Frank R. Paul is one of the most important artists in the history of science fiction. He was there almost from the outset of the genre as it took shape in the pages of Amazing Stories. His brilliantly colored covers defined the visual style of the genre as it moved from its infancy. He also was called upon to illustrate some of the classic science romances which predated and informed the upstart genre such as War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. You can see above how wonderfully Paul captured the terrible elegance of the Martian war machines.
Most comic book fans will know Paul from the singularly significant cover he fashioned for the debut issue of Marvel Comics. The Human Torch visualized by Paul on that cover was nothing like the Carl Burgos version inside the comics. Paul's Torch is more demonic, look of devlish glee on his android face as he burns free of his prison.
Paul was tapped also to give life and form to imaginary creatures who just might be inhabiting the sundry planets which fill up our solar system. Each of the creatures he dreamed up were singular but no less corporeal. They might not have breathed like we did but they were alive. Below is a gallery.
By and large Paul's images of the other planets was a peaceful one, an idyllic strikingly colored dream of what might just be possible. These creatures couldn't live really anywhere but in our imaginations but it was Paul who put them there.
There is a nigh endless array of imagery from Paul to fascinate and quicken the mind and imagination. Seek it out. You'll be pleased.
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That image of a 21st Century city came from a time when the future seemed shiny and optimistic. Now that the 21st Century is actually here we are facing the reality of massive overpopulation, declining resources, disastrous climate change and predictions of A.I. overthrowing Mankind.
ReplyDeleteWe still have three quarters of a century left, but I agree it doesn't look promising.
DeleteHe was a giant in the field that influenced so much. The story Jack Kirby used to tell about himself is that as a young newsboy he found an issue of Wonder Stories, with a Paul cover, floating in the gutter, and it set the fire under him to create imaginative art. You can sure see Paul in Kirby's early comics work, but he was not the only one.
ReplyDeleteI just read about that anecdote this morning. For sure Paul is in there and even more is Hal Foster. But with all the great artists he found a way to his own style which in turn inspired generations after him.
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