I expressed to Bob that I wanted to do an article 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 (Bob speculated that he has produced over thirty thousand sketches, drawings and paintings since turning professional). And so here it is at long last, more than two years after my initial pledge. But finding Wagons West examples in presentable condition proved harder than anticipated, so I'm going to only showcase a few of the better ones I've collected, framed by 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, Marvel superheroes, science-fiction, sword & sorcery, horror, humor 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. Soon after that 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 run.
SLADE'S MARAUDER (Bantam, 1981): '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 (Bantam, 1983): '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 adult 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.
LATIGO 1, TRACKDOWN (Popular, 1981): '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... '
LATIGO 3, DEAD SHOT (Fawcett Popular, 1982): 'Claudius Max could bring half the country to its knees... He was that rich... that ruthless. But with all the power the railroad had brought him, he still did not have the thing he wanted most. To see Latigo Cantrell dead. Mrs Amanda Cutler, on the other hand, wanted Latigo very much alive. He had given her the pleasure of seeing her husband's murderers cut down. Now this calculating beauty had other pleasures in mind for the handsome halfbreed. But Cole Latigo Cantrell was only interested in justice. The kind you get with a gun or a knife or a rope...'
LATIGO 4, DOUBLE EAGLE (Fawcett Popular, 1982): 'Three ugly bushwhackers were terrorizing Cantrell's friends into selling out to the railroad. Claudius Max, the vicious S.O.B. who owned the railroad, was backing them up. He was also the man who had killed Cantrell's parents. Then there was Max's latest hired gun, the smooth killer August Pyne. Max Figured Cantrell was finished. Cantrell had friends too. But most of them were women who wanted him to spend the rest of his days in their beds. No... when it came to facing the most violent men in the West, Cantrell was on his own. And nobody knew that better than he did.'
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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, also under the Ross moniker. I 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!
WAGONS WEST 16, LOUISIANA (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!'
WAGONS WEST 21, ARIZONA (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!'
WAGONS WEST 23, OKLAHOMA (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 two covers that Larkin did for the Sergeant series, volumes 5 & 7, which I'm still searching for, 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 in 1980 by producing the cover art for the first three volumes. Bantam then took over the series proper in August, 1981, with volume 4, The Liberation of Paris, and utilizing Larkin, continued to advance the same basic cover design that Daeni had established.
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.
THE SERGEANT 4, THE LIBERATION OF PARIS (Bantam, August, 1981): '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!'
THE SERGEANT 6, SLAUGHTER CITY (Bantam, October, 1981): 'The First Battalion's final midnight barrage blows the Nazi's off the banks of the Moselle, thanks to Sgt. C. J. Mahoney and his kill-crazy sidekick Cranepool. After an R & R of both pleasure and pain, the Sergeant itches for action--and action he gets when Patton launches a desperate offensive: seize the city of Metz, the key to the Siegfried Line! But enemy snipers, mortars and artillery are chewing up the advancing Third Army, and the Sergeant battles his way through the raining hell on a deadline do-or-die mission. With nothing but guts and grenades, Mahoney slips into the occupied city to destroy Hitler's inhuman weapon of mass slaughter--but first he has to survive the "invisible" and bloodthirsty Nazi death squad! And if the Sergeant fails, Patton fails!'
THE SERGEANT 8, BLOODY BASTOGNE (Bantam, December, 1981): 'On a well-deserved R & R, Sergeant C. J. Mahoney of Patton's Hammerhead Division heads straight for a hot bar in the freezing Belgian town of Clervaux. A few drinks, a knife fight over a woman, and Mahoney lands in a cell. But the worst of his tough-luck night comes when German bombs start ripping the town to shreds. Patton and Hitler have begun the biggest massacre of their wartime careers, a massive slaughter of fire and flesh that is rumbling toward its bloody finale in Bastogne. With death on his heels and a grenade in his teeth, Mahoney sprints from jail and slashes into the enemy troops with bayonets, bazookas and his eager bare hands--and the Sergeant won't rejoin his unit until he completes his one-man mission of annihilation that will be heard clear back to Berlin!'
THE SERGEANT 9, HAMMERHEAD (Bantam, January, 1982): 'Fresh from the slaughter of Bastogne, Sgt. C. J. Mahoney rejoins Charlie Company of Patton's Hammerhead Division. His new commander is glory-seeking Lt. Woodward, a stiff-spined West Pointer who wields his rank like a bull whip--all of it stinging Mahoney's hide. Just as the Sergeant is about to rearrange his new superior officer's baby face, German bullets and grenades burst through the heavy snowfall. Slicing his way through the blood and guts of no-man's-land with his kill-crazy sidekick Cranepool, Mahoney is singled out by Woodward for a volley of arrogant abuse. Burning at both ends, the Sergeant blasts hell at Hitler's advancing troops, saving the entire company from oblivion. Mahoney is up for the Silver Star--but first he vows to settle the score with a particular back-stabbing lieutenant!'
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 scale and specification without having to refer to resource materials. Bob's achievement here suggests that he too has that same innate ability.
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.
'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.'
Larkin's use of a silhouette to frame action, like here on King Cobra, is an element he would use repeatedly in his artwork, and always spectacularly.
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 Golden Spur and Owen Wister Award winning
author Matt Braun (using the pseudonym Tom Lord), but Larkin's collage covers (stinking
cigarettes aside) are far too good in my opinion to be relegated to such a smutty, formulaic adult western series like the Ash Tallman's. Braun, the author of more than fifty other more traditional westerns, eventually came to terms
with his pseudonymistic endeavor, and allowed his real name to be applied to all of its reprints. If you wrote it you gotta own it!
ASH TALLMAN 1, THE HIGHBINDERS (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.'
ASH TALLMAN 2, CROSSFIRE (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.'
ASH TALLMAN 3, THE WAGES OF SIN (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.
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.
SKIPPER GOULD 1, BLOODRUN (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.'
SKIPPER GOULD 2, BLOODTIDE (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.'
SKIPPER GOULD 3, BLOODMOON (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.'
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 silhouette 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 of the war.
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I'm a pretty good skier and can handle a weapon okay, but jeez, even in my prime I don't think I could 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 winter action 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 the one here.
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.
'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.'
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 golden opportunities--and capitalize he did.
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 his pseudonym 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 American saga 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, seen here, getting detailed stepback collage illustrations.
THE HOLTS 1, OREGON LEGACY (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.'
THE HOLTS 2, OKLAHOMA PRIDE (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.'
THE HOLTS 3, CAROLINA COURAGE (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.'
THE HOLTS 4, CALIFORNIA GLORY (Bantam, May, 1991): 'Desperate workers strike on railways and at coal mines as a nation shudders with the passions of men and women who demand a share of the American dream. Violence and tears touch every heart when the cities of America rock with the shouts of police and rioters, strikers and scabs. Where is honor in this strife-torn land? Where one bold family dares to raise its voice for freedom, fairness, and justice for all: THE HOLTS... 1893. Clouds with silver linings and bright futures may vanish in a family's ordeal and a nation's shame--unless the indomitable spirit of the Holt family can uphold a nation's promise. Starry-eyed, ambitious Tim Holt, son of Oregon Senator Toby Holt, has brought a failing San Francisco newspaper when he accepts the challenge of covering one last Illinois story: the great Pullman strike. Now terror and treachery may cost Tim Holt his newspaper and his life... and keep his father blind to the enemy who has charmed his way into the heart of Eulalia Holt, matriarch of the clan. And Peter Blake's daring may lead to ruin when his mother's fortune suddenly depends on a wild, high-stakes automobile race.'
THE HOLTS 5, HAWAII HERITAGE (Bantam, November, 1991): 'The flames of revolt blaze across the Hawaiian islands, plunging the new republic into revolution and bringing a proud empire to its knees. The golden reign of a great and beautiful queen comes to a violent end, her once-dazling dynasty swept up in a maelstrom of political intolerance and seething unrest. In the face of such rampant destruction, only one bold family dares to rise up against the insturmountable odds in the name of honor, justice, and freedom: THE HOLTS... 1895. The ruthless overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and the seeds of counterrevolution turn the island paradise of Hawaii into a land of brutal turmoil and dark treachery. Among the fallen queen's faithful supporters is royalist rebel Sam Brentwood. Tortured and sentenced to death for treason, he battles to save his life, his marriage, his farm, and the honor of his runaway sister... while across the sea, on the teeming immigrant shores of Ellis Island, daring Dr. Janessa Holt Lawrence wages her own war against the cruel ravages of prejudice and disease... and adventurous Mike Holt follows his dream to the wild swamps of Florida to become a pioneer of a new industry destined to change the course of American history.'
Larkin's cover art for the Gairden Legacy series is a terrific blend of historical, adventure and romantic imagery, just like the novels themselves. Coleen L. Johnston's trilogy tells the fascinating 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.
THE GAIRDEN LEGACY 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.'
THE GAIRDEN LEGACY 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.'
THE GAIRDEN LEGACY 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.
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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 beautifully 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 a veteran blogger too and I strongly recommend his always interesting and informative
Rough Edges blog.
FRONTIER TRILOGY 1, WESTWARD (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.'
FRONTIER TRILOGY 2, EXPEDITION (Bantam, February, 1993): '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 lup a land of limitless possibilities that called with a siren's song to brave men looking for a dream...
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.'
FRONTIER TRILOGY 3, OUTPOST (Bantam, July, 1993):
' They crossed the vast frontier in pursuit of a dream, men and women whose courage and daring shaped the future of a great young nation and forged an unforgettable legacy of passion and adventure in a brave new land they called home... 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.'
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!
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DOC SAVAGE 117: PERIL IN THE NORTH. ART BY BOB LARKIN
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[Originally posted in 2016. © November, 2018, Jeffersen]
