Monday, May 10, 2010

Frank Frazetta R.I.P. 1928-2010

I have always loved fantasy and science fiction. As a youngster it offerred the perfect escape away from dust and heat and not much else.

And part of this escape was the artwork.



Frazetta didn't get into fantasy until years after I had moved into the adult world but he had a talent that made him recognizable at a glimpse and an ability to bring fantasy heroes alive. What young male could not see himself standing on top of a pile of bones that use to belong to his enemies with a nubile succulent female wrapping herself around his feet?

Link

Unisex was not in his genes.

In the early years most science fiction and fantasy magazines were not adult nor intended to be. They were pulp magazines intended to fill an evening of reading much like most of the junk on TV is meant to be mind numbing time killers between 7 and 11. The artwork wasn't always great but it always moved.



And the girls were always beautiful and buxom but not to be argued with.



And then we had the girls dancing for their supper.... paid for by aliens... of course. But the sex was always on the cover and never between the covers. Like radio, it expanded the imagination.



And some of the girls were hotter than others.



Of course in its infancy, as shown in this February 1927 cover by Paul, the covers were more about adventure and the contents were, well, much the same as they would be 20 years later.



And by 1992 the view of the universe had expanded as shown in this cover of a child watching an alien friend blowing bubbles. Peaceful yet threatening it almost has an "Alice In Wonderland" feeling.



But was sex out? No.



Sometimes I will have to do a post or so on the artists that made the stories better. And here's to the ones that made us grasp our quarters and gleefully pay for the latest issue of Amazing, Startling, Planet and all the others.

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You don't need no education


and apologies to Pink Floyd.

And we all thought he was protesting the Right.

Well, just as Nixon was the only one that could go to China, Obama is the only one who can say things like this.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "Meanwhile, you're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't rank all that high on the truth meter. With iPods and iPads; Xboxes and PlayStations; information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment. All of this is not only putting new pressures on you; it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy."


LInk to video of speech.

This should send a real chill up your leg, past your waist and to the top of your head screaming, "Danger! Danger!"

And it should tell you what The Chosen One thinks of your ability to rule yourself.

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