Images and Thoughts to Inspire Your Intellect and Infuse Your Imagination!
Illustration by Edd Cartier, for Charles Harness’ story “Time Trap” (p. 7)
Illustration by Paul Orban, for Kenneth Gray’s story “Smaller Than You Think” (p. 32)
Illustration by William Timmins, for “Dreadful Sanctuary”, by Eric Frank Russell (p. 132).
Illustration by Pat Davis, for Jack Williamson’s story “The Equalizer” (p. 6)
Illustration by Edd Cartier, for Poul Anderson and F.N. Waldrop’s story “Tomorrow’s Children” (p. 72)
Illustration by Paul Orban, for Isaac Asimov’s story “Little Lost Robot” (p. 111)
Illustration by Edd Cartier, for William Tenn’s story “Child’s Play” (p. 146)
Illustration by Swenson, for A. Bertram Chandler’s story “Tower of Darkness” (p. 78)
Illustration by Edd Cartier, for Irving E. Cox, Jr.’s story “Hell’s Pavement” (p. 53)
Illustration by Hubert Rogers, for Chad Oliver’s story “The Edge of Forever” (p. 69)
Illustration by Richard Van Dongen, for Hal Clement’s story “Iceworld” (Part III of III) (p. 107)
Illustration by Richard Van Dongen, for Hal Clement’s story “Iceworld” (Part III of III) (p. 137)
Illustration by Paul Orban, for Lewis Padgett’s story “The Fairy Chessmen” (p. 13)
Illustration by Williams, for Ross Rocklynne’s story “A Matter of Length” (p. 118)
Illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost, for “Final Weapon”, by Everett B. Cole (p. 8).
Illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost, for “Final Weapon”, by Everett B. Cole (p. 19).
Illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost, for “Final Weapon”, by Everett B. Cole (p. 28).
Illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost, for “Final Weapon”, by Everett B. Cole (p. 37).
Illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost, for “Final Weapon”, by Everett B. Cole (p. 46).
Illustration by Richard Van Dongen for “The Guardians”, by Irving Cox, Jr. (p. 53).
Illustration by Richard Van Dongen for “Shock Absorber”, by E.G. Von Wald (p. 67).
Illustration by Frank Kelly Freas for “The Long Way Home” (Part III of IV), by Poul Anderson (p. 134).
Illustration by Frank Kelly Freas for “The Long Way Home” (Part III of IV), by Poul Anderson (p. 147).
“The finest energy weapons in the known universe.”
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Illustration by William A. Kolliker, for “The Weapon Shop” (p. 9)
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Illustration by William A. Kolliker for “The Weapon Shop” (p. 22)
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Illustration by Paul Orban, for Edna Mayne Hull’s story “The Flight That Failed” (p. 29)
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Illustration by Charles Schneeman, for Frank Bellknap Long’s story “To Follow Knowledge” (p. 87)
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Illustration by Pasilang R. Isip, for Robert Moore Williams’ story “Johnny Had a Gun” (p. 99)
Illustration by Paul Orban, for “World of [Null] A”, by A.E. Van Vogt (p. 7).
Illustration by Paul Orban, for “World of [Null] A”, by A.E. Van Vogt (p. 40).
Illustration by Arthur Williams, for “Uncommon Sense”, by Hal Clement (p. 52).
Illustration by Arthur Williams, for “Uncommon Sense”, by Hal Clement (p. 59).
Illustration by Paul Orban, for “Camouflage”, by Lewis Padgett (p. 135).
Illustration by Paul Orban, for “Camouflage”, by Lewis Padgett (p. 154).
Illustration by Paul Orban, for “World of [Null] A”, by A.E. Van Vogt (p. 175).
The December, 1952, issue of Astounding Science Fiction bears a cover that’s remarkably simple in composition, yet by virtue of that simplicity conveys a story wordlessly. (Well okay, the title in the lower left corner is a give-away!)
Though most of Gaylord Welker’s painting consists of little more than a deeply blue sky darkly ascending to near-black (the scan you’re viewing has significantly more color latitude than the printed image), the wrecked spacecraft at lower left and forlorn astronaut at lower right – is that an ejection-seat “D-ring” in his left hand? – tell you all you need to know. Ironically, though, like numerous other cover illustrations for 1950s issues of Astounding, Galaxy Magazine, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science from the ’50s, there’s no direct tie-in to any story in the actual issue.
Which means, of course, that the image is begging for literary treatment.
Which has been done across the decades, of course, with great variation!
Anyway, the accompanying illustration is Henry Richard Van Dongen’s lovely panoramic cityscape for Asimov’s “The Currents of Space”.
I’ve now (April, 2020) updated the post by making some minor tweaks to the scan of Van Dongen’s art: I’ve situated the two halves of the image closer to one another, and, increased the contrast. However minor in effect, I think this marks at least a degree of improvement over the original scan from 2017.
Which, is shown at bottom.
So, I can’t tell which I like more – the Welker or the Van Dongen…!
Illustration by Henry Richard Van Dongen, for Isaac Asimov’s story “The Currents of Space” (pp. 130-131)
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Image as it originally appeared in this post…
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