Of Ships and Merritt and Moorcock
A. Merritt’s classic fantasy novel, The Ship of Ishtar, influenced—in my opinion—not one, but two Elric novels from Michael Moorcock.
Read MoreP. Craig Russell Turns 70
P. Craig Russell is an artist with a nearly half-century career in comics. His renditions of Killraven, Elric, Doctor Strange and Sandman are considered iconic, if not definitive. Russell has collaborated with the likes of Roy Thomas, Neil Gaiman and Michael Moorcock during his illustrious career.
Read MoreThe Fiftieth Anniversary of DAW Books
Today 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 MoreMoorcock’s Missed Elric Opportunity
I’ve often wondered, why hasn’t Michael Moorcock’s sword-and-sorcery fiction ever been adapted to the silver screen? It could have been. Moorcock was approached by the likes of filmmaker Ralph Bakshi for an adaptation of Elric. This would have been circa 1978.
Read MoreMetallic Mirrors Part Four: Rodney Matthews
Today is the seventy-fifth birthday of fantasy artist extraordinaire Rodney Matthews. With hundreds of album covers and book covers to his credit, you’d think he’d be a perfect subject for a Metallic Mirrors post. As it turns out, only three of his works have appeared on both a book cover and an album cover—and two of those albums only came out this year.
Read MoreWhelan and Elric
"Like Bob Haberfield in England, Michael Whelan helped identify my work to readers, especially with the Elric covers which remain many readers’ favourites. Michael captured the demonic hero better than anyone." — Michael Moorcock, 2020
Read MoreDemons of the Multiverse: Quaolnargn
Michael Moorcock is one of the authors who always impresses me with creative ideas when it comes to magic and supernatural elements. Throughout the Eternal Champion cycle, we encounter not only his own breeds of various mythical beings, but also patron demons, elemental spirits, cosmic monsters, strange races, Lords of Chaos and countless creatures of multiversal netherworlds.
Read MoreThe Artistic Legacy of Donald A. Wollheim
Donald 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.
Read MoreMichael Whelan Covers That Rocked My World
Today is the birthday of Michael Whelan, one of the greatest artists to ever work in the fields of fantasy, sci-fi and horror. The occasion prompted me to think back on the Whelan covers that really, really affected me when growing up.
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