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/?p=6
January 12th, 2018 at 5:54 pm
This cover has inspired me to try my hand at free verse.
Who goes there?
Who goes there?
Campbell!
Who goes there?
John W. Campbell, Jr.
Shasta!
John W. Campbell, Jr.
(For the record, there’s a lot to like about this cover.)
January 12th, 2018 at 6:24 pm
I’m with Tor here. In fact, I’d vote this “A Cover That Does Not Belong Here”. This is probably the best representation of The Thing you could get without going full John Carpenter and even then, there’s something to be said for leaving something to the imagination.
But then, I like Fractal Centaur and Finger Rocket so what do I know.
Also, ‘Fractal Centaur and the Finger Rockets’ is my new band name.
January 13th, 2018 at 12:37 am
This has nothing to do with the title story, plus it scared me. Feh. Feh, I say!
The Thing did many weird forms, but not like these (I have read the story and seen 2 movies). And there was only one. And why is there Interpretive Dance robot? And what’s the bot standing on? I can’t figure out the anatomy of most of the things (heh) on the cover.
@BC: Not me! I just went through ’em all a year ago in the space of about 2-3 weeks, and the whole site got mushed together in my brain as one glorious/horrifying blob of art. Plus, I can’t figure out the search AT ALL. @Tat Wood’s got it sussed.
January 13th, 2018 at 1:55 pm
@THX-1138 – Dead Stuff would know but he hasn’t been around in a while.