Paperback Fantasies

By Jeff Elmquist

I’m happy to announce that the Paul Alexander cover art checklist here at Paperback Fantasies has been newly updated with additional cover scans.  Over thirty images have been added.  Many of these were graciously contributed by Brian Maginnity, a collector of vintage paperbacks and frequent visitor to Paperback Fantasies.  Thank you Brian for the images! 

I have also made some corrections and additions to the bibliographical information presented in the Paul Alexander checklist.  Jane Frank’s new book Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists of the Twentieth Century contains a wealth of updated information on many sci-fi and fantasy artists. Her book is proving to be instrumental in making the checklists presented here as accurate and exhaustive as possible.   That being said, often times unsigned or uncredited cover art is the nature of the beast when it comes to science fiction and fantasy art.   In my research, this has resulted in the emergence of discrepancies and new possibilities.  I’m going to share two of these here, with the hope that you readers may weigh in with your opinions, and help determine whether or not the cover art in question should be “officially” attributed to Paul Alexander or not.

Cover art by Alexander or Barr?

The first is a cover in the “discrepancy” category.  In 1978 Ace Books published The Road to the Rim and The Hard Way Up by A. Bertram Chandler.  This is book one in the John Grimes series.  The cover artist is uncredited in the book’s copyright information, and there is no visible signature on the cover.  In Jane Frank’s book this cover is attributed to Paul Alexander.  However, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database says the cover art is by Ken Barr.  That judgement is based on the appearance of this painting in the art book Tomorrow and Beyond: Masterpieces of Science Fiction Art edited by Ian Summers.  There, on page 40, this piece appears; clearly noted as being by Ken Barr.  Who’s right?  Personally I think the space ship and instrument panels look very like Alexander’s style, but the man and woman in the center don’t, so much.  Alexander did paint the covers for the next two books in this series by Ace, with his signature clearly visible.  Does that mean he did this one?  It’s possible but not necessarily certain.  What do you all think?

Cover art by Paul Alexander?

The second cover in question is in the “new possibility” category.  While hunting for books the other day, I discovered The Tunnel by Robert Byrne.  This was published by Dell in 1979.  The cover artist is not credited on the book’s copyright page, and no signature is visible on the cover.  This book is not listed in the biography of Alexander in Jane Frank’s book.  And it is not included in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.  The style, I think, is very Alexander-like.  The train with a skull-like face is definitely, in my opinion, Alexander’s style.  The use of orange light under the train, even the use of green beams of light is all very much in Alexander’s style.  But no signature and no information on-line that I have been able to find.  What do you readers think?  Alexander or not Alexander?

Please weigh in with your comments, and be sure to check out the newly updated and expanded Paul Alexander cover art checklist.  Enjoy!