Oct 01
Click for full imageDon’s Art Direction: I want a seriously bronzed (think gallons of Man-Tan) hero on a gryphonish thing with wings growing out of his butt.
Published 1982
(Average: 8.55 out of 10)
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Don’s Art Direction: I want a seriously bronzed (think gallons of Man-Tan) hero on a gryphonish thing with wings growing out of his butt.
Published 1982
(Average: 8.55 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) (8.89 out of 10) (8.88 out of 10)
Lastest Tweet
October 1st, 2012 at 9:18 am
This is just a bucketload of excellent – it has everything – flowing long blonde hair (this time on a “man”), improbable creature with a punk hairdo, purple background, green tights and the courage to include both phallic symbolism AND needing to specify it’s an “adult fantasy.”
If this is your fantasy, then good luck, and good show, sir.
Mine is to see the Gryphonish Thing versus Space Moose in an ultimate showdown.
http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/2012/08/the-space-barbarians/
(Although too bad if this guy needs to use his spear – it’s being held to the saddle by his manly be-tighted thighs. This is why you need a kilt.)
October 1st, 2012 at 9:37 am
I’ll be fair.. adult fantasy probably means the words penis and boobs might be mentioned a few times. The temptation to go for a naked women must of been there.
Instead they give us a master piece. This is simply amazing… I love it all in it’s awkwardness. What’s going on with his hips?
And the artist, Mr Stillwagon… award for the best surname ever!
October 1st, 2012 at 9:43 am
I think everyone’s adult fantasy here has just been realised: not the turkey horse, the sword with TWO tings! Such extravagance!
October 1st, 2012 at 9:59 am
Hi, my name’s Mr Stillwagon and I’m here to “sketch your fantasy cover”…
Bow-chicka-wow-wow!
October 1st, 2012 at 10:20 am
Keith Lemon’s Welsh? Who knew?
October 1st, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Griffin rampant! Sword rampant! Porn stache rampant! Colours rampant! Everything about this cover is ever so rampant!
October 1st, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Awwww! For an adult fantasy, I was expecting the presence of the sheep or Mr. Lewis somewhere on the cover. What a let-down!
October 1st, 2012 at 2:20 pm
A hero so heroic, he heroes on, even in the face of having lost his own pelvis!
Or perhaps that is what he is out and about and heroically questing for.
October 1st, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Now this!!! This is a cover. I will unfortunately have to deduct one point for the absence of barbarian babes in the foreground.
October 1st, 2012 at 7:13 pm
Kesrick knew this was the year he would finally take first place in the Wagnerian category at the Intergalactic Cosplay Convention.
October 1st, 2012 at 7:45 pm
@SI: For “adult” content…not a sausage (er, so to speak.) I don’t know if the subtitle was meant ironically or if Don Wollheim was trying to add a little sizzle. It’s pretty much every fantasy cliche and lots of mythic elements (traditional and popular-culture) tossed into a blender and garnished with sub-Princess Bride humor. With fourteen pages of endnotes.
( I don’t think the cover was meant to be funny. I certainly don’t recall the hero actually being described as looking like the lovechild of Freddy Mercury and Robin Gibb.)
October 1st, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Alternate captions:
1. “An adult fantasy… honestly!”
2. “Hot man-on-gryphon action for unashamed adults!”
3. “KESRICK — not a new brand of cottage cheese”
4. “Classic adult fantasy from the writer who gave you The Black Star”
5. “Show it to your friends (if you have any)!”
October 1st, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Amazing details. What an awesome saddle, um, horn. Punk hair and all.
I am wondering if the man is winged or not?
October 2nd, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Whose butt are those wings growing out of? I honestly can’t tell.
October 3rd, 2012 at 2:52 am
Best. Bad. Cover. Ever.
Though I do feel like it needs some cleavage (hey, maybe his) to make it perfect.
October 3rd, 2012 at 5:58 am
Oh good grief – I just saw those amazing boots have spurs.
Because when there’s scarcely a codpiece between you and a creature with talons, spurs are a bad idea.
October 3rd, 2012 at 7:31 am
i am in love with this cover. it is too awesome for words.
brown chicken brown cow indeed.
October 5th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Awww, look at his little itty bitty shoes, aren’t they so cute?
October 12th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Adult fantasy with childish cover.
October 14th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
*Homosexual* adult fantasy, apparently.
November 20th, 2012 at 4:31 am
If this site were not so amazingly amusing and clever I would find it soul-crushingly depressing. I surrendered my youthful dreams of being an artist after an incredibly supportive instructor informed me my efforts were “rubbish” Said he “Nobody is going to pay you to do monsters and dragons, killer robots and and bizarre beasties. No demons or dog-people. There is no market for such things. Grow up my boy.” Sadly I assumed he knew what he spoke of (though he appears to have gotten it right about the dog-people.) Ah well, at least I wont find my efforts here. Although I seriouly could have done this cover one better. Not one, but two lovely busty scantily clad women, with long lances suggestively held. Yes yes. Indeed.
June 14th, 2015 at 12:27 am
Kesrick and his mount did stride
On purple hills in space
And gradually, he tanned his hide
Except across his face!
June 14th, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Appropriately, the cover looks as though it had been drawn in colouring pencils. http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/plan-your-visit/how-to-find-us/
June 15th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
It doesnt help your warrior credentials if you have mustache like that and have wings growing out of your ass. I mean wings, in general, are cool, but just think how dignified you’re going to be looking flying around as if strung up from your pooper.
September 16th, 2016 at 1:00 pm
This is what I see when I look in the mirror.
September 16th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Desperately in need of a “Foreword By…” Piers Anthony, perhaps.
September 16th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
This is what I see when I look in Juan Paul’s mirror. 😉
September 16th, 2016 at 1:31 pm
About Keith Stillwagon:
Keith Stillwagon’s work has been termed as ‘Visionary Realism’.
The themes of his acrylic paintings occur within mystical landscapes which seem familiar yet transcend oridinary (sic) reality. His attention to symbolism and fine detail compels the viewer to look closely, taking time to enjoy and understand the picture.
Keith Stillwagon’s murals adorn many homes and buildings in and around Gulfport and St. Petersburg, Florida.
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/keith-stillwagon.html
September 16th, 2016 at 1:55 pm
Keith Stillwagon: A Journey Filled With ‘Great Mistakes’
However, this local newspaper profile fails to mention the Kesrick cover.
September 16th, 2016 at 1:56 pm
@B’mancer: ‘Snarf!’
September 16th, 2016 at 2:02 pm
@DSWBT – Commissioned by an anonymous source:
http://www.light-of-truth.com/pr101407.html
September 16th, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Mmm… Cheddar factory springs to mind! I want that book! Fun with a Capital F! Yes!
September 16th, 2016 at 2:11 pm
@B’mancer: Goodness, that reads better than The Loneliest Cot on Starship Xeno! What I want to know is, why would the commissioner wish to remain anonymous?
September 16th, 2016 at 2:12 pm
@JuanPaul: I think you’d better keep Elvraie away from your mirror. 😀
September 16th, 2016 at 2:49 pm
@Juan Paul – Guess who else saw this when they looked in the mirror.
September 16th, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Where else can we cram a griffin onto this cover because four just isn’t enough. The rowels of his spurs. The front of his ‘armor’. The back of his cape. Give him a full griffins head helmet instead of just the crest. The pommel of his sword. The clasp of his cape. Gold griffins instead of jewels. A whole armada of flying griffins. A herd of stampeding griffins, Griffin tattoos. A volcano erupting griffins. A lake of griffins wearing water wings. Every little circle on the griffin’s hide should contain a griffin image.
September 16th, 2016 at 3:51 pm
@dswbt I knew someone was using my toothpaste
September 16th, 2016 at 4:04 pm
A little known fact: like Kesrick and Stilwagon himself, Francis Bacon had feathers growing out of his ass. As Bacon famously said:
“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. Feathers in the ass just friggin’ itch.”
September 19th, 2016 at 5:19 pm
I like the gryphon’s technicolour roached mane/DA combo!
September 19th, 2016 at 7:15 pm
The smaller moon is partially transparent, and would have a CRAZY orbit given it’s currently between a planet and an enormous moon. Maybe it’s a Death Star?
August 18th, 2020 at 1:21 am
Carter! See me after class – it’s spelt Keswick. Pay attention, boy.