Turner’s cover for the the Summer 1940 issue of Tales of Wonder, #11, ed. (Ron Turner’s cover for the 1950 edition of 2,000 Years On (1950), Vargo Statten - i.e. (John Richards’ cover for the May 1955 issue of Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, ed. (Henry Sharp’s cover for the February 1955 issue of Fantastic, ed. (John Bunch’s cover for the April 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, ed. (Ed Emshwiller’s cover for the July 1957 issue of Infinity Science Fiction, ed. (Kelly Freas’ cover for the 1976 edition of Keeper (1976), Joan Hunter Holly) (Uncredited cover for the 1958 edition of Time in Advance (1958), William Tenn) (Earl Mayan’s cover for the 1963 edition of Doomsday Wing (1963), George H. Wesso’s cover for the June 1937 edition of Astounding Stories, ed. Brown’s cover for the January 1936 issue of Astounding Stories, ed. (Stanley Melzoff’s cover for the 1954 edition of The Demolished Man (1952), Alfred Bester) (Ed Emshwiller’s cover for the February 1957 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. (Gray Morrow’s cover for the Febuary 1967 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow, ed. (Ed Emshwiller’s cover for the 1956 edition of Chessboard Planet (variant title: The Fairy Chessmen) (1946), Lewis Padgett - i.e. Gray Morrow is clearly homaging these earlier pulp traditions.Įnjoy! (I have many many more SF city themed art posts - here) Many of the earlier pulp covers I’ve included below from many decades earlier reflect adhere to this archetype. The action, in this case a high speed chase, unfolds across the cityscape. The almost birds-eye perspective allows the city to fill the entire frame of site. Frederik Pohl is an archetypal cover of this theme.

Gray Morrow’s cover for the Febuary 1967 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow, ed. His agony is reflected in the city around him. The city that fills the entire cover bends, fragments, writhes with the hero in the center. The mass of the buildings arch, indistinct, upward - causeways and platforms amongst the cityscape hold faceless humanoid forms that “look” at the viewer.Įd Emshwiller’s cover for the 1956 edition of Chessboard Planet (variant title: The Fairy Chessmen) (1946), Lewis Padgett - i.e. The city as a matrix that holds the scene unfolding amongst its spires… Richard Powers’ masterful cover for the 1969 edition of Cosmic Engineers is the perfect example. The theme of this post is the future metropolis as canvas where the entire surface of the cover is arrayed and ordered by the forms and forces of the city. (Richard Powers’ cover for the 1969 edition of Cosmic Engineers (1939), Clifford D.

City simak