Foreword / Vincent Di Fate -- Introduction -- The abstract, surreal, and otherworldly. Richard M. Powers, surrealist prankster ; The unsettling Don Ivan Punchatz ; Chess in sci-fi ; Paul Kirchner's Dope Rider ; Douglas Chaffee ; The swift rise and swifter fall of Galileo magazine ; Gary Viskupic ; Gary Viskupic's TV Guide art ; Leo and Diane Dillon and the "Third Artist" -- Spaceships, vehicles, and megastructures. Chris Foss: The biggest brand in retro sci-fi covers ; Stewart Cowley's Terran trade authority series ; Syd Mead: Visual futurist ; Ringworld ; Rendezvous with Rama ; Bob Eggleton ; UFOs ; John Berkey ; Space elevators ; John Harris's meditations ; Spaceships and planets ; Vincent Di Fate -- Sci-fi cities and landscapes. Canals on Mars: The trope born of a misunderstanding ; Underwater sci-fi ; John Schoenherr's compositions ; Skull planets ; Asimov's Foundation series ; Dean Ellis: The ideal paperback artist ; Angus McKie -- Planets, explorers, and space travel. David A. Hardy ; Robert McCall ; NASA's space colonies ; Explorers and the unknown ; Jeffrey Catherine Jones ; Cryosleep ; Skeletons in spacesuits ; Gunfights in space ; Space helmet reflections -- Life in the future(s). Domed cities ; Paul Lehr ; Peter Elson ; Robots ; Mike Hinge ; Queen and Frank Kelly Freas ; Postapocalypse ; Robert Tinney's Byte magazine covers ; Chris Moore -- Plants, animals, and alien life. Space cats ; Wayne Barlowe: Unnatural history artist ; Giant worms ; Dinosaurs of the retro-past ; Birds ; The eyes have it ; Close encounters ; The War of the Worlds ; A single flower on an alien planet ; Mushrooms ; Forests and trees -- Fantasy realms. Fran Frazetta ; Boris Vallejo ; Rodney Matthews ; Wizards ; Michael Whelan's hidden messages ; Richard Hescox ; Sailing ships in space ; Don Maitz ; Star wars before Star Wars ; Clyde Caldwell -- Cryptozoology and the paranormal. America's 1970s Bigfoot obsession ; Monsters ; Ancient astronaut "theory" ; Creepy and Eerie ; Zombies ; Ghosts ; Bruce Pennington ; Alien ceremonies ; Cloaked figures -- Epilogue.
Summary:
In the 1970s, mass-produced, cheaply printed science fiction novels were thriving. The paper was rough, the titles outrageous, and the cover art astounding. Over the course of the decade, a stable of talented painters, comic book artists, and designers produced thousands of the most eye-catching book covers to ever grace bookstore shelves (or spinner racks). Curiously, the pieces commissioned for these covers often had very little to do with the contents of the books they were selling, but by leaning heavily on psychedelic imagery, far-out landscapes, and trippy surrealism, the art was able to satisfy the same space-race fueled appetite for the big ideas and brave new worlds that sci-fi writers were boldly pushing forward.In Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s, Adam Rowe, who has been curating, championing, and resurrecting the best and most obscure art that 1970s sci-fi has to offer for more than five years on his blog 70s Sci-Fi Art, introduces readers to the biggest names in the genre, including Chris Foss, Peter Elson, Tim White, Jack Gaughan, and Virgil Finlay, as well as their influences. With deep dives into the subject matter that commonly appeared on these covers - spaceships, alien landscapes, fantasy realms, cryptozoology, and heavy machinery - this book is a loving tribute to a unique and robust art form whose legacy lives on both in nostalgic appreciation as well as the retro-chic design of mainstream sci-fi films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Alien: Covenant, and Thor: Ragnarok.
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