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Feb 16

A.E. V-2

Charles comments: Another money-grybbin effort.

Published 1980

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: 6.67 out of 10)
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18 Responses to “The Gryb”

  1. Ryan Says:

    Likes: Rockets, curvy girls, poisonous frogs. Dislikes: Consistent perspectives.

  2. Bruce Alexander Munro Says:

    Much of this picture is explainable if we assume she licked the frog a few minutes ago.

  3. Francis Boyle Says:

    Based on a dream Wernher von Braun had after eating a little too much sauerkraut. Once the rockets are up. . .

  4. fred Says:

    I want to know the reason why the A.E. was placed over the O.

  5. Tor Mented Says:

    Oh, gryb me a home
    Where amphibians roam
    Where women in draperies lay.
    Where a V2 or two
    Will swarm into view
    And the painters get discounts on gray.

  6. B. Chiclitz Says:

    “V-2”
    “Gesundheit!”

    @Tor M—GSS!

  7. Tat Wood Says:

    The take-away from this hard-launch relationship selfie? That the supermodel and the toad would rather stare abstractedly into space than watch any of the 60-or-so ‘Star Trek’ spin-offs currently streaming.

  8. Leak Says:

    @fred: can’t waste a good diagonal with those fancy fontseses – now if only the A had the same weight as the V…

  9. Emster Says:

    If this is a new version of the Frog Prince… in Spaaaaaaace, neither of the main characters are looking particularly excited (if she DID lick the frog and he didn’t turn into a prince, that may ‘splain the glum expressions on both).

  10. Bruce Alexander Munro Says:

    Training an AI to create promotional materials for SpaceX ran into some problems: for one thing, the programmers weren’t sure where the toads were coming from.

  11. Hammy Says:

    I see why the frog is facing away from the reclining woman.

    Her drape is about the same color and pattern as its skin, so it can’t bear to look at what it assumes are the skins of its relatives.

    (It’s/its – I never remember when to use one over the other)

  12. JJYoyo Says:

    Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toV2s
    Did gryb and gymble o’er ye wabe:
    All mimsy was ye borrowed frog
    And ye mome fonts outgrabe.

  13. Bruce Alexander Munro Says:

    GSS, @JJYoyo.
    I wonder if this is a case of cover reuse? There’s nothing about it that really says “collection of AE Van Vogt stories”, and it certainly doesn’t illustrate the title story, which involves some dudes dealing with a Space Monster.

  14. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @JJYoyo, @Tor: GSS!

    The perspectives bother me, and the gray is so boring, no wonder the lady and the frog are sooo bored.

    But have we considered that the frog is also a supermodel, and this is some weird-yet-dull photoshoot In SPAAAAACE? Could be a multi-species perfume ad.

    *breathy voiceover*
    “The Gryb. Lets any oxygen-breather improve the atmosphere.”

    Frog and damsel don’t get outta bed for less than 10000 galactic credits a day. If they’d known how dull this would be, their agents would have doubled the asking price.

  15. Tracy Says:

    This cover was generated by AI before there ever was an AI. All the elements are there.

  16. Leak Says:

    @Tracy: except it’s missing the deluge of extra fingers…

  17. A. R. Yngve Says:

    Mario Bava’s controversial 1960s movie “Gli Amori Segreti Di Werner Von Braun” was widely condemned by critics for turning historical events into a sexploitation piece.

  18. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @Tracy: That’s exactly what it looks like. I wonder if the AIs have had too much bad sci-fi covers in their input training.

    Which produces a mind-boggling thought: what output would an AI trained only on GSS covers produce? And how many of them would be indistinguishable from books we’ve seen? How many of them would be less awful than our top “favorites”?

    @ARY: He aimed for the stars, but hit bimbos instead?

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