Kelly Freas was the acknowledged ‘King of Golden Age Sci-Fi Art’. What Frazetta was to Sword-and-Sorcery, Freas (pronounced ‘freeze’) was to Sci-Fi from about 1955 to around 1980. That’s a hell of a run; longer than Frazetta’s, to be honest. Then, in 2005, Kelly took that final voyage beyond the stars.
Read MoreGeorge W. Barr—a cover artist for Amra, DAW Books, Amazing and Weird Tales—turned eighty-five today. Barr could—at the top of his game—paint covers with a sensuous or ethereal beauty, often in glorious colors.
Read MoreToday marked the anniversary of the passing of Donald A. Wollheim. Today also marks—perhaps exactly, perhaps within a few weeks at most—the founding of DAW Books by Wollheim in 1971. Throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s, DAW Books kept the pulp aesthetic alive, publishing far more sword-and-sorcery and sword-and-planet than its competitors.
Read MoreLegendary publisher Donald A. Wollheim died on this date 30 years ago. We asked author and journalist Cliff Biggers, who knew Wollheim personally, to share his memories of the man behind DAW Books.
Read MoreE.C. Tubb’s Dumarest Saga is a classic SF series. The Winds of Gath is the first of the Dumarest novels.
Read More"[E.C. Tubb’s] reputation for fast-moving and colourful SF writing is unmatched by anyone in Britain.” — Michael Moorcock
ERB’s Amtor and Barsoom. Moorcock’s “Old Mars.” Norman’s Gor. “Alan Burt Akers”/Ken Bulmer’s Kregen/Antares. Artist Richard Hescox—who turns 70 today—has painted them all over the course of five decades, making him one of the preeminent living artists in the Sword and Planet field.
Read MoreDonald Wollheim was a titanic mover n’ shaker when it came to the graphic side of the SFF publishing equation. Wollheim’s instincts for spotting promising artistic talent were second to none in the entire history of the field. In fact, I considered just typing, “Frank Frazetta and Michael Whelan. Mic drop.” and then posting some pics, but I decided that might be a bit too terse.
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