Cover art by Gene Szafran

“The Music of a demigod takes over the minds of a country, and even a continent…”

Wonderful Gene Szafran good-girl-art graces the cover of this newly discovered, far-out and freaky psychedelic science fiction novel.  The Book of Stier by Robin Sanborn was published by Berkley in 1971.  The cover is traditional Szafran and can immediately be confirmed as his; the artist’s signature is visible just below the girl’s left foot.  This cover is somewhat reminiscent of those that Szafran did for Poul Anderson’s Corridors of Time, and Rosel George Brown’s Waters of Centaurus.  I like the color scheme with warm blues and reds, and of course the GGA is nice.   While I haven’t read the book, the cover doesn’t really seem to evoke the essence of the novel, at least not as provided in the back cover blurb:

The Snowchildren were going wild over Stiermusic.  Its far-out sounds were sweeping the continent.  Everyone was electrified by the music of Richard Stier.  His high priestesses, the beautiful Magdelaine, Winnie, Terhikki, and Mrs. Chen, were faithfully fanning the flames of his renown into a high cult.

Paul Odeon, assigned by his agency to the promotion of Stiermusic – this extraterrestial rock that went beyond rock – sensed something funny about the account from the beginning.  Why did Richard Stier always wear white?  Why had no one ever seen him?  Why did Stier’s wife, Adrianne, avoid Odeon’s probing?

First there was the Fifth Advent of Iliyu.  People described its effects as the Second Coming of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  Then there was the Shakespeare festival at Stratford, which would honor the long-awaited second opera of Richard Stier.  And then it happened – and no one was quite sure of what they had seen…

That’s some groovy cover blurb!  I’m not sure what it all means, or where it all leads, but one thing’s for sure – this book is truly out-there!  It should be no surprise to anyone that Internet searches seem to reveal that The Book of Stier is Robin Sanborn’s one-and-only novel.  A classic example of 70s psychedelic…sorry, extraterrestial…rock-n-roll sci-fi?  Regardless of the merits of the book, this is one great Gene Szafran cover.  Enjoy!

Cover art by Dan Dos Santos

I’ve finally added a Dan Dos Santos cover art checklist to the pages here at Paperback Fantasies.  If you’re not already a Dos Santos admirer, I’m sure you soon will be.  Great cover art from a truly phenomenal artist!  His covers often differ widely in style; from covers with urban good-girl-art (see his covers for Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series), to…

Cover art by Dan Dos Santos

works with a wonderfully unusual visual perspective (such as Hoffman’s Spirits That Walk in Shadow), to…

Cover art by Dan Dos Santos

the delightfully chaotic (see Lee’s Indigara).

Dos Santos seems to really be in touch with his fans as well.  He keeps his website updated on a regular basis, and participates in online forums where he sometimes gives “sneak peeks” of new work.  He also gives free “how-to” lectures and has produced an instructional DVD teaching how to paint book covers.

I’ve tried to assemble as complete a checklist as possible.  Some of the books listed have not actually been released yet, and their inclusion on the list is based on announcements made at Dos Santos’ website.  One book, Kris Greene’s The Dark Storm may not actually be a Dos Santos cover.  The cover artist is not credited, but it sure looks like Dos Santos to me.

Check out the Dan Dos Santos Cover Art Checklist, and enjoy!

Cover art by Jeffrey Jones

Over 30 new images have been added to the Jeff Jones Cover Art checklist here at Paperback Fantasies.  Thank again to Brian Maginnity for contributing many of these.  The list has also been largely expanded to include many book, magazines, fanzines, etc., that were not previously listed.  If any of you know of items with Jeff Jones covers that are not listed, please post that information in the comments section, or send me an email.  It’s always my goal to continue making the checklists at Paperback Fantasies as exhaustive as possible.

I was very happy to see that the artist’s official website is now full of content.  For a long while it was basically an empty shell.  Now there is a wealth of extremely interesting biographical information, as well as a vast number of images; both completed fine-art paintings, as well sketches, concept drawings/paintings, etc. 

Check out the Jeff Jones Cover Art Checklist, and enjoy!

Cover art by Enric?

The Enric Cover Art Checklist has been newly updated with many additional images.  Some are from my own collection, others are thanks, again, to Brian Maginnity.  Thanks Brian!

With these updates comes a mystery.  While hunting for books I came upon a copy of A Planet in Arms by Donald Barr.  The cover art is, in my opinon, similar in style to Enric.  But there’s no artist credited, nor a visible signature.  The Internet Speculative Fiction Database does not list a cover artist.  What do you all think?  Enric or not Enric?

Check out the new updates to the Enric Cover Art Checklist, and Enjoy!

Cover art by Charles Moll

I’m very happy to announce a brand new addition to the cover art checklists here at Paperback Fantasies: a checklist for surrealist Charles Moll. 

I have found very little information on Moll.  Jane Frank does not include an entry for him in her new book, and internet searches have turned up nothing.  Robert Weinberg’s A Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (Greenwood Pr., 1988) says:  “Moll is a decorative surrealist illustrator who began working in the paperback field in the 1960s.  He did a great deal of science fiction during the early years of his career and now does primarily romance and horror cover paintings.”

“Surrealist” is right!  To me, Moll was doing in paint what J. K. Potter does with photography.  Moll’s cover art is often bizarre and macabre stuff.  Very cool!  And his signature (the initials CM in bold letters) is quite often clearly visible in his work, making it easy for the collector to identify Moll’s covers.

I’ve assembled the Charles Moll Cover Art Checklist using Weinberg’s book, ISFDB, and internet searches of various online booksellers to generate the information.  If you know of Moll covers not included in this list, please post bibliographical info in the comments, or send me an email.  Enjoy!

Cover art by Clyde Caldwell

The Clyde Caldwell Cover Art Checklist here at Paperback Fantasies has just been updated.  Overhauled might be more accurate.  Using Jane Frank’s book and the very cool website Pen & Paper as resources, I was able to add references to a vast quantity of role-playing games with Caldwell cover art.  It’s simply amazing how many covers he has done!

Also,  I was able to enhance the Caldwell checklist with many new images.  Thanks again to Brian Maginnity who continues to contribute images to these pages.

Check out the Clyde Caldwell Cover Art Checklist, and enjoy!

Well, the mystery of who painted the cover for A. Bertram Chandler’s book The Road to the Rim and The Hard Way Up is solved (Are These Alexander Covers? - 5 March 2010).  Thanks to the “Look Inside” feature at Amazon.com I was able to view the first few pages of the book The Beast Within: The Art of Ken Barr.  Just a few pages in, taking up a full page, is the painting in question.  Looking at the original, it quickly becomes apparent that Ace cropped the image so that the Ken Barr signature is not visible on the book cover.   So, it’s official: Ken Barr did the cover, not Paul Alexander.

Cover art by Gene Szafran

I’ve updated the Gene Szafran Cover Art Checklist here at Paperback Fantasies.  This includes about half a dozen new images, plus a few books added to the list.  Here again, Jane Frank’s book Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists of the Twentieth Century has been a great help. 

The Poul Anderson book Beyond the Beyond was discovered purely by chance while browsing in a local used book store.  This title is not listed in Frank’s book.  The artist is not credited, but luckily Szafran’s distinctive signature is clearly visible in the painting, just below the center circle, slightly left of center.  It’s a great cover, similar to the many paintings Szafran did for Robert Heinlein books.  I particularly like the use of the warm colors blue, green, and purple which provides a pleasing contrast with the flesh tones of the male and female figures.

Check out all the new additions to the Gene Szafran Cover Art Checklist, and enjoy!

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!

Cover art by Enric Torres-Prat

I’m very excited to officially add two new cover art checklists to Paperback Fantasies.  The first is for classic fantasy and science-fiction artist Enric; full name Enric Torres-Prat.  Enric is probably best known for the covers he did for Warren Magazines, Vampirella especially.  Beyond comic mags, Enric has also done many book covers in all genres;  sci-fi/fantasy, westerns, even romances.  Enric has also expanded into the fine-art gallery scene, producing some amazing and beautiful works of art; some of these can be viewed at his home page.

Unfortunately I have not been able to turn up much information about Enric.  He is not included in Robert Weinberg’s Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, nor in the newly revised version of that work: Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists of the Twentieth Centuryby Jane Frank.  This is odd given Enric’s prodigious amount of work in the field, as well as the fact that many other Warren artists are included in those books; such as Sanjulian, Ken Kelly, Bob Larkin, etc.  In addition to the lack of biographical information, there is also some confusion created by the various names used in the publishing industry to refer to Enric.  Sometimes he is listed as Enric, some times as Enrich, and at other times as Enrique Torres.  According to the artist’s website, his gallery works are signed “Torres-Prat” and his illustration work as “Enric”.

Cover art by Jerry Vanderstelt

The second new addition to the cover art checklists here at Paperback Fantasies is for Jerry Vanderstelt.  Over the last ten years, Vanderstelt has produced covers for many of the big names in science fiction and fantasy publishing; Ace, Roc, Pocket, etc.  He has also done illustration work for Lucasfilm Ltd., New Line Cinema, Hasbro, and others; including illustrations for the classic Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings series.  Vanderstelt works in acrylics on illustration board, and is greatly inspired by the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.  He has a great website displaying many of his illustrations, and providing links to his eBay store where you can purchase prints, posters, etc.

Please check out the Enric and Vanderstelt cover art checklists here at Paperback Fantasies, and enjoy!