September 2024 – Literary Art and Illustration

Thrilling Wonder Stories, April, 1947, featuring “Way of the Gods”, by Henry Kuttner [Earle Bergey]

Hawkgirl of DC Comics’ fame, without her mask?

No, not quite!

This is Elje. She’s one of the protagonists in Henry Kuttner’s 1947 novella “Way of the Gods”, which appeared as a single installment in the April 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. She’s depicted here by famed illustrator Earle Bergey, who produced innumerable – and quite memorable – pulp covers.

Remarkably (can I say astonishingly, too?!), considering the significance and influence of Kuttner’s body of work, this novella has only been published (in print, that is) once in the seventy-seven years since its first appearance: It comprised the entire content of the August, 1954 (specifically, number #28) of American Science Fiction Magazine issued by Malian Press of Australia.

Based on a brief overview of this issue’s contents (via Archive.org) the setting – or at least the theme – of the novella seems to be part of the same conceptual “universe” as that of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore’s anthology Mutant, The basis of the stories within this book is that the advent of the atomic age – whether atomic weapons or atomic power; the stories were all penned between 1945 and 1953 – has suddenly generated within the human race a not insubstantial proportion of mutants (kind of like a precursor to the X-Men?) whose existence proves intolerable and is perceived as a threat to the conventional run of humanity. The characters in these tales are thus forced to somehow contend with living among homo sapiens, or, as in the case of “Way of the Gods”, leave the Earth entirely, to navigate their challenging destiny among their own, new … species of mankind.

(Gee, now that I’ve described Kuttner’s novella, maybe I’ll download and read it after all!)

The story is accompanied by three illustrations by Lawrence S. Stevens (“Stevens”), which have a superficial resemblance to the work of Virgil Finlay, particularly the intricate drawing on page 14. Actually, it’s that specific illustration that drew my attention to this novella in the first place, for I first noticed it several decades ago (seriously!) in Brian Ash’s Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, where, on page 196, it’s appropriately found within a chapter covering “Mutants and Symbiotes”. This image and the two others were downloaded from Archive.org and then tweaked a little bit via Photoshop, to generate the best contrast and brightness.

Enjoy.

Spawn of atomic fission,
this strange company of mutants exiled by humanity
battles against enslavement in a foreign world
dominated by the evil Spirit of the Crystal Mountain!

Illustrations by Lawrence Sterne Stevens (“Lawrence”), for “Way Of The Gods”, by Henry Kuttner (pages 12…)

Together they glided across the rushing air currents.

(…14…)

“Better to die that way than this,” said Elje.
“All right, Kern, we’ll go.”

(…and 18)

He heard a voice of impossible sweetness, and slowly, slowly,
he felt warmth return to him.

And otherwise?

“Way of the Gods”, at…

… Project Gutenberg

… Listenly (requires Google login)

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Archive.org

A Book?

Ash, Brian (editor), The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Harmony Books, New York, N.Y., 1977

Super Science Stories – January, 1950 (Featuring “Beyond All Weapons”, by L. Ron Hubbard) [Lawrence Sterne Stevens] [Updated Post]

(Originally created in June of 2021, I’ve lightly updated – edited, really – this post.)

Paul Callé (March 3, 1928 – December 30, 2010) had a long and distinguished career in the world of illustration, his extraordinarily varied and productive oeuvre encompassing the design of postal stamps, “Western” art, and magazine covers, the latter particularly for Galaxy Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, and Super Science Fiction.

Perhaps most notably in terms of popular culture, he designed postal stamps commemorating pivotal events in the United States’ space program: America’s first Extra-Vehicular Activity (“EVA”) – astronaut Edward H. White, Jr.’s, “space-walk” of June 3, 1965, during Gemini 4 (issued on September 29, 1967)…

…and the first manned lunar landing and EVA, during Apollo 11 on July 16 and 20, respectively (issued on September 9, 1969).

Stylistically representative of his illustrations for that magazine, Calle’s cover, rather then portraying a visually literal representation of (imagined!) space-suits, space vehicles, technology, and a planetary landscape, instead works on a much more direct, almost “mythical” level, making use of bold contrasts between light and dark, with conveying the essence of the story on a symbolic level. Calle’s other illustrations for Super Science Stories were (are!) equally striking. To me, his work has a very strong resonance with the black and white illustrations of Rockwell Kent.

The illustration below accompanies L. Ron Hubbard’s tale “Beyond All Weapons” in the January, 1950 issue of Super Science Stories (on page 71) which was downloaded from the illuminating Luminist Archive.

Here’s the magazine’s cover, by “Lawrence”: Lawrence S. Stevens.

References

Astronaut Ed White, at…

Wikipedia

Paul Callé, at…

Wikipedia

Postal stamp commemorating first American EVA

Paul Calle Space Art (Paul Calle & Chris Calle)

6/19/21 254

Super Science Stories – May, 1950, featuring “The Death Crystal” by George O. Smith, and, “By The Stars Forgot” by John D. MacDonald [Lawrence Sterne Stevens] [Updated Post]

Created in January of 2020 (…is it that long ago?!…) I’ve updated this post to include two images of Grand Central Station.

Having previously presented an example of artist Paul Callé‘s work from the January, 1950 issue of Super Science Stories, here’s another superb example of his work: The illustration accompanying John D. MacDonald’s short (really short!) story “By The Stars Forgot”, from the magazine’s issue of May, 1950.

What’s particularly notable about the illustrations in Super Science Stories – at least, those issues from the early 1950s – is that they equal if not exceed in symbolism, visual power, and simplicity of composition art featured in more prominent and influential “first tier” science fiction magazines of the same era (primarily Astounding; the interior art in Galaxy was highly variable in quality in style, while The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction largely eschewed interior art except, for a brief interval in the 1950s). This is ironic, given that the magazine was not the most influential publication of the genre, albeit it did publish the work of prominent authors.

Like some other posts at this blog, this example of Paul Callé‘s stunning work was downloaded from the Pulp Magazine Archive and edited via Photoshop Elements, to create the image displayed here.

“A giant gets you by the ankle and throws you toward the roof…”

Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, central to MacDonald’s Story and a central element of Callé’s composition, closely matches this strikingly sunbeamed evocative photographic image of the Station from the 1940s…

(Getty Image 466275073)

Here’s another image of Grand Central Station. This lovely picture – photographer’s name and specific date unknown, albeit copyrighted by Corbis-Bettmann – was published as postcard AY129 by Graphique de France in the late 1990s or early 2000s.

The image is superbly composed in terms of balance between light and dark, with the angled sunbeams imparting an impression of transparent solidity. The attire of the men and women suggests that the picture was taken from 1940s through 1950s. And (minor point!), at least we can tell the time of day: 8:34 A.M., by the four-faced clock above the ticket counter.

The magazine also includes this wonderful Illustration by Virgil W. Finlay for Clifford D. Simak’s “The Call From Beyond” (pages 56-57), an example of how large-format pulps permitted the artist to display his singular talents to greatest effect. I’ve edited this image to remove its extraneous (digital) background and thereby enhance the illustration’s actual and most intriguing characters, creatures, and components. A close view of the drawing reveals that the its monstrous and mysterious denizens are all unique individuals: No two figures – whether alien, avian, vaguely earthly, or eerily ambiguous – are exactly alike.

As for the story itself? Subsequent to its appearance in Super Science Stories, it’s only been republished eight times, most recently in digital format at Project Gutenberg.