|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 27, 2018 21:41:34 GMT -5
Love me some Frazetta covered Burroughs.
That's the edition of The Martian Chronicles that I've had since the 80s...though I also have a hardback I got a few years back.
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Sept 28, 2018 7:50:07 GMT -5
Now that is a quality haul @mrp! Some good times ahead for you indeed. Really sad that most of these kinds of finds just aren't around much these days out here in Phoenix. Most of my good vintage paperback finds anymore are in Goodwill. The mom and pop used bookstore's out here have all but disappeared. None of the LCS's carry paperbacks anymore and occasionally you might find some through a collectibles store but usually way overpriced. My best luck anymore is digging through Amazon used sellers anymore.
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 28, 2018 17:47:05 GMT -5
This Body's Not Big Enough For Both of Us by Edgar Cantero. Edgar Cantero is rapidly becoming a must-read author. I was very pleasantly surprised by Meddling Kids. While the premise of that book seemed like a no-brainer, it was also a premise that could be easily messed up. While not perfect, Cantero did a very good job with it. So when I saw he was going to do an absurdist neo-noir detective novel I had to read it. A. Kimrean and Z. Kimrean are brother and sister. They're also private eyes. Oh...and they're chimeric twins. Two people (and two sets of DNA) in one body. With wildly divergent personalities. He is logical, cold and misanthropic. She is intuitive and wild and fun. They're bound together in one androgynous skinny body. And they've been called to help on an undercover police officer who is trying to prevent a gang war as someone is killing off the children of a drug lord. Only A.Z. Kimrean can solve the case before a major undercover operation is blown apart in the war. This is a super fun book. Cantero is well versed in hard-boiled detectives and noir and plays with the tropes throughout. He also has a number of tricks that were on display in Meddling Kids that are brought out again here, including periodic fourth wall breaking, occasional lapses into script style writing and the characters sometimes acknowledging they're in a story. At this point it seems clear this is just one of those things that Cantero does. And I'm okay with it. I was a bit concerned that another humorous noir riff so soon after Christopher Moore's Noir might be too much. But it wasn't. Honestly, for as much as I love Moore (and he's one of my go-to authors) I liked this one better. It's a really fun read. And if you're a fan of noir...literary or cinema...it's even better. Cantero was on NPR not too long ago talking about the book... sounded like it would either be really fun, or terrible... glad to hear it's the former Losers Live Longer by Russell Atwood There was something about this book that rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. Maybe it was because it's not set in the past... a PI running around New York looking for clues seems awfully odd in our world of internet searches. Sure, it was sort addressed (the main character did google a bunch of stuff at one point), but not really... at another, he had to have an 'expert' friend plug in an ipod to a computer to see what was on it (which made NO sense) The main character tried to be you typical down on his luck type character, but he just didn't have any redeeming qualities, which made the ending not really make a lot of sense. Then there was the fact that the resolution of the case required FAR too much suspension of disbelief to make any sense at all. I guess every imprint is allowed a stinker now and then.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 29, 2018 10:52:38 GMT -5
This Body's Not Big Enough For Both of Us by Edgar Cantero. Edgar Cantero is rapidly becoming a must-read author. I was very pleasantly surprised by Meddling Kids. While the premise of that book seemed like a no-brainer, it was also a premise that could be easily messed up. While not perfect, Cantero did a very good job with it. So when I saw he was going to do an absurdist neo-noir detective novel I had to read it. A. Kimrean and Z. Kimrean are brother and sister. They're also private eyes. Oh...and they're chimeric twins. Two people (and two sets of DNA) in one body. With wildly divergent personalities. He is logical, cold and misanthropic. She is intuitive and wild and fun. They're bound together in one androgynous skinny body. And they've been called to help on an undercover police officer who is trying to prevent a gang war as someone is killing off the children of a drug lord. Only A.Z. Kimrean can solve the case before a major undercover operation is blown apart in the war. This is a super fun book. Cantero is well versed in hard-boiled detectives and noir and plays with the tropes throughout. He also has a number of tricks that were on display in Meddling Kids that are brought out again here, including periodic fourth wall breaking, occasional lapses into script style writing and the characters sometimes acknowledging they're in a story. At this point it seems clear this is just one of those things that Cantero does. And I'm okay with it. I was a bit concerned that another humorous noir riff so soon after Christopher Moore's Noir might be too much. But it wasn't. Honestly, for as much as I love Moore (and he's one of my go-to authors) I liked this one better. It's a really fun read. And if you're a fan of noir...literary or cinema...it's even better. Cantero was on NPR not too long ago talking about the book... sounded like it would either be really fun, or terrible... glad to hear it's the former Losers Live Longer by Russell Atwood There was something about this book that rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. Maybe it was because it's not set in the past... a PI running around New York looking for clues seems awfully odd in our world of internet searches. Sure, it was sort addressed (the main character did google a bunch of stuff at one point), but not really... at another, he had to have an 'expert' friend plug in an ipod to a computer to see what was on it (which made NO sense) The main character tried to be you typical down on his luck type character, but he just didn't have any redeeming qualities, which made the ending not really make a lot of sense. Then there was the fact that the resolution of the case required FAR too much suspension of disbelief to make any sense at all. I guess every imprint is allowed a stinker now and then. I really liked Meddling Kids...But I think I liked this one a bit more. Cantero is just a super fun writer. I've got Losers Live Longer on my extraordinarily long list of books to read. But it seems somewhat unlikely I'll ever actually get around to reading it. Possibly less likely now.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 29, 2018 13:20:01 GMT -5
Two-Bear Mambo by Joe R. Lansdale Hap and Leonard are back. And this time they're kind of trying to be detectives on purpose. Florida is missing. She was last known to be going to a small town in east Texas that has pretty well skipped over the entire Civil Rights era. Hansen asks the boys to look into where Florida is and if she's okay. Asks it a bit gentle...since Leonard has burned down the crack-house next door again. So the boys head out to a small racist Klan-controlled company town looking for a young black woman with a wad of money. Unfortunately, Hap and Leonard aren't great detectives and have a penchant for getting into trouble...not helped a bit by Leonard having a habit of smarting off at the wrong time. Lansdale is easily in my top two or three currently working authors. It's incredibly rare for him to do anything that I find to average...his work is usually excellent. And though he works in a number of genres he's really a master of each. For all that Hap and Leonard's joking will frequently make me laugh, this is a very dark book with an ending that is anything but Hollywood. On the other hand it's a wonderful look at friendship and what it means to be a true and lasting friend. There's a hell of a lot to learn from Hap and Leonard.
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Sept 30, 2018 9:21:35 GMT -5
Now that is a quality haul @mrp ! Some good times ahead for you indeed. Really sad that most of these kinds of finds just aren't around much these days out here in Phoenix. Most of my good vintage paperback finds anymore are in Goodwill. The mom and pop used bookstore's out here have all but disappeared. None of the LCS's carry paperbacks anymore and occasionally you might find some through a collectibles store but usually way overpriced. My best luck anymore is digging through Amazon used sellers anymore. The way of today’s world, I guess. Here in Charlotte we just lost a good used book store, run by good people. They left their shopping center to escape skyrocketing rent, figuring three-and-a-half miles wouldn’t make that much of a difference. It wasn’t the distance, it was unending construction that did them in. A loss for everybody.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Oct 1, 2018 2:29:07 GMT -5
Love me some Frazetta covered Burroughs. That's the edition of The Martian Chronicles that I've had since the 80s...though I also have a hardback I got a few years back. Yes. I probably associate ERB's Barsoom with Frazetta more than with any other artist because the first one I read - other than a Tarzan book (City of Gold) when I was much younger - was part of the early-70s hardcover re-issue of the full series, specifically a two-in-one edition of The Mastermind of Mars and A Fighting Man of Mars, still my favourite two of ERB's Mars books and not only because I happened to read them first.
It probably works the other way too - I associate Frazetta more with ERB's barsoom than with any other writer or character, even REH and Conan, and for the same reason - early exposure.
Zelazny's first Amber series was fantastic. I always think it in terms of the paperbacks with the black backgrounds and the Ron Wolotsky covers.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2018 3:04:09 GMT -5
Love me some Frazetta covered Burroughs. That's the edition of The Martian Chronicles that I've had since the 80s...though I also have a hardback I got a few years back. Yes. I probably associate ERB's Barsoom with Frazetta more than with any other artist because the first one I read - other than a Tarzan book (City of Gold) when I was much younger - was part of the early-70s hardcover re-issue of the full series, specifically a two-in-one edition of The Mastermind of Mars and A Fighting Man of Mars, still my favourite two of ERB's Mars books and not only because I happened to read them first. It probably works the other way too - I associate Frazetta more with ERB's barsoom than with any other writer or character, even REH and Conan, and for the same reason - early exposure. Zelazny's first Amber series was fantastic. I always think it in terms of the paperbacks with the black backgrounds and the Ron Wolotsky covers.
I on the other hand, associate Barsoom more strongly with Michael Whelan because the version I first read featured his cover art, particularly this cover from A Princess of Mars... However, I had already seen Frazetta on Conan and Tarzan at that point, so he is more strongly associated with them. I didn't see the Frazetta Barsoom covers until much later, and those were in a Frazetta art book not the actual paperbacks. -M
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 1, 2018 7:34:18 GMT -5
The Michael Whelan covers are definitive for me, his renderings were the way I pictured Barsoom and all of its denizens in my head when I was reading the books. And much as I like the work by Frazetta, Krenkel and others, I feel the same way about the Neal Adams covers on the Tarzan paperbacks.
Frazetta, though, rules the roost on the Conan covers.
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Oct 1, 2018 13:53:19 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Oct 1, 2018 16:12:47 GMT -5
When I think ERB and Howard artists it goes like this:
On John Carter/Mars series i was exposed to in reading: Gino D'Achille the very 1st artist on the books I read and then Roy Krenkle would turn up here and there. I never saw any of the Frazetta covers until much much later. Later on in the reprints I saw the Whelan covers at bookstores everywhere but sadly never bought any (stupid me) at the time due to other financial circumstances.
For Tarzan: Neal Adams on covers with my 1st readings and some later few with Boris. And again I never saw any Frazetta covers until much later and usually overpriced beyond my purchasing.
With Conan: this is when I found out about the awesomeness that is Frazetta. Along with Boris catching my attention.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 1, 2018 16:48:22 GMT -5
For me Conan = Frazetta. Always.
On the other hand, ERB is largely dependent on the property. Barsoom will always be Michael Whelan. Tarzan is Neal Adams. Most of the rest are either Krenkel or Frazetta.
Nothing is ever Boris because I really hate his artwork.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 1, 2018 17:09:44 GMT -5
When I think ERB and Howard artists it goes like this: On John Carter/Mars series i was exposed to in reading: Gino D'Achille the very 1st artist on the books I read and then Roy Krenkle would turn up here and there. I never saw any of the Frazetta covers until much much later. Later on in the reprints I saw the Whelan covers at bookstores everywhere but sadly never bought any (stupid me) at the time due to other financial circumstances. I had a number of Gino D'Achille covered Mars books. I never really liked those covers. Which is odd because I think his covers for Flashman were really quite spiffy.
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Oct 1, 2018 18:34:29 GMT -5
I came to the books from the comics, so I associate Tarzan with Joe Kubert and Barsoom with Murphy Anderson. Frazetta did covers for all of them, or at least Frazetta paintings were used for all of them, so I don't associate him with any particular character or author. I first saw his work on Warren magazine covers.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Oct 1, 2018 19:08:10 GMT -5
When I think ERB and Howard artists it goes like this: On John Carter/Mars series i was exposed to in reading: Gino D'Achille the very 1st artist on the books I read and then Roy Krenkle would turn up here and there. I never saw any of the Frazetta covers until much much later. Later on in the reprints I saw the Whelan covers at bookstores everywhere but sadly never bought any (stupid me) at the time due to other financial circumstances. I had a number of Gino D'Achille covered Mars books. I never really liked those covers. Which is odd because I think his covers for Flashman were really quite spiffy.
I'm not a fan of d'Achille's ERB covers either - they always seemed a bit drab and colourless to me, and his renditions of the characters never caught my imagination.
Krenkel is one of my favourites but I didn't really get to know his artwork until a few years after my first encounters with ERB and REH paperbacks. I have a couple of his art books and they are beautiful to flip through. Worth tracking down if you can find them.
It just occurred to me that I don't really have a favourite cover artist for the Tarzan books (or the comics, for that matter): Adams's Tarzan covers were good, but for me they're a level or two below his comic book covers, so a bit of a disappointment. Part of the problem might be that they were shrunk down so much to fit the paperback size that a lot of the detail is lost and the composition sometimes feels a bit jumbled. I like Boris Vallejo's early work for Marvel's SSoC, but even the best of his Tarzan covers are no better than just OK, as they seem to have been done at a time when his style was already changing for the worse, though it hadn't yet reached bottom.
|
|