May 18
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Art Direction: Look I’m so sci-fi medical expertician but, the inevitable side effect of putting crystals in your eyes has got to be a large head, baldness and a lack of lips. Maybe the loss of chest hair too.
Published 1975
Thanks to Whitney for sending this in!

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Tagged with: baldness • Ballantine Books • crystal • dude • eye-yi-yi • Gene Szafran • glowing eyes • Michael Bishop • stairway to heaven • WTF
Apr 29
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Zycrow’s Art Direction: No. Dragons are overused. Draw something else. You have one second.
Published 1974
Today the swans fight back against a monarchy who ate them for so long!
Have a great bank holiday weekend!

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Tagged with: Ballantine Books • bird • dude • fire • flag • flowers • Gervasio Gallardo • giant birds • H. Warner Munn • horses • Lin Carter • magic • mountains • once you see it • strange creature • WTF
Mar 22
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Kevin’s Art Direction: Don’t put a red flame ANYWHERE on the coverthat’s too obvious! Instead, put Grizzly Adams into a jumpsuit and have him talking earnestly to a lizard man who’s walking a giant stag beetle through an alien city. Insert sexual tension by hiding the human’s left hand behind the lizard man’s buttocks. Also, hide both bipeds’ right feet from view so people will focus on the fact that the beetle is practically floating.
Published 1986
Many thanks to Kevin!

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Tagged with: A Del Rey Book • anthropomorphism • Ballantine Books • beard-wielding • dude • giant insects • lizard people • Ralph McQuarrie • strange creature • WTF
Feb 22
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Tim Comments: Hot babe fairy queen, standing on slime-mold covered stairway to nowhere. Add in super-wussy fairy dude, you gotta feel for him, they put him in quite possibly the worst costume of all time. And the photo doesn’t do justice to the garishness of the blue background and orange border. And of course lots of different fonts.
Published 1985
Many thanks to Tim!

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Tagged with: Ballantine Books • border • Chronicles of Thomas Covenant • damsel • Darrell K. Sweet • Del Rey Books • dude • font problems • Stephen R. Donaldson
Feb 21
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MisterBob Comments: Look darling, there be tentacles! But what about my little alien baby, maybe cat nanny can stay behind and continue to look bored.
Published 1984
Many thanks to MisterBob!

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Tagged with: A Del Rey Book • anthropomorphism • Ballantine Books • Barclay Shaw • cat people • damsel • dude • Marcia J. Bennett • planets • robes • shiny • strange creature • WTF
Feb 18
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Christal Comments: This is what happens when you let your artist take Acid and then read Lewis Carroll.
Published 1969
Ending the week with more… romantic… literature!
Many thanks to Christal!

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Tagged with: Ballantine Books • Ballantine Fantasy • cat people • damsel • evil • Fletcher Pratt • L. Sprague De Camp • Lin Carter • magic • monsters • Poul Anderson • Ron Walotsky • strange creature • WTF
Feb 08
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GK Comments: Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?
Published 1981
Many thanks to GK!

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Tagged with: A Del Rey Book • Ballantine Books • Clifford D. Simak • robes • robots • Rowena Morrill • WTF
Feb 03
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Josh Comments: Yeah, there’s definitely nothing homoerotic about this one.
Published 1983
Top reads – “A big concept, brilliantly worked out… Manseed is vintage Jack Williamson and you won’t be able to find better than that!” Frederik Pohl

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Tagged with: baldness • Ballantine Books • dude • GOLD! • Jack Williamson • muscles • planets • Rick Sternbach • space • WTF
Jan 26
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E’s Art Direction: I want it to look like West Side Story in space, only make most of the Jets werewolf people with absurdly large guns.
Published 1992
Many thanks to E!

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Tagged with: Alan Dean Foster • anthropomorphism • Ballantine Books • Barclay Shaw • cat people • Del Rey Books • dude • frickin laser beams • gun • handguns • jeans and a t-shirt • once you see it • space
Nov 24
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Simon Comments: Not only does the illustration not match the fairy-tale quality of the title (not to mention the story), it does not look like the kind of thing you’d find at a library booksale, where I saw it, and where I was urged by my sister to buy it on the grounds that you can never have too many copies of this book, especially one as bizarre as this.
Publication 1974
I give this two Ronnies!
Many thanks to Simon.

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Tagged with: Ballantine Books • bird hairdo • cleavage • damsel • font problems • starkers • strange creature • Ted Coconis • William Goldman • WTF
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