Tag: Mack Reynolds

Worlds of Tomorrow, June, 1963, featuring “Spaceman on A Spree”, by Mack Reynolds [Unknown artist]

While the overwhelming majority of images at this blog are of illustrations from my own books, magazines, and random paraphernalia, a relative few – such as in “this” post – have been taken from images (JPGs) already available on the Internet, or, adapted from PDFs.  I most commonly accessed files in the latter format via the Luminist Archive, or, the Pulp Magazine Archive, which seem (?!?) to a degree, to share the came content.  

That’s how I found the below images from the June ’63 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow, which features illustrations from the relatively-lesser-known-artist Norman Nodel, for Mack Reynold’s “Spaceman on a Spree”.  Which fact brings with it a caveat:  I’ve not read much of Reynold’s fiction.  But, what I have read has left me with a feeling of puzzled, if not disappointed, ambivalence.  He certainly was a more than capable creator of plot, theme, and characters, and his stories – such as “Speakeasy”, from the January ’63 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – feature innovative and novel technology.  But, I was very disappointed with the very abrupt, and abruptly pessimistic, ending.  I don’t know if such a literary trajectory is characteristic of all his tales, but it did seem so for “Genus Traitor”, from the August ’64 issue of Analog.  

Regardless, I was favorably struck by Nodel’s illustrations in this issue, which I suppose were created in pen & ink.  Utterly different in style from the work of Finlay, Emshwiller, and Rogers, his drawings fall more in the spectrum of those by Gray Morrow and Dan Adkins, which I suppose is reflective of the era in which they were created.  

Hmm.  Maybe now I’ll read this story, after all?

Illustrations by “Nodel” (Norman Joshua Nodel / Nochem Yeshaya Nodel) for “Spaceman on A Spree” by Mack Reynolds

(…page 39…)

(…and page 49…)

About “Nodel”…

Norman Nodel / Norman Joshua Nodel / Nochem Yeshaya Nodel, at…

… Wikipedia

… Wikiwand

… FindAGrave

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… GoodReads

… Lambiek Comiclopdia

… Galactic Journey

The Spree, The Spaceman, and A Podcast…

Narrated by Brad Grochowski, from Gentleman SpaceMan’s Atomic Hideout

Released Tuesday, 20th September 2022…

Atomic Hideout, Episode 1-8: Spaceman On A Spree, Part 1

Released Tuesday, 27th September 2022…

Atomic Hideout, Episode 1-9: Spaceman On A Spree, Part 2

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Analog – Science Fact -> Science Fiction, April, 1962, featuring “Mercenary”, by Mack Reynolds [John Schoenherr]

Sometimes, a magazine’s cover art jumps right off the page, or at least appears to!  Case in point:  John Schoenherr’s superb cover illustration for the April, 1962 issue of Analog.  A thorough perusal of the magazine’s contents reveals a complete absence of similar or related astronaut-like artwork, particularly for Mack Reynold’s cover story “Mercenary” (though I’ve not yet actually read that story) while the issue’s table of contents lists no information about the cover other than the artist’s surname.  Given the “anonymity” of the painting, perhaps it’s simply meant to convey an air of adventure, exploration, and drama befitting the magazine’s theme and ethos.

Regardless, it’s a great painting.  

Though at first glance the color palette seems to be very limited, with little more than shades of gray and tan with little detail or complexity, a closer look (that is, via scanning) reveals subtleties not apparent to the naked eye.  The astronaut’s spacesuit – arms; legs; torso – is comprised of sets of parallel, curved, plates, that abut against each other without actually overlapping.  Kind of like a metallic snakeskin.  In this, the suit resembles a flexible exoskeleton wrapped around a tighter, inner suit, evident from the sets of curved indentations in the astronaut’s forearms.  

The helmet’s an interesting detail, too.  It looks like it’s illuminated from the interior.  But, the astronaut’s environmental control unit – if he has one! – doesn’t seem to be working too well, as there seems to be condensation building around the edges of his visor.  (Or, he could be exerting himself and breathing heavily?)

Color-wise, the scan (I use an Epson scanner), which enhances minor variations in color just as much as it does light and shadow, reveals that the suit is actually in tones of very (very!) dark green, to black-green, as is the glowing sky behind the explorer.

But, who is he?  What’s he doing? 

He could be in pursuit.  (Of someone.)  He could be attempting to escape.  (Someone else.)  He could be a solitary explorer who’s just sighted “something”: something that will catapult him into realms previously unimagined.  He could be a simple “everyman” of the future, when space travel (after centuries of travail, civilizational apathy, fear born of complacency and abundance, and, indecision) has become commonplace as much as contemporary air travel. 

He could be all these things and more.

Perhaps in time, he will be. 

Perhaps, in time he will be.

Here’s what this cover says:

Adventure

Bravery

Confidence

Courage

Discovery

Exploration

Fear (conquered!)

Purpose

Wonder