And we are back! Woo hoo! Enjoy all these great covers and pieces of art from Frank!
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I couldn’t help but wonder what this cover art was about: the Cosmic Striptease, or The Devil Downstairs. So I looked within, where I found….
Published 1957
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“Beautiful women were Satan’s main weapon. They made sin look so attractive.”
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“Millions of Earthlings gaped while the Martian show went on.” Apparently the Martians had a pretty good grasp of human anatomy.
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Further in, for another story titled, “Excitement For Sale!!”
“He was a mood-merchant, a happiness-huckster, peddling dreams from door to door.”
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Table of contents so you can see all the authors and cover art credit.
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I may have to go back and read this one to get the context for, “women were flung heartlessly into space”.
(Average: 7.73 out of 10)
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May 9th, 2014 at 9:03 am
YEEEEEHAH!!!! LET THE MOCKING RECOMMENCE!!!
May 9th, 2014 at 9:04 am
RT @GoodShowSir: We are back!! New Book Cover: Fantastic http://t.co/IY915IC8Ku
May 9th, 2014 at 9:08 am
The green guy looks like the illegitimate love child of Mr. Burns and The Great Gazoo.
May 9th, 2014 at 10:18 am
Some impressive Hypnotoad-esque staring out there.
Also, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Oh, it’s a bird, but not that kind of bird. Dita von Teese?
May 9th, 2014 at 10:51 am
Not to rain on the parade, but I just got a page not found error when I tried to post a comment. Was it really a good idea to go right back with a devil-mocking cover? I do believe that’s what got us into this predicament a month ago.
May 9th, 2014 at 10:55 am
re Cosmic Striptease: the legs are all we’re allowed to see but everyone else is looking at something just over the reader’s head. And apparently there’s something for the ladies to the right of us. I hope there’s a celestial puppet show for any children who might have been out and about that day.
Welcome back.
May 9th, 2014 at 12:03 pm
Tentative expressions of joy. Gently mocking but not offensive jibes at silly cover. Fervent wishes of goodwill towards the NSA and MI5 and all others concerned and sincere hopes that GSS Admib and Dead Stuff have been cleared from your collective watch lists. I’ll reserve my true excitement until Monday.
May 9th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Ah, the robot hamsters were fed enough and their exercise wheels are cranking away on maximum. Excellent!
To the job at hand: Do I really want to see a cosmic striptease of that thing on the cover?
I think Stevie T. nailed it.
May 9th, 2014 at 1:28 pm
‘Fantastic! I found the clitoris! It’s green and pointed and…aaah!’
Welcome back, GSS!
May 9th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
“women were flung heartlessly into spaceâ€.
– we showed those women folk! Not only did we toss them heartlessly into space, but we sexed up their outfits before we did as well! Heels and halter tops only in space.
May 9th, 2014 at 3:24 pm
Excitement For Sale: The Doctor picked a really bad place to land the TARDIS, in a giantess’ boudoir just as Jackie Gleason was arriving.
May 9th, 2014 at 3:39 pm
Wait. I thought alcohol was Satan’s main weapon. Alcohol-beer goggles-woman-sin.
May 9th, 2014 at 3:41 pm
GSS is back with a vengeance! Hip hip hooray!
May 9th, 2014 at 3:49 pm
This cover reminds me of a job I quit years ago. There is no worse way to start your work day than by hearing your customer say, “I’m leaving for work. You’ll find the mains meter in the basement. If you need me for anything, I’ll be back at 6:00. (And its only 7:00 now!)
Welcome back, GSS!
May 9th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
You know…I was saving a joke about bringing strippers for the party when GSS came back online. But the admins beat me to the punch with today’s cover.
So, is there any chance we could get a cover with an enormous mound of suspicious white powder? Or a donkey? 😀
May 10th, 2014 at 1:13 am
@Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Now, now! I think you should read FearöfMüsic’s comment (#7) again!
@FearöfMüsic I hate to get personal, but I’ve been wondering for over a year now, so I feel I need to ask, are those Diëresis marks or umlauts in your moniker?
May 10th, 2014 at 1:21 am
I fling all my women into space heartily. It’s important to enjoy your work.
@DSWBT – Surely Chinese GSS could fix you up with some suspicious white powdered donkey?
May 10th, 2014 at 7:43 am
We’ve got mock and eggs, mock and bacon, mock, bacon and eggs, mock, sausage, bacon and eggs, mock, eggs and mock, sausage, mock, bacon and mock, mock, mock . . .
[Chorus: (cresc.)] mock mock mock mock mock mock mock mock lovely mock! wonderful mock!!
May 10th, 2014 at 2:29 pm
Oh dear. The devil downstairs is up and about. Luckily, I brought my fedora.
May 12th, 2014 at 9:28 am
The Day They Caught The Grinch
May 12th, 2014 at 9:32 am
Boy, they tried really hard to get men to read back then…
May 12th, 2014 at 1:46 pm
The SF Encyclopedia says “After 1953 … Fantastic deteriorated to become a downmarket sf magazine … [just in case you doubted!] … running material by the fiction factory Harlan Ellison, Randall Garrett, Milton Lesser and Robert Silverberg under a variety of pseudonyms” – which explains why none of the authors on the contents page are familiar – but just think, The Cosmic Striptease could have been written by Ellison or Silverberg!
Ironically, in a matter of months, Cele Goldsmith would become editor (she was already ‘managing editor’ according to the contents page) and make Fantastic the leading fantasy magazine of its day.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:51 pm
That awkward moment when your hot woman-smuggling ship is about to be boarded by the fuzz and you have to dump the goods quick.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:44 pm
@StevenLP22—So now I’m guessing “Furnace for Your Foe,” attributed to one “Ellis Hart” was actually penned by Harlan Ellison—look at the clever wordplay! And the title perfectly captures the “real” author’s attitude toward his foes, that is, just about everyone who isn’t lucky enough to be he. (I haven’t actually done any research on this, so I may be unfairly maligning the “real” Ellis Hart. But, as the Italians say, what do the facts matter as long as it makes a good story?)
May 12th, 2014 at 4:59 pm
Excellent spot B Chiclitz, the SFE confirms it’s an Ellison pseudonym. ISFDB reveals – shockingly – that it has never been reprinted. It also lists 14 other titles by Ellis Hart, including:
But Who Wilts the Lettuce?
Buy Me That Blade
Damn the Metal Moon
Look Me in the Eye, Boy!
March of the Yellow Death
Pot-Luck Genii
The Untouchable Adolescents
Two Inches in Tomorrow’s Column
I wonder who did wilt the lettuce?
May 12th, 2014 at 5:10 pm
@StevenLP—the phrase “two inches” in any relation to Ellison sets off waves of no doubt unintended giggling.
As does the image of the author having to look up when demanding that a boy look him in the eye.
May 13th, 2014 at 3:04 am
Kudos to Chiclitz for sussing out Harlan the Human Lawsuit.
January 8th, 2015 at 7:19 pm
The picture on the cover was taken before the guy cleaned up his act, turned blue and got the gig on The Muppet Show, right?
January 9th, 2015 at 1:27 am
@anon: ‘B IS FOR BONDAGE, AND THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR MISTRESS!’
April 9th, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Ellis Hart is a pseudonym of Harlan Ellison.
April 9th, 2018 at 3:17 pm
How have we not been sued yet?