Let me get this right. Some of the customers are dead while the others are taking advantage of the mayhem (sorry, crisis) to try out the beds*. Not being an expert in retail-based violence I afraid that’s the best I can do.
*they’ll probably just order them from Amazon anyway, the jerks.
I was going to make a comment, but then I checked the mouseover. Yeah, doesn’t look like much knowledge, unless fashion knowledge is forbidden.
This is actually not a bad cover even today — in 1957 it was spectacular. Everything’s clearly recognizable, decently proportioned, and being a stormtrooper must come with an excellent dental plan.
Who, pray tell, are the stormtroopers menacing other than the reader? There aren’t any dangerous civilians inside the department store — just troopers, mannequins, and people who are either dead or subdued. Or more mannequins. And the place looks very orderly — nothing overturned or smashed.
Must be getting ready for Black Friday, as @Tor alluded to. Maybe that’s the sales staff cowering on the floor, or they had to sleep there overnight.
@fred: It’s got a pen and a blank scroll, and no ink. There’ll be no writing of knowledge at all. With a red check mark. Nope, no writing here, check!
The forbidden knowledge must be how to floss. It seems in the future only the stormtroopers will be cavity-free. The art may be decent (though I’m with B’Mancer WRT the ridiculous hat) but the text below the title feels like a newspaper headline:
H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire Complete Novel; No One Buys
@B. Chiclitz: yeah, it needs an “a” or “the” before “complete novel.” Or would that confuse readers into thinking it’s a novel starring H Beam Piper and John J. (Jingleheimer) McGuire?
I figure that’s a chunky retro-futuristic iPod equivalent on his chest and it’s playing some rockin’ tunes to brutalize people to through his oversized headphones.
February 5th, 2020 at 9:53 am
Logically, the helmet symbol should have an inkpot. How else is this forbidden knowledge to be written, and then gleefully stamped out.
February 5th, 2020 at 10:46 am
And that’s why he lost his job as security guard at Woolworth’s.
February 5th, 2020 at 10:53 am
This is a good cover, and I cannot mock it.
Also, it depicts one of the stormtroopers of the next U.S. President, hard at work rooting out literacy.
SF predicting the future, you know…
February 5th, 2020 at 11:03 am
Let me get this right. Some of the customers are dead while the others are taking advantage of the mayhem (sorry, crisis) to try out the beds*. Not being an expert in retail-based violence I afraid that’s the best I can do.
*they’ll probably just order them from Amazon anyway, the jerks.
February 5th, 2020 at 1:25 pm
Definitely worthy of a ridiculous hat tag, regardless of what A.R. says.
February 5th, 2020 at 3:28 pm
The design inspiration for The Venture Bros.
February 5th, 2020 at 3:37 pm
By Grabthar’s hammer, what a savings!
Clown suit sale results in violence.
February 5th, 2020 at 4:51 pm
These Forbidden Knowledge sales keep getting more hectic and commercialized each year.
February 5th, 2020 at 11:56 pm
I was going to make a comment, but then I checked the mouseover. Yeah, doesn’t look like much knowledge, unless fashion knowledge is forbidden.
This is actually not a bad cover even today — in 1957 it was spectacular. Everything’s clearly recognizable, decently proportioned, and being a stormtrooper must come with an excellent dental plan.
Who, pray tell, are the stormtroopers menacing other than the reader? There aren’t any dangerous civilians inside the department store — just troopers, mannequins, and people who are either dead or subdued. Or more mannequins. And the place looks very orderly — nothing overturned or smashed.
Must be getting ready for Black Friday, as @Tor alluded to. Maybe that’s the sales staff cowering on the floor, or they had to sleep there overnight.
@fred: It’s got a pen and a blank scroll, and no ink. There’ll be no writing of knowledge at all. With a red check mark. Nope, no writing here, check!
@Marvin: good art direction.
February 6th, 2020 at 12:08 am
” Yeah, doesn’t look like much knowledge, unless fashion knowledge is forbidden.”
GSS ex-noob: That would make them the Fashion Police.
In 2140, are lead pipes standard police issue? I mean if you’re going to be shooting everyone, bringing a lead pipe seems a bit redundant.
February 6th, 2020 at 4:12 am
The forbidden knowledge must be how to floss. It seems in the future only the stormtroopers will be cavity-free. The art may be decent (though I’m with B’Mancer WRT the ridiculous hat) but the text below the title feels like a newspaper headline:
H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire Complete Novel; No One Buys
February 6th, 2020 at 5:46 am
@B. Chiclitz: yeah, it needs an “a” or “the” before “complete novel.” Or would that confuse readers into thinking it’s a novel starring H Beam Piper and John J. (Jingleheimer) McGuire?
I figure that’s a chunky retro-futuristic iPod equivalent on his chest and it’s playing some rockin’ tunes to brutalize people to through his oversized headphones.
February 6th, 2020 at 6:01 am
@Bruce A M—It looks more like a retro-futuristic Walkman.
February 6th, 2020 at 11:24 pm
@BC: It’s a retro-futuristic Discman, silly.
@Bruce: Nah, the Fashion Police are writing tickets about the Stormtroopers. Particularly their hats.