Jun 29
Click for full imageJessie Comments: DUDE. GIGANTIC ALBINO KILLER VULTURE. Does anything else need to be said? Does it really matter if there’s anything else in the picture?
Published 1976
Many thanks to Jessie!
(Average: 5.81 out of 10)
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June 29th, 2010 at 9:55 am
I have to admit I kinda like this cover. You could probably get away with it in public.
But… one point. Don’t vultures usually have feathers?
June 29th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
This is in fact a fairly faithful reproduction of a scene from the novel!
June 29th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Vultures also don’t have claws on their wings..
The dolls on the foreground bug me.
June 29th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
There is something very odd about the depth of field, particularly where hairy vulture guy is stepping on the–I suppose it is a reindeer? Were these two ladies on their way to visit Santa? But at least they are dressed appropriate for the snowy setting, no chain mail bikinis for these ladies!…Damn it…
June 29th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
No way that thing could fly. I think of it as a polar ostrich crossed with some kind of yeti-vulture. Which is pretty badass.
But poor Prancer.
June 29th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
GESUNDHEIT!
June 29th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Is that blood on the monster’s beak, or chocolate syrup?
June 29th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
There’s some kind of bird calmly sitting on his talon during this chaos.
June 29th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Either it’s a shitty cover or all my years of acid use is blending Princess Amildala getting attacked by a Skeksis
Don’t do drugs kids. Stay in school.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
This is how Father Christmas manifests if you’ve been naughty!
June 29th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
It’s a “Banshee”, BTW. Flightless and blind predator that lives in the mountains. Very minor part of the story, which is mostly about gender roles in a patriarchal society (while this would soon become the cliche Darkover theme, this book is where that started).
June 29th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
The “patriarchal society” is symbolised by the yeti-bird’s head. Grotesque cock and balls, anyone?
June 29th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
This shall be my next X-mas card.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Is it actually possible for snow flakes to look like that? And be that big? Maybe they are tiny people…
And to the Uber Nerd, is she force throwing that stag to the vulture?
June 29th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
… or is it a snapshot from a recent Amy Winehouse gig?
June 29th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
SI: Well, she has red hair, which in Darkover terms means she’s a psi, so I suppose she could be doing something along those lines. It’s been about 20 years since I read the book, though, so I couldn’t tell you what actually happens in the scene depicted. In general, the redhead is escorting a young noble-born woman who is trying to escape a fate of being married off to some bozo, IIRC. The short haircut is a symbol of renouncing the traditional “barefoot and pregnant” role of women in Darkovan society (flannel and Doc Martens not being available in their society). And they have banshee problems during the trip, I suppose.
June 30th, 2010 at 10:44 am
hey, its SPARKLY ARCTIC vulture to you, pal! currently interrupting a currier and ives holiday scene.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:29 am
there is something subliminal going on here. if you look between the eyes of the vulture,you’ll see an ass.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:17 am
Edmund: Please don’t eat me mighty bird-thing. Here! Have Mr Tumnus instead!
Lucy: Oh Edmund, you really are a complete and utter prig. And a cunt.
July 31st, 2013 at 6:14 pm
This is actually a bird creature in the Darkover world called a Banshee. Named in the book for the cry it has.
As for the ladies, most of them are Amazons. A group of women who gave up being owned and ‘protected’ by men.
July 31st, 2013 at 7:53 pm
1. Ms. Sangelia, I’m terribly sorry to hear about your difficulties. I hope that making snarky remarks about old book covers confers some wellness. 🙂
2. It seems to me like a predator with long, stilt-like legs wouldn’t be suited to either climbing around craggy cliffs in high winds OR retaining heat between its core and its feet. Does anyone who’s read this know if it’s described as having shortish, hairy legs or long ones with lots of blood vessels close to the surface?
August 25th, 2015 at 3:11 am
The vulture is drooling blood. It’s clearly eaten something already. And ginger in front is wearing a Santa-esque cloak.
January 17th, 2017 at 9:36 pm
@James Lovegrove (If he’s still around): the phallic nature of the bird head is what I saw first as well. Then the rest of the photo loaded and it was Currier and Ives gone wrong.
January 24th, 2022 at 1:15 am
The Giant Claw is not amused.
https://www.midnightonly.com/2015/10/02/the-giant-claw-1957/