Pawned Part 2

[vilakins]

Thank you, those of you who gave me advice about the 50s SF paperbacks. I bought all 55 of them, beating the guy down to half price ($2.50 each). I have Amazing, Astounding, Analog, Galaxy, Fantastic, and something more prosaically called Fantasy and Science Fiction. And since I now have 10GB of storage, I shall load up the more lurid covers into an LJ gallery at some point and reserve the right to spam you lot with them. Actually I have more evil plans than that but my image manipulation skills may not be up to them...

I'm going to enjoy reading them. I've already noted some very well-known SF name on the covers.

Comments

[trixieleitz]

Yay! I was just wondering if you'd scored there :)

I look forward to seeing the covers - and your evilness fulfilled ;)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It'll be good GIMP practice in the holidays. [sigh] I'm still finding PSE2 faster if more limited.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Excellent. :)

Fantasy and Science Fiction is another magazine with a good reputation. Amazing was the first magazine in the field, launched by Hugo Gernsback in the 1920s IIRC, but I don't think that its quality is supposed to have been all that good. I've never heard of Fantastic.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It seems I did quite well then! The Amazing covers are the most garish, but fun. I only have a few Fantastics so it doesn't matter if they're duds. When I was sorting through the piles, I'd put so many aside to buy I decided to just get the lot.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

Those old SF covers are fab, aren't they? We had a laugh going through a box of donations to the SF archive at the university and comparing the terrible, awful badness of the artwork.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

The doyen of SF magazine cover illustrators was Kelly Freas, some of whose work is very striking. There's an illustrated biography here:
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/freas.htm

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link; he did excellent work. I shall make myself an SF icon from at least one of the covers.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They're so bad, they're an art form. I have to do something with them, like the Man of Iron cover I did in that style. And I need an SF icon like yours and astrogirl1's. :-D

[spacefall.livejournal.com]

Nice one! I'm really looking forward to the scans.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Even my sister, who has no interest in SF, was fascinated by the covers. It'll probably be next year though.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Yay, enjoy! I have one issue of Fantastic, from '79, that I bought used somewhere, and I remember finding it entertaining, though I was a teenager at the time, and won't actually vouch for my own tastes. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed by how many well-known names I've seen on the covers so far. I'm sure they won't be boring to read even if the authors are obscure; they had to sell.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

F&SF was one I enjoyed the few times I found an issue. I am looking forward to hearing what you think of them and seeing some of the covers.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm sure they'll be fun!

Did you make the Frank icon?

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Yep. I cross-stitched a whole bunch of animal Christmas puns a few years ago, to use as inserts on mugs (they snap apart and the cross-stitch goes between the liner and the clear plastic outer mug.) I gave away most of them, but I found this one this year and photographed it & turned it into an icon.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's great! Did you offer it to Frank?

I used to work with a guy who joked about SM all the time (I think it was a joke) and I draw him a Christmas card with a big hooker in fishnet stockings and skimpy leather with a whip and the text "Season's Beatings!" He loved it and it became famous in the office. Greg (whom I met at that office) still remembers it affectionately. I should have kept a copy. Hmm, I have a scrapbook from that time (I used to do cartoons for presentations) so you never know. [goes to look] Nah. Found a comic-strip of the receptionist photocopying her bum though, and the famous Mafia memo I sent to the Australian office. :-P

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Frank didn't acknowledge the first 5 I gave him, so I didn't bother offering him this one (he'd stopped answering a day or so before I did it, so I just missed out.)

I had to sign in as e-house to get to this locked post & am going back to Avon now & doubt I'll change LJ's again for a while (trying to finish decorating the tree in between doing other stuff).

You should always keep copies of good stuff you make! I've regretting not taking photos of some quilts I gave people way back. I *think* I remember you telling about the Mafia memo. :^)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I locked the posts because I was worried someone here might see and buy the books before I could. I'll unlock them now.

I also did a user manual for one of the technical writers as if he were software. He lost it in the move back to the US and begged for another and it was lucky I had a copy I could print out and send to him. That job was fun. We even started a joint SF novel which got passed between 4 of us by e-mail to be added to. Sigh. Workplaces aren't fun since the economy got so tight.

(e-house in disguise)

[kerr-avon.livejournal.com]

A User Manual?? *giggle* I bet you've seen the user manual for Cats. It's on the net somewhere.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I was given one in book form. :-)

Ah yes, now is the season to get a multitude of cat-related presents...

[kerravonsen]

Have fun! (See, I even have an appropriate icon!) (grin)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You do! I'll have to make one from a cover.

[kerravonsen]

Good idea.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Hey, would I be able to use your Avon-with-the-Star icon for the Christmas b7friday challenge? I thought I'd offer some pictures for people to choose from to write a story for and that one's beautiful and the only one I know with any religious aspect. If you're not keen, no worries.

[kerravonsen]

What a nice idea! Picture challenges are nice. Yes, I'd love you to use it (so long as it's clear that this is just a picture for the challenge, I'm not releasing it as an icon).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, and no problems; I'll make it clear.

[kerravonsen]

And you can use this link http://pics.livejournal.com/kerravonsen/pic/0000twp3 from my scrapbook for it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think I can link to the icon itself; I've done so in the past.

[kerravonsen]

Oh, yeah, duh, one could, couldn't one? Just look at the source code and copy the image link.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yep. Mind you, I'd only do it in LJ.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you got a good deal! Can't wait to see the lurid covers - let me guess, there will be some with a scantily-clad, screaming blonde being menaced by some slimy green alien-thing, lol.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! :-P I have plans for some of them.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Now I want one with a scantily clad alien being menaced by an overdeveloped blonde with marcelled curls. :^)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

LOL! I'm not sure I can manage that, not having your skills, but I'll keep it in mind.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

*giggle* I keep seeing it in my minds' eye now. Poor little alien. :^)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Me too--and he's Kif, the put-upon green alien from Futurama!

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

*giggle* I don't know Kif, never having seem Futurama, but I *did* make up a cover. It's not exactly what I had in mind, but if you go to e-house, you may get a chuckle.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/entropy_house/124646.html

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I cut my SF teeth on those books, I envy you.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to some good holiday reading. :-)