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 MoreKelly Freas--despite his iconic SF status—actually began his career at Weird Tales in 1950. He painted a legendary cover--"The Piper"--for WT editor, Dorothy McIllwraith, and then painted a new version for the editors of the revived Weird Tales in 1990. Thereon lies a tale, sword-brothers.
Read MoreFrank Kelly Freas, rightly called “The Dean of Science Fiction Artists”, enjoyed a fifty-year run, winning Hugo after Hugo. He began his career painting covers for Weird Tales and ended it as a stone-cold legend in his chosen field. His art defined the look of “Classic Sci-Fi”.
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 MoreBetween 1947 and 1953, Allen Anderson was the man at Planet Stories. He has the singular distinction of providing the covers for all three of the original Eric John Stark tales from Leigh Brackett. In less than a decade, he created a legendary pulp legacy. Then, he walked away.
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 MoreKelly Freas’ art epitomizes the look of what’s known as the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Gorgeous color, beautiful women, sleek spaceships and a universe blazing with stars.
Read MoreOn January 2, 2005, SFF lost one of its greats: Frank Kelly Freas. Freas possesses far greater stature in the field of SF art than he does in that of fantasy. This post will look at what fantasy art FKF left us and what a loss it was that he didn't pursue fantasy art commissions more vigorously.
Read MoreAs always, December 7 is the feast day of Saint Leigh, Our Lady of Planetary Adventure.
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