Paperback Cover Art

Two really cool posts:

These images are, frankly, to die for. I want to crawl into those images and never leave. EVER. The one with the piano might be my favorite – but it’s hard to choose. Each one is evocative of a whole smoky noir world.

And here’s Dan’s post – Dan found a terrific archive of … psychedelic paperback covers for scifi fantasy books – follow his link.

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28 Responses to Paperback Cover Art

  1. Mark says:

    I believe I have a copy of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye somewhere.

    Also, art.com has a section of retro book covers that I’ve always loved. The Gods Hate Kansas is my favorite.

  2. DBW says:

    Ahem. There are certain “aspects” of the first group of illustrations into which I wouldn’t mind crawling. Particularly the one with the piano.

  3. Alex Nunez says:

    You look at those covers, and you can’t help but start writing a score for them in your head…

  4. red says:

    Mark – I love the one titled

    She TRIED to be good.

    Don’t we all. But it’s more fun when we FAIL in that attempt, in my opinion.

  5. Dan says:

    I love the images from the first link – they’re all like old John D. MacDonald covers.

  6. Dan says:

    Cover enthusiasts shoudl check this out:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932595058/sr=8-2/qid=1147372651/ref=sr_1_2/002-9991917-7945649?%5Fencoding=UTF8

    I rec’d a copy for Christmas last – it’s great fun.

  7. Mark says:

    She TRIED to be good, but she was the…Office Tramp!

    I knew of a site years ago that had a lot more covers like these and they sold them as postcards. I wish I could remember it.

  8. Eric the...bald says:

    I read all the Mickey Spillane I could find while in college, and the cover art on those was similar. But what I really loved was the cover art on the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books from the 60s and 70s.

  9. Alex says:

    Those women are what I strive on a daily basis to look like. I don’t know if that’s cool, or incredibly tragic.

  10. red says:

    heh heh heh

    Alex I MISS YOU. Come to New York again, dammit. It’s already been too long.

  11. Nightfly says:

    Wow, I didn’t even know that Abe Vigoda could play the piano!

  12. Alex says:

    I may be there sooner than you think. :-)

    In the mean time, I want that white number the chick has on. The one where she’s leaning against the mantle. Delicious.

  13. red says:

    yeah, i’m kinda jonezing for you right now, alex. sniff, sniff.

    I’m going to see Poseidon tonight with TS. Should be hilarious. We both loved the original (cheese and all) so we are more than a little apprehensive. I’m gonna miss Shelley’s presence as well.

    The wave looks fake in the commercials, too. Which is so STUPID … why do Poseidon if you can’t get the damn wave right???

  14. Mr. Bingley says:

    But don’t you see that the Wave must be fake, because it is a metaphor for the oppressive BushyMcChimpyrovianhitlerisms that have been crashing across us, inverting our society and drowning us in waves of lies and deceits that have tossed honest people about in our society like, oh, I don’t know, say passengers on a ship that just got hit by a selected-not-elected fake wave and capsized.

  15. Nightfly says:

    I thought that Poseidon symbolized the hubris of this illegitimate and theocratic administration – it’s no accident that it’s named after a god, right? – and the wave symbolized the cleansing power of the grassroots everyday citizen reclaiming America; while the passengers symbolized the oppressed peoples’ struggles to escape neo-colonial fascism! Bingley is wrong, and therefore a Nazi…

  16. Nightfly says:

    PS – the original Poseidon is currently rolling on AMC. Hackman, Albertson, Winters, McDowell, Buttons, Borgnine. Good times!

  17. mitchell says:

    umm..isnt the origainl about Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt???? and btw..Alex..u DO look like the ladies in those covers!!! I love those covers soooo much…im a lil obsessed now.

  18. mitchell says:

    um..original… i literally cannot type!!!

  19. red says:

    Mitchell – I know! I can’t stop looking at them either – aren’t they so pretty??

  20. red says:

    And I’m with you, Mitchell – I have no idea what those two guys are yammering about up there. Where the hell did that come from?

    The movie was bad. Wolfgang Peterson has done better. One of the effects at the end literally looked like the opening sequence of Land of the Lost. Like at least get the effects right!!

    But Kurt Russell’s great – love him!

  21. Alex Nunez says:

    “One of the effects at the end literally looked like the opening sequence of Land of the Lost.”

    .And with one sentence, Sheila demonstrated the power of her fully armed and operational space station…it was as if a million voices at Warner Brothers cried out at once, and then…silence

    Don’t mind me, I’m just up waaay too late.

    Go see the new soccer movie, Goal!, Sheila. It’s a great sports flick, and I think you’ll like it. I thought it was a lot of fun.

  22. Alex says:

    You MUST post about the movie. I can’t bear to go see it. I know it’s ridiculous, but don’t try and replace my Shelly or my Stella. I can’t stand it.

    Tell us all how it is and what you thought. I must know. I need to know.

    And I need a Sheila fix as well.

  23. AG says:

    I also love those images. They are far more inspirational to me than the trollops of today.

  24. red says:

    Alex – my big long rant is up.

  25. Nightfly says:

    ‘Twas a fine rant, Sheila, thanks.

    Bings and I were totally tongue-in-cheek up there about the wave being a political metaphor. Absurdist humor (or so we hoped). We didn’t mean to confuse.

    And nobody thought that the guy at the piano looked like Abe Vigoda? I’m bombing out here…

  26. red says:

    Actually, nightfly – normally I try to respond to every comment, because I’m kind of obsessive compulsive that way – but sometimes I miss one. Your comment made me LAUGH OUT LOUD. It was so unexpected, first of all – and also it is RIGHT ON.

  27. Carl V. says:

    Glad you enjoyed the post and I appreciate the link to it. McGinnis is one of my favorites and I really enjoyed doing the post.

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