Saturday, December 8, 2018

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Visionary Artist ROBERT MCCALL



IN JULY, 1968, a few months after Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey opened in theaters, Signet Books published a mass-market paperback edition of Arthur C. Clarke's fix-up novel (the book was actually developed concurrently with the film version). On the cover was a photo-still of actor Keir Dullea (as astronaut Dr. Dave Bowman) staring out through his helmet visor. At the center of the book were sixteen pages of black & white photo-stills, captured from the movie. On the back cover was a slightly cropped image of the film's publicity poster, painted by famed aeronautics artist Robert Theodore McCall, which was headlined by the following text:
"2001... THE NOVEL THAT PUTS TODAY'S MAN IN TOMORROW'S SPACECRAFT TODAY"
The back cover also had some very cool review blurbs:
"BRAIN-BOGGLING" --- Life
"BREATHTAKING" --- Saturday Review
"IT IS STAGGERING" --- New Yorker
"DAZZLING... WRENCHING... EERIE, A MIND BENDER" --- Time

Of course not everyone endorsed 2001 the way those blurbs did. Some movie goers were absolutely bored out of their skulls while watching it. However, most true science-fiction fans heartily approved of 2001, and many still believe it's the best cinematic representation of what real science fiction is supposed to be about, that is; big scientific ideas, bold futuristic concepts, life-altering discoveries, and inner & outer space exploration.

Some fans even watched 2001 while tripping on LSD. But not me, that would be like pouring sugar on a bowl of frosted flakes. I don't recall anybody suffering a bad trip though, which of course is not an endorsement for doing drugs because doing drugs for any reason other than medicinal is just plain stupid. But then again, I do remember a classmate from high school who went to see The Exorcist after dropping a full hit of window-pane, and, well, he's been struggling with reality ever since.

So, if we've learned anything from these two particular films it's that science-fiction creates mostly positive experiences for people, while horror creates, well, mostly negative experiences, especially if you were raised Catholic and then chose the wrong movie to drop acid with.


"The Cosmic Ride", a positive image, as seen during a specific sequence in 2001.

Book's FOREWORD:
    Behind every man now alive stands thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth.
    Now this is an interesting number, for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred billion stars in our local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in this Universe there shines a star.
    But every one of those stars is a sun, often far more brilliant and glorious than the small, nearby star we call the Sun. And many---perhaps most---of those alien suns have planets circling them. So almost certainly there is enough land in the sky to give every member of the human species, back to the first apeman, his own private, world-sized heaven---or hell.
    How many of those potential heavens and hells are now inhabited, and by what manner of creatures, we have no way of guessing; the very nearest is a million times farther away than Mars or Venus, those still remote goals of the next generation. But the barriers of distance are crumbling; one day we shall meet our equals, or our masters, among the stars.
    Men have been slow to face this prospect; some still hope that it may never become reality. Increasing numbers, however, are asking: "Why have such meetings not occurred already, since we ourselves are about to venture into space?"
    Why not, indeed? Here is one possible answer to that very reasonable question. But please remember: this is only a work of fiction.
    The truth, as always, will be far stranger.

                                                                  ------ ARTHUR C. CLARKE



In 1972, Signet published The Lost Worlds of 2001: The Ultimate Log of the Ultimate Trip, as a paperback accompaniment to Clarke's initial novel. The contents included behind the scenes notes from Clarke about the script-writing, an EVA scene where astronaut Dr. Frank Poole (actor Gary Lockwood) is lost, alternative settings for launch preparation, unused dialogues concerning HAL 9000, production notes, a preliminary screenplay, and excerpts from the proto-novel.

Also included was Clarke's short story The Sentinel, which the film was loosely based on. What Lost Worlds doesn't have is photo inserts, but it's still a pretty cool paperback item, and the back cover has one of the coolest blurbs ever written:
"MIND-BLASTING PROBES INTO DAZZLING ILLUMINATION!"


In 1998, MGM released 2001 on DVD for the first time. The keepcase's liner cover has actor Keir Dullea staring out through his visor again, but this time with a great deal more inflection. The DVD's special features were rather meager, consisting of only an interview with co-screenwriter Arthur C. Clarke, and the original theatrical trailers for 2001 and its thematic sequel 2010. But tucked neatly inside was an eight-page booklet.



The booklet contained trivia, production notes, and a revealing look at the making of the film. HAL 9000 can be seen keeping a steady watch over the reader on the left side of each page. According to Kubrick and Clarke, HAL actually stands for "Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer." Ironically, each letter of HAL is alphabetically preceding the letters I, B, & M. Just a coincidence perhaps-- or was it by design?

HAL: "I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do."

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What should have been in the booklet, or at least on the liner, was some kind of reference to McCall's original publicity painting(s). It would take three years for that oversight to be rectified, but it was worth the wait.



Finally, on June 12, 2001, a definitive re-mastered DVD of 2001 was released, with McCall's poster art now prominently displayed on the front cover of the snapper-case. Picture and sound were both dramatically improved too over the initial 1998 product, so much so in fact that it's doubtful anyone would play that earlier disc again. This now extremely desirable release was also sold in a DVD box set with 6 other Kubrick films. 



Robert McCall's publicity painting for 2001, plus the contiguous concept art he created for the film, helped propel the self-taught artist to the forefront of science fiction movie artists. This immediate rise in stature gave McCall opportunities to consult on a number of films, including Star Trek: the Motion Picture (1979), where he is credited with being a production illustrator, and Walt Disney's science-fiction feature film The Black Hole (1979), which lists him as an actual art director. But McCall's association with science fiction goes all the way to the early 1960's, when he began to depict future spacecraft in a series of paintings commissioned by Life magazine. You might say he's been envisioning the future ever since, but always with an eye towards positivity.


The Space Sphere, from Life magazine (1960). Illustration by Bob McCall.
 

Epcot Center Mural, 19 x 60 feet. Click on image to enlarge

In 1976, McCall completed a huge six-story Space Mural for the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and then in 1982 he painted another equally large mural for the EPCOT Center in Florida. He also produced an enormous mural for the Johnson Space Program, showing the progression of the American Space Program from the first Mercury missions to the Space Shuttle.

For more than fifty years McCall's artwork has appeared in dozens of books and in nearly every popular magazine published in America. He also provided publicity posters for the feature films Ice Station Zebra (1968), Mosquito Squadron (1969), Tora, Tora, Tora (1970), and Juggernaut (1974). McCall even graced a series of collectible stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. His many distinctively styled aerospace paintings can be found in private collections and museums all across the United States, including galleries in the Pentagon and at the Air Force Academy.



Apollo 17 Mission Patch

Robert McCall has been dubbed the "World's Preeminent Space Artist" by various scientific organizations-- McCall even designed mission patches for NASA astronauts to wear, including the one that was worn by the crew of the Apollo 17 during the last time men actually walked on the moon, in 1972.


This poster, with artwork by McCall, was a variant produced in 1968. It shows several astronauts standing high above a lunar settlement that is located in the center of the Moon's crater, Clavious. McCalls illustration was also used on the back of the film's soundtrack stereo album, released in the same year by MGM Records Division. Note the handheld computer tablet---very prescient!



This conceptual illustration for 2001 by McCall shows the inside view of the spaceship Discovery One's spinning, centrifugal-force deck.



In 2007 a Blu-ray version of 2001 was released for the first time (*Note: the Star-child style cover art is not by McCall). The picture quality is about what you'd expect from any BD product, but please don't make the mistake of trying to watch it on a 22 inch 1080 Hi-Def monitor like I did; the movie appeared artificial looking and even waxy because it was so blatantly scrunched. Instead, view it the biggest screen you can find (anything over 37 inches is best), and then it's almost as good as seeing it in a theater (well, not really, but sort of... ).

On the back of the liner art was another great quote, in keeping up with what has gone before:
"THE MOST AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL AND MENTALLY STIMULATING SCIENCE-FICTION FILM OF ALL."
Author and film critic Danny Peary came up with that gem. It was taken from his 1993 book Alternate Oscars (Delta Press).



2001 was nominated for 4 Oscars in 1969, but received only one for its special visual effects. It sole competition that year in the effects category was Ice Station Zebra (based loosely on a novel of the same name by Alistair MacLean), which as you know had one of its variant film posters illustrated by McCall. Too bad there isn't an Oscar category for the best promotional poster; now that could be very interesting indeed.

The U.S. nuclear submarine was modeled after the U.S.S. Ronquil, a diesel-electric powered Guppy IIA. The large planes in the foreground are Russian Tu-95 Strategic Bombers, and high above them are streaking Russian MIG-17's.



My brother Jim was a commercial artist for many years, and while he wasn't a science fiction fan in the same sense that I am he still got a huge kick from 2001 (we saw it together at the Cooper theater in Denver in 1968). In fact, the film inspired him to create this unique piece of art.


2001: A Space Odyssey helped cement Kubrick's reputation as one of our greatest filmmakers, and it also influenced tens of thousands of young people to become serious science-fiction fans, and yet it's no Star Wars. However, in 2016 and '17, a whole slew of high-priced 2001 collectibles are slated to be made available from manufacturer Executive Replicas (Phicen Ltd.). These will include a black plexiglass monolith attached to a moon base diorama (approximately 24 x 10 inches tall, and 20 x 12 inches in diameter), and several colored versions of Discovery Astronaut space-suits (1:6 scale figures of Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), and Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea). 



It took 50 years for 2001 to enter into Star Wars like merchandising territory, but the wait may have been worth it. These action figures look absolutely brilliant." Thank you, HAL, for finally opening the pod bay doors!"



[Originally posted in 2016. Ⓒ December, 2018, Jeffersen]

Thursday, November 15, 2018

BOB LARKIN: The Quintessential Illustrator

AFTER I posted the second of my two features on Lou Feck in January of 2014 I received an unexpected call from Bob Larkin, who graciously filled me in on the details of his late friend's life and career while also explaining the circumstances behind the pseudonym Zorin. Bob also answered questions about his own career as a paperback and magazine cover artist during the late 20th Century, an extraordinary period for painted illustration, the essence of which will never be repeated ever again. Bob's call quickly turned into one of the most rewarding conversations I've ever had about the business of commercial illustration and publishing.

I expressed then to Bob that I wanted to do a post about his cover art, perhaps emphasizing his Wagons West covers for Bantam, the numbers of which he had understandably lost count of because he produced so many over such a long span of time. And so here it is at long last, more than two years after my initial pledge. But finding examples in presentable condition proved harder than anticipated, so I'm only going to showcase a few of the better ones I've collected, interspersed with some of Bob's other great mainstream covers. And I do mean great! Keep in mind that Bob is generally associated with the realms of the fantastic; Star Trek, Star Wars, Doc Savage, science-fiction, sword & sorcery, horror, humor, superheroes and movie posters are what helped give rise to his status as one of America's premier illustrators, and rightly so, his works in those areas are phenomenal and iconic, but I tend to favor his non-fantastical covers even more, and I trust you will understand why I do when you start scrolling down.


Bob Larkin entered the paperback cover art business in the mid-1970's, finding work with secondary publishers like Manor, Magnum, Belmont and Leisure. Then the majors came calling, Avon, Bantam, Dell, etc, and over the next thirty years Bob's distinctive style of dynamic realism would embellish not only their 'fantastics', but scores of their action, adventure, crime, historical, western and juvenile paperbacks, creating an incredible body of work that is rivaled by only the best and most productive of his peers.  

Slade's Marauder was published by Bantam in 1981 and it featured one of Larkin's finest nautical paintings on its cover. Barrington's Women came out two years later and it featured one of Bob's now practically patented fiery explosions. The author of these thrillers is actually Tony Williamson (1932- 1991), writing under the pseudonym Steven Cade. Willamson was a prolific British television writer who also published novels under his own name, but is mostly remembered for being the primary script writer on the 1960's television series The Avengers during its classic Emma Peel years.

Slade's Marauder:   "Banned from half the ports in the West Indies, they were the pleasure-seeking, rowdy crew of the rusting freighter, Tinkerbelle. And their captain, Lincoln Slade, was notorious. He was the biggest sinner of them all. Then life changed one steamy afternoon in 1939. They found themselves sailing through a sea of wreckage. Dead bodies floated among the debris of an innocent cruise ship---men, women and children, savagely slain by a German warship disguised to look like a merchant vessel. When the three surviving women boarded his ship, Slade had a blinding insight, a moment of truth when he found his purpose---to track down Hitler's ship and destroy it. Now Slade's men were transformed from scruffy bums to men with an impossible quest. Through the tropical seas they sailed, stalking the German man-of-war, hounding it ruthlessly, determined to stop it against all odds."

Barrington's Women  "Tough lieutenant Colonel Charles Barrington has an impossible job: Protect fifty tons of Norwegian gold bullion from the ruthless Nazi commando unit the "Sky Wolves." Barrington has six days to conceive, organize, and implement a counterattack. What he comes up with is nothing short of genius. Barrington recruits thirty-one women from the village of Borgas. He relentlessly trains them how to kill with knife and noose, how to wield firearms at close range, and how to deceive the Nazis with feminine wiles, then slip a dagger into their hearts. They are honed to a fin-tempered steel, primed to test their murderous skills....eager to kill, ready to die."



Here's an example of a historical based action scene painted by Larkin for Manor Books in 1977. Leslie Turner White's 1943 novel Look Away, Look Away was based on real accounts of Southerners fleeing to Brazil to escape the aftermath of losing the Civil War. Interestingly, descendants of this "lost colony of the Confederacy", who liken themselves as Confederados, hold an annual festival in Santa Barbara d'Oeste, a small town in Brazil's Sao Paolo State, to celebrate their unusual heritage. As one might expect with such a gathering the most popular food served is fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits.

"Dan Beals, the ruggedly virile pilot of The Southern Belle, loved two women...and to sensually complicate his life, they both loved him. One was Sina, the petulant, lean-limbed river girl he had grown up with. The other, from a far different social class was Nadine, provocative, sensual, and rich. Her aristocratic beauty and influence offered Dan a glittering world few 'river-rats' ever entered. When The Southern Belle put to sea, headed for Brazil both Sina and Nadine were aboard. The inevitable jealousy, and conflict of passions sparked, and flamed, and burst into one soul tormenting explosion."



The Latigo Series by Dean Owen (a pseudonym of Dudley Dean McGaughey), might just be Larkin's first pony ride when it comes to producing actual western cover art. As of yet I haven't found anything preceding Trackdown, or the other three books in the series that Bob produced covers for which were all published by Fawcett's Popular Library line between March, 1981, and March, 1982. The series is actually based on the comic strip of the same name by cartoonist Stan Lynde that was syndicated in newspapers between 1979 and 1983.

"Son of a trapper and an Indian princess, Latigo vowed he would never again draw blood after the carnage of the Civil War. Then he returned to find his home a smouldering ruin and his folks forever silent, murdered by a ruthless railroad tycoon and his hired guns. That was the day Latigo hit the trail to vengeance...the day a legend was born in the Montana hills... "


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Lou Feck produced the first eight covers for the Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross (a pseudonym of Noel B. Gerson), but after Lou's untimely death Bantam's art director Len Leone asked Larkin if he could help out with the rest of the covers. Bob responded in kind and between the years 1982 and 1989 he produced the final sixteen covers. This led to even more work on several spin-off titles written by James Reasoner using the Ross moniker. I only wish it were possible to have all of Larkin's Wagons West paintings reproduced on one large poster sheet. What a glorious slice of Americana that would be framed on your wall!

Louisiana (Volume 16, Bantam, January, 1986):   "Louisiana! A volatile mix of Cajun and Creole, exotic and tame, good and evil walked the waterfront and the wild side. Here legitimate cargo hid the illegal trade in opium, weapons and shanghaied men. Here the diabolical domain of a mysterious Chinese Tong would sweep legendary fighting man Toby Holt---intrepid son of Wagonmaster Whip Holt---into a struggle with a sensual woman more deadly than any man. And while an unusual underworld ally waged a vendetta against a lawman gone bad, another brave Holt---hot-blooded young Cindy---proved her marksmanship and courage as she pulled the trigger in an explosive adventure on the untamed frontier... as the crossroads of a nation met where America's melting pot became the cauldron brewing a young country's destiny---Louisiana!"

Arizona (Volume 21, Bantam, March, 1988):   "Arizona! To a sun-scorched frontier the Winchester rifle promised redemption from a hell of outlaw tyranny. In the hands of brave cavalry officers such as Cindy Holt's new husband, Reed Kerr, this superior weapon could be the true peacemaker of the West. But treachery has no honor, and an ambush could cut down youth and hope, not just in Yuma, but abroad, where West Pointer Capt. Henry Blake undertook a dangerous secret mission... and in Kentucky where famous scout Toby Holt---son of legendary Wagonmaster Whip Holt---took aim at a scoundrel's heart. These men are forced to face their most dangerous enemies and with their hearts, minds, and bullets, protect and defend family, country, and decency in the epic Arizona!"

Oklahoma (Volume 23, Bantam, May 1989):   "Oklahoma! This harsh, open country beckons like a treacherous woman, offering happiness to farmers and ranchers, then breaking their hearts. Tick fever is killing the cattle; the unscrupulous land dealers are stealing families' dreams. Now hate and anger are building like a thunderhead ready to burst into a storm of gunplay and death. The threat is range war. The solution is Toby Holt---son of the legendary Wagonmaster Whip Holt---whose draw is quicker and whose aim is surer than that of any man alive. But while Toby rides the dusty trail toward Oklahoma, young Captain Henry Blake rides hell-bent toward a shootout in the Dakotas, not knowing that an enemy plans to destroy the beautiful woman he left behind... as the showdown season nears in magnificent Oklahoma!"

 

It doesn't get any better than this for pure dramatic portraiture unless you throw in the other five covers that Larkin did for the Sergeant series and now we have the equivalent of a live hand grenade rolling around in our foxhole. Famed Italian-born romance painter Pino Daeni got the nine volume WWII series going for Zebra by producing the cover art for the first three volumes. Bantam then took over the series proper with volume 4, The Liberation of Paris (Bantam, August, 1981), and utilizing Larkin, continued to advance the same basic cover design that Daeni had established.

"As the Allied army's deadly fire rips the Nazis to shreds, a maverick Sgt. C.J. Mahoney and his kill-crazy sidekick Cranepool have drawn a sweet assignment; to spearhead the first infantry assault in the liberation of Paris... champagne and girls to the victors! But ahead lies a suicidal road---twenty miles of enemy---where Panzer platoons stalk in murder raids; mines and snipers can blast a lifetime in a burst of flame. As time runs out, a vengeful group of Nazis race toward Paris with the ultimate human death weapon to carry out their bloodcrazed Fuehrer's last command: destroy Paris! Only Mahoney can save the City of Lights---its fate is up to him!"

Gordon Davis is a pseudonym of Len Levinson, one of twenty-two that he used while penning more than 80 novels, most of which fall under the domain of men's adventure series, i.e., The Rat Bastards, The Pecos Kid, The Searcher and The Apache Wars Saga. The Sergeant series has been reviewed quite favorably by others so I don't need to chime in here after reading just one title, but I will say this: I'm two shy of completing my set and when I do I'm going to read all nine books back to back.



Larkin's evocative cover painting for Austin Ferguson's aviation thriller Random Track To Peking (Bantam, 1982), may in fact be a tribute to his friend Lou Feck, who eight years earlier had produced the cover art on Ferguson's first aviation thriller, Jet Stream. Bob remarked that Lou could practically draw ships and planes to exact specification and scale without having to refer to resource materials. Bob's achievement suggests that he too has that same innate ability.

"Flight 101 to China: The #3 engine has blown. Fuel is leaking fast. Cabin pressure is gone. Ditching in the Pacific is suicide. Landing in Russia means war. But there's one alternative---only no pilot has ever done it."

Austin K. Ferguson, Jr. (1941- 2010), or Beau, as he was often called, wrote about aviation with an insiders knowledge. He started working for United Airlines in 1966 as a commercial flight engineer on the DC-6, then the Boeing 727, and then in 1969 he became a co-pilot on the Boeing 727. He also wrote the screenplay for Mayday at 40,000 Feet!, a 1976 television movie based on his own 1974 novel Jet Stream. It featured, among others, David Janssen, Don Meredith and Christopher George. Ferguson was based at Kennedy Airport in New York for 20 years before finally retiring to spend time with his wife Linda, a former flight stewardess, and pursue his hobby as a master model builder of intricate clipper ships.


 
Larkin's application of a silhouette to frame a montage is an element that he would use repeatedly in his cover art, and like here on King Cobra, always to spectacular effect.

William C. Mathews doesn't seem to have written anything after this novel, an action-oriented special-agent themed thriller which Avon published in 1983, but in all likelihood the name Mathews is merely a one-off pseudonym from an established grinder.

"Marco Castaneda is the Cobra. Pimp. Drug trafficker. Arms dealer. King of the Mexican Mafia. His passion is deadly snakes. His pleasure is exotic women. His pastime is human torture. He's a highstakes gambler who always cheats---and always wins. Only one man has the guts to play his game. Special Agent David Caine. But first Caine steals the Cobra's beautiful woman. And that's when the fun really begins."



Meaning no disrespect to Owen Wister and Golden Spur Award winning author Matt Braun, but these montages by Larkin (cigarettes aside) are just too outstanding to be relegated to a smutty, formulaic, men's adult western series. Thankfully though, the Ash Tallman novels, written under the guise of Tom Lord, are are a tad better than mere formula, they're actually entertaining romps, and written in a way that the pages practically flip themselves. Braun, the author of more than fifty other western novels, eventually came to terms with this racy series and allowed his real name to be applied to the reprints.

The Highbinders (No. 1, Avon, March 1984):   "Ash Tallman, Pinkerton's ace cop. A debonair dandy with nerves of steel and the guts to get the job done... whatever it took. But he had the smarts to see that this time he'd been conned into the wrong side of a sleazy scheme---hired to strike some low blows for some high placed wheeler-dealers. And that wasn't Ash Tallman's game. Ash knew every trick in the book---from seduction to strong arm tactics---and with the help of his sexy sidekick, Vivian Valentine, he'd settle a few scores... whatever it took."

Crossfire (No. 2, Avon, April, 1984):   "Wells Fargo was having trouble getting gold across the Arizona Territory and Pinkerton's man Ash Tallman was out to stop the trouble, with a little hot lead. The gang was headed by a bad girl named Pearl, whose men stayed alive only if they kept a smile on Pearl's lips. Ash could handle Pearl, and he'd keep her boys in line with his fist or his gun. But he needed to find out who else was in on the deal, and that was a job for Ash's partner Vivian Valentine. Viv knew how to get the goods, and if that required a little play in the hay with a boozed up outlaw, she was willing, and very able. In fact, Vivian could always be counted on when Ash needed her... and Ash was never slow to show his gratitude."

The Wages of Sin (No. 3, Avon, May, 1984):   "Some bad numbers on the rampage were shooting it out in a broken down one-horse town in Texas. Before the whole town got wasted, the governor called for the Pinkertons. Ash Tallman and his partner Vivian Valentine figured some one was fueling the fires of the feud for his own good. The situation called for an undercover ploy that would get them right into the action. Ash came out swinging in the guise of a tough drifter, ready with his gun, and his charm with the ladies. Viv stole the show as the rousing evangelist, a luscious lady of the Lord, ready with her own satisfying salvation for any sinner who gave her what she was looking for. With their usual guts and guile, Ash and Vivian proved once again they could always get their man... and send him to his reward."

  

The Blood Trilogy covers are bona fide masterpieces of montage illustration. They, like the aforementioned Ash Tallman covers, represent everything that's great about Larkin's work; his bold compositions and accurate sense of color and proportion and his ability to convey both action and mood. They also reveal Larkin's uncanny ability to draw one's attention to the smallest details of his montage without losing sight of its larger meaning, here being the portrait of a man of demonstrable action. It's illustration as absolute storytelling, and it's why I absolutely love this form of art above all others.

Bloodrun (Book 1, Avon, September, 1984):   "Skipper Gould said his goodbyes to Asia after Vietnam. There he had been trained in the toughest fighting corps on earth. There he had become a man. But, like the lover who never forgets his first woman, when Asia called to him again, he came. Skipper Gould came back to find out who killed his brother Ricky---a death both brutal and mysterious. Unlike Skipper, Ricky was no soldier. He was a UN scientist specializing in entomology. Not drugs. Not sex. Not murder. Skipper's only link to the killers was a sensual Oriental beauty---a link strong enough to lock Skipper into a spiraling game of big oil politics, KGB intrigue, and stinking corruption... a covert game in which the high stakes of staying alive depended on stopping something highly secret, and low-down deadly."

Bloodtide (Book 2, Avon, February, 1985):   "The woman with the despair in her eyes wanted Skipper Gould to find her husband. He had taken his lobster boat out to sea one chill Maine morning and disappeared. No boat. No body. No trace. Skipper Gould was editor of a small-town newspaper, now. But the woman came to him because of what Skipper had been: a covert U.S. agent in Southeast Asia... a highly skilled fighter in the deadliest combat unit America had ever trained. Skipper's instincts warned him that his search for the missing fisherman was sweeping him toward a giant maelstrom of evil and violence... an international conspiracy swirling around a nuclear power plant on a quiet Maine cove, a massive antinuke protest march, and a beautiful organizer whose luscious body could stop traffic... whose secrets could stop Skipper---dead."

Bloodmoon (Book 3, Avon, October, 1985):   "Skipper Gould had been trained in America's most deadly combat units fighting in the green hell of 'Nam. Now he's back home and living the quiet life in a backwater town. But a phone call from an old friend sends him running to a Buddhist spiritual center in the Berkshires... where a woman's savage murder threatens to ignite a powder keg of violence. The Buddhist center reawakens Skipper's troubled memories of the East. But he's in no mood for meditation when he learns that the Dalai Lama himself is coming in a few days to bless the center--leaving him little time to track down a killer on the loose. Then a tip from a government agent leads him to the heart of a massive drug-smuggling ring in the area--and to a phony religious cult led by a bloodthirsty ex-mercenary. Too much dangerous knowledge soon has Skipper on a one-way road to an early Nirvana. His only hope of staying alive: a luscious blonde with a taste for sex... and death."

There is virtually no information about Robert Kalish online other than the fact that he graduated from University City High School in University City, Missouri, in 1958, and then became a career journalist, which would make him about 78 years old today. But if these novels are any proof, he was also one helluva fiction writer.


On the cover of Jonathan Rubin's only published novel, The Barking Deer (Avon, November, 1982), we have an action scene perfectly laid out within the outline of an American soldier, and another stunning masterpiece by Larkin. 
 
"A team of twelve men, handpicked from the U.S. Special Forces, were sent into the mountains of Vietnam to battle the Viet Cong for control of a strategic village. The village was home to Montagnard tribesmen, a people who didn't understand the war, and who wanted no part of it. A people torn to pieces by their two would-be defenders... the American eagle and the Viet Cong tiger. Villagers were beheaded and their bloody skulls left on pikes. Food was burned while people starved. Torture became the order of the day. It was a war with bravery, but no heroes. A war with ideals, but no honor. A war with too many enemies---and no winners"

I was unable to find much information about Jonathan Rubin other than the fact that he was born in New York in 1940, and served in Vietnam as a Special Forces sergeant from 1962 to 1964, working apparently among the Montagnards, but that also implies that this novel is based on first hand knowledge.



I'm a pretty good skier and can handle a weapon okay, but jeez, even in my prime I don't think I do what these guys are doing. Larkin's cover and stepback illustration for King of the Mountain (Bantam, 1985) are definitely two of the better snow scenes that I've ever found on a paperback cover. Larkin also produced the covers for the other five titles in the Dennison's War series, with three of them getting fantastic stepback illustrations just like this one.

"On the killing ground of Vietnam, Dennison learned the soldier's trade but never forfeited his conscience. Some people, like former Special Forces Colonel Mitchell Horn, came out of Nam with nothing but a lust for money and power. Now, after eighteen years in prison, where Dennison put him for treason and murder, Horn is out to collect the spoils of war: gold and revenge. In one shocking stroke, Horn snatches the Vice President somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Horn demands three things: two million dollars, a Russian defector--and Dennison. It is a tough gamble, even for Dennison's dedicated warriors, but with three important lives and the country at stake they know it is either crush Horn, or die trying."
 
Adam Lassiter is a pseudonym of Steven M. Krauzer (1948- 2009), a Missoula, Montana based writer who authored, co-authored, or edited, approximately 33 books. He has written for radio, television and the movies, and for many years he was a columnist with Outside Magazine, which by itself gets him the ole 'tip of the hat' from me.



No paperback cover artist's resume can be truly complete without having represented the great American novelist and short story writer Louis L'Amour at least once, and Bantam gave Larkin two such golden opportunities.

Night Over the Solomons (Bantam, December, 1986):   "They're freelance pilots and full-time troubleshooters for democracy. They're men like Steven Cowan, Mike Thorne, and Turk Madden who face danger every day of their lives and fight like tigers for what they believe in. With the world on the brink of war, they're on the front lines, wherever there's action. From dangerous South Seas islands, to steaming South American jungles, to the other islands of Japan, you'll find these men ready to fight the enemies of freedom---in a battle to the death."

West From Singapore (Bantam, April, 1987):   "He's a two-fisted American adventurer and veteran of a hundred waterfront brawls. He's "Ponga Jim" Mayo, and he minds his own business and leaves international intrigues to others. But, as master of his own tramp freighter, trouble seeks him out as he navigates the treacherous East Indian seas from Borneo to Singapore. Never one to back away from danger, Jim straps on his Colt automatic and takes the helm of the Semiramis, ready to battle pirates and spies, dope peddlers and gunrunners and whoever else dares to challenge his command... and God help the man who crosses Jim Mayo."

  

Larkin produced all ten explosive covers for Dan Schmidt's Killsquad action series, written under the pen-name Frank Garrett. The novels follow a Dirty Dozen type strike force theme but held in contemporary times, and they were published by Avon between the years 1986 and 1988. Mob War, Number 10 in the series, has what I consider to be the best tagline of the bunch:
"HANGMAN AND HIS CUTTHROAT CREW GO AFTER A MOB PORN CZAR IN THE PLEASURE PITS OF VEGAS!"

"Vinny Petrocelli's movie heroines rarely lived happily ever after... they usually died with the cameras rolling. When Killsquad hits the Sin City strip to extinguish this white-slaver's operation, they have more than just the mob on their hands. In fact, mixing business with pleasure could get the cutthroats caught with their pants down! But with Hangman at the helm, the Vegas viper is soon cornered at his Mexican studio--where Killsquad is waiting to produce his final flick."

Berserker, Volume 6 (Bantam, 1990), is my favorite cover of the nine total that Larkin produced for Dan Schmidt's military-adventure series, Eagle Force. The island setting and unique cliff-side perspective are absolutely marvelous of course, but I also like the fact that my first website blog was named Berserker Books.

"On a remote and rugged island off the coast of Greece, the Kremlin's secret army has prepared a coup on a scale of horror no human mind can begin to grasp. Subjected to a secret drug that turns ordinary men into mindless killing machines, they're poised to seize Europe by the throat--and force an entire continent to join them in an orgy of murderous insanity. Yet what's even more insane is Vic Gabriel's counterplot--to lead his four-man commando squad against the island and take it by storm. The odds are impossible to one. But the Eagle Force wouldn't want it any other way!"



Michael Newton is best known for his work on Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan adventure series, The Executioner, with more than 90 entries to his credit, but he's also penned novels in at least five others series and written several western novels (under the pseudonym Lyle Brandt). Larkin's cover art and Bantam's titling design for Newton's Korea Kill and China White look smashing together and my research tells me there was a third novel that was published too, although I've never even seen it listed for sale. A white whale if there ever was one.

Korea Kill (Book 1, Bantam, April, 1990):   "For eleven years, Kim Sunim had been retired from the business of killing, ever since a failed mission in Bangkok took its toll in innocent lives. Then one day his former station chief appears at the door of his martial arts studio. One of the agency's best agents has been murdered in Seoul, a man who'd once been like a father to Kim, and the CIA wants the man's killer found and terminated. It's a contract he cannot refuse---and a chance for revenge. But when Kim returns to Seoul, he finds the city of his birth teeming with vice and corruption. Soon the blackbelt assassin is drawn into a conspiracy where the line between friend and foe is dangerously blurred... a conspiracy of dishonor that only a man of honor can break---or be broken by!"

China White (Book 2, Bantam, August, 1991):   "Joey Lee is a Chinese American, streetwise, street tough. He has five years in the LAPD and ten in the DEA--but he throws it all away when the Triad gang sends his partner to the hospital... DOA. The Triads: an ageless Chinese Mafia--human predators peddling in soft flesh and hard drugs. Their San Francisco head is Bobby Chan, alias the Cobra, the man responsible for the death of Lee's partner. Out to exact his pound of flesh, Lee goes to Hong Kong to pursue the core of the Triad's operation: heroin. China White. The trail leads from the neon jungle of Sin City to the hothouse killing fields of Thailand. There, Lee discover how shocking far the drug network really extends--and that someone close to home is at the source of this bloody trail of revenge. Lee has been invited to a feast with sudden death on the menu. And he is prepared to eat his fill."

Ronin (Book 3, Bantam, January, 1992):   "... this thrilling new novel set in the Tokyo underworld deals with the popular subject of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. When Harry Tanaka discovers the sickening truth about Laney, a girl he once cared for, Harry's actions ignite the whole city into a bloody gangland war."


Noel B. Gerson wrote the series, The Holts: An American Dynasty, under the pseudonym Dana Fuller Ross, continuing the saga of the family he created succinctly for that purpose in his bestselling Wagons West series. Larkin provided the cover art for all ten books in the series, with the first five getting detailed stepback illustrations like the three here.

Oregon Legacy (Volume One, Bantam, November, 1989):   "When covered wagons rolled along the Oregon Trail, crossed the Rockies, and brought the first settlers to the magnificent American West, one man became a legend in his own timne. He was Wagonmaster Whip Holt, and his blood ran hot with the kind of courage needed to tame a wild land. His indomitable spirit has been inherited, along with his vision of a proud American West, by his descendants in a family so extraordinary, so destined for greatness, that the whole world will know their names: THE HOLTS... 1887. The full fury of a western winter rages across the land. Blizzards take their toll of ranches in the Dakota Badlands, leaving thousands of families ruined. The American West is a land that breaks the weak without mercy; only the strong survive. The Holts are survivors. But the winter of 1887 will test them... and begin the events that will change their lives forever. As Toby Holt fights to save his new ranch, his his headstrong son Tim gets "silver fever" and runs off to a dangerous world of desperate miners, greed, and temptation. The Holt women--the half-Cherokee Janessa and Toby's elegant wife Alexandra--must also battle for their destinies. Their happiness is threatened by prejudice and betrayal, and only the steely will of the Holts stands between tragedy and the tomorrow of their dreams."

Oklahoma Pride (Volume Two, Bantam, May, 1990):   "Young and old hitched their wagons to the dream of free land when the United States announced that Oklahoma's Indian Territory would be opened for settlement. "Sooners" rushed in, boomtowns went up overnight, and on the wide prairie hopes blossomed into fortunes or died with the crack of gunfire. And here one special family would now begin its fight to forge this lawless, rugged frontier into greatness: THE HOLTS... 1889. Horses champ at the bit, buckboards creak as they roll into position, and all along Oklahoma's border 50,000 men and women wait to begin the biggest land grab in history. Among them are courageous young newspaper editor Tim Holt and his fifteen-year-old cousin Peter Blake. Together they will race to stake their claim in a brawling boomtown where men break every law to acquire easy money and power... and where, before the ink is dry on Tim's first edition, a dangerous enemy vows to see him dead. At the same time, Senator Toby Holt, son of the legendary Wagonmaster Whip Holt, finds his life and honor put to the test by a beautiful ex-mistress and a madman bent on vengeance... as the Holt family sweeps us into unforgettable days of destiny and excitement."

Carolina Courage (Volume Three, Bantam, January, 1991):   "A pioneering spirit marked the hardy mountaineers of North Carolina, but an ugly violence ravaged this land of laurels and hills. A dread disease was killing rich and poor alike, and cruel blame fell on the proud Cherokee, the last great Indian tribe of America's East. Now, in this crossfire of hatred and fear, only one brave family would dare to stand up for justice: THE HOLTS... 1891. The train rumbled south from New York's bustling boulevards to the twisted, secretive dirt roads of Qualla Boundary, the sprawling Cherokee reservation. Here yellow fever had become a scourge of death. And here Dr. Janess Holt Lawrence was coming to help a desperate people. But awaiting Janessa was both the shocking truth about her lost Indian past and a terrifying plot against her life. Even Senator Toby Holt's power might not reach her in time... as far away in Hawaii, the Blakes and Brentwoods found a serpent in paradise. Unscrupulous sugar growers had turned to treachery and murder to wrest the island from its gentle people, and young Mike Holt, the daring of Wagonmaster Whip Holt coursing through his veins, would plunge headlong into a dangerous adventure to follow the dictates of his heart."



Larkin's cover art for the Gairden Legacy series is a terrific blend of historical, adventure and romantic fiction, just like the novels themselves. Coleen L. Johnston's trilogy tells the story of Thomas Gairden, a coverlet weaver and soldier in Colonial America who becomes the founder of one of America's first textile industries. Ms. Johnston knows quite a bit about coverlets too, she weaves herself and is a frequent seller of her own wares at both fairs and galleries.

Book 1, The Founders (St. Martin's, August, 1993):   "In 1750 young immigrant Thomas Gairden boldly rides from Pennsylvania Colony to start a weaving shop in booming Charles Town, South Carolina. He leaves behind his first love Sara Roberts, who has been promised to his rival, Jamie Lowe. Battling the long arm of the British Crown, French and Indian troops, and the treachery of greedy settlers, Thomas struggles to banish the sweet memory of Sarah, even as he is amazed by the spirit and beauty of "Crickie" Rawlins, Mistress of High Garden Plantation. Crickie's father has gambled with fate--a lost her to the one man she hates. Their lives echo the exciting events of a world filled with blood and romance, elegance and adventure, where nothing is sure except for the call of destiny in a limitless new land."

Book 2, The Guardians (St. Martin's, February, 1994):   "In her father Thomas' weaving shop in Charles Town, South Carolina, Lily Gairden's friendship with his handsome partner, Paul Durant, blossoms into a tender romance. But their love is thwarted when Thomas refuses to grant Paul his daughter's hand in marriage. Beautiful Lily, discovering the shocking secret of her birth, must wage a war within herself as fierce as the Revolution raging around her. Before she can find peace, she'll ride with both Loyalists and Rebels, driven onward by the thunder of battle and an ache in her heart. Together, their lives will be changed forever by the love and loyalty, terror and treachery of a free-spirited people poised on the brink of glorious nationhood."

Book 3, The Inheritors (St. Martin's, August, 1994):   "... After killing mill owner Hugh Vardry in a Charleston duel, eighteen-year-old Fox Gairden finds himself torn between his feelings for Vardry's widow, Anne, and his own cousin, Adelle Durant, and becomes caught up in the War of 1812."
The scans below are taken from Book 1, and provide additional details about coverlets.





It might not be fair to state that the Frontier Trilogy paintings are Larkin's finest achievements in paperback cover art because he obviously has so many great covers to choose from, but if I were told I could buy only three of his original cover paintings I'm pretty sure I would choose these three over everything else he's done. Of course, it didn't hurt my decision any to know that I've been a fan of frontier fiction and non-fiction since childhood, and that I've also hiked and fished in the very same places that are so nicely depicted on all three covers.

The Frontier Trilogy is the second of three spin-off's from the bestselling Wagons West series, but it was actually written by veteran genre author James Reasoner using Gerson's Dana Fuller Ross pseudonym. Reasoner is also a veteran blogger and I strongly recommend his always interesting Rough Edges (jamesreasoner.blogspot.com).

Westward (Book 1, Bantam, July, 1992):   "Once there was a wilderness so vast no white man had ever crossed it. Then Lewis and Clark became the pathfinders for a nation, opening up a land of limitless possibilities that called with a siren's song to brave men and women looking for the fulfillment of their dreams... THE FIRST HOLTS. In the fertile Ohio Valley, brothers Clay and Jefferson Holt are forced into a blood feud with a clan bent on murder and revenge. To end it they strike out for a new beginning in a territory of quick violence and breathtaking wonders unmatched anywhere on earth. But as a shadowy killer stalks them... as Clay dares to love a beautiful Sioux woman... and as warring nations make men into pawns in a game of power, the Holts will need all their fighting prowess to stay alive... and to found the dynasty that will become an American legend."

Expedition (Book 2, Bantam, February, 1993):   "THE FIRST HOLTS. In the heart of this majestic land, Clay Holt and his Sioux wife, Shining Moon, lead a perilous expedition up the Yellowstone River. While Clay and his band confront fierce storms and the plots of adversaries, brother Jeff Holt heads back East on a treacherous quest; impetuous young cousin Ned takes to the high seas; and in the East, Melissa Merrivale Holt struggles against the unscrupulous businessman who means to have her. With bravery and fighting spirit, the intrepid Holts battle on... to shape the destiny of a nation and to build an American Dynasty."

Outpost (Book 3, Bantam, July, 1993):   "THE FIRST HOLTS. To the brothers Clay and Jefferson Holt, the western territory is a land of breathtaking beauty and unlimited possibility--but also a place of lawlessness and sudden, brutal violence. Sworn to bring a longtime enemy to justice, Clay heads north to Canada and a dangerous showdown, while in far-off North Carolina, Jeff is stalked by a ruthless killer determined to destroy his family. As war cries fill the air, the Holts must fight once more for their home, their nation, and the magnificent dynasty that will live forever in the pages of history."
 

Here we have a larger scan of Larkin's Outpost so we can better see the enigmatic mountain lion in the background. I'm not really sure what the big cat has to do with advancing the story, or if it's merely a phantom following the frontiersmen, but its mere presence begs you to start reading.




IF YOU don't already own Bob Larkin's art book, The Savage Art of Bob Larkin, Volume One (SQP Inc., 2009), I encourage you to buy one. They're still available from secondary markets like amazon, abebooks and ebay for a mere $10-30 dollars (the book retailed new at only $19.95). And while it's only a scant 64 pages long and in softcover format (not befitting an artist of Larkin's stature), it does benefit from its high quality paper and being dramatically oversized (9 x 12 inches), plus it has 38 of its 106 painted images (not counting the covers) reproduced as full-page imagery, which is mighty impressive.

Here's a breakdown of the various genres represented in the book:
Sword & Sorcery / Horror:  30 images.
Comic Superheroes:  18 images.
Science-fiction:  17 images.
Doc Savage:  14 images.
Historical / Western:  14 images.
Action / War:  11 images. 
Humor:  2 images.
The book's introduction is by artist, Joe Jusko, and the afterword is by artist, Alex Ross.

Here's what Joltin' Joe had to say about Bob:
"... Bob Larkin is one of the best painters I've ever seen. His body of work is prodigious, the quality of which is seldom surpassed. He paints every character as you know they should look! Bob's SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN covers are the best ever done for that book, and his DOC SAVAGE covers were the perfect follow up to James Bama. If there was ever a more intimidating assignment than following Bama, I can't think of it, yet Bob hit it out of the park. His series of covers are now every bit as revered as the Bama's. And rightly so. Much of what I know today I learned from Bob Larkin. He would never believe that, as humble as he is (the Greats always are) but it's a fact. Bob became my gold standard. I think I chose well. "I want to be Bob Larkin." I said it 30 years ago. I still say it today."
Joe, I couldn't have said it better myself!


Doc Savage: Peril in the North. Art by Bob Larkin.


[Originally posted in 2016. © November, 2018, Jeffersen]