New Nervous Rex Cover Art

 

Back in the 1980s, San Diego publisher Blackthorne produced ten issues of Nervous Rex by Disney artist William Van Horn. Earlier this year, Drew Ford announced plans to publish a Nervous Rex collection through his company It's Alive. Along with that collection were three unpublished covers, which Drew asked local artist Barbara Marker to color.

Due to the way comics were made back then, Barbara used to work with dye-based markers. It was a complicated, multi-step process, and not comparable to the markers today's artists buy in your local art store and use to create artwork for sale.

 

Due to advances in the field, Barbara was able to utilize her first love of watercolor to color Van Horn's art this time around. 

I'm not exactly clear on whether these unpublished covers will be accompanied by unpublished issues, or if Drew will simply include the covers in his upcoming collection. When I learn more, I'll let you know.

Barbara Marker routinely shares her work with her followers on Facebook. She does book covers, trading cards, original art, and yes, the occasional new comic. If you'd like to check her out, or follow her, just search Barbara Marker Artist, and you can see more of what she does.

Dragon Dave

Neil Adams on Tarzan of the Apes

 

One of my early writing influences was Edgar Rice Burroughs. I was inordinately impressed by how many great stories he wrote. Whether they dealt with Mars, Venus, a land filled with dinosaurs at the Earth's core, or one of his stand-alone novels, his books always impressed me.

I thought: if I ever become a writer, I want to be like Edgar Rice Burroughs.

While I may have been aware of the older Tarzan movies, the only one that might have been on my radar was the one starring Bo Derek. Of course, I wouldn't be seeing that! So I think my only experience with Tarzan, up until High School, was Saturday Morning Cartoons.

After exhausting the bookstore and library's available Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction and Fantasy titles, I decided to take a chance on this series. After all, Edgar Rice Burroughs had written them. And they sported some awesome covers.

Some of my High School friends belittled my reading choice, seeing the novels as kid stuff. But a few asked if they could borrow them after I finished reading them.

Three years ago, I happened upon artist Neil Adams's booth at Wondercon 2019.  I told him how much I enjoyed the cover art he supplied for this series. He kindly took the time to explain how he made them.

These classic scenes looked so lush to me I had assumed they were oil paintings. But (if I remember correctly), he said that he painted these on a piece of metal. This metal sheet was then used to print the image onto the covers.

Sadly, Neil Adams passed away last month. He left behind an army of fans who loved the comics he wrote and drew. As I wasn't into superhero comics in High School, this was my introduction to this giant of the comics field. Perhaps it also introduced my friends who borrowed these novels to his work.

These Tarzan novels are readily available (for free) online. The pages of my copies are yellowed. The print is small and the lines are spaced close together. Yet I find it hard to give them away.

Farewell, Neil. Thanks for all the great art.

Dragon Dave

Remembering A Friend

 

Raol in my High School Freshman Yearbook

Recently, my long-time friend Raol Kloss passed away. Even though we drifted apart during the last decade, his loss hit me hard. So I took some time to look back at all we had shared, and remember all he meant to me.

 

 

 

 

We met during our first year of High School. 1979 was an exciting year for young science fiction fans. The new Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was airing on TV, the long awaited 'Star Trek The Motion Picture' would arrive in December, and the second Star Wars movie--'The Empire Strikes Back'—would be released before the end of our Freshman year. Raol and I always found plenty to discuss, as magazines like Starlog were growing popular, and our friends gathered us into their Dungeons & Dragons fold. 

 

 

 

 

Throughout our four years of High School, we shared all we learned about the Sci-Fi movies, TV shows, and comics we loved. We loaned each other books and audio cassettes-- such as the Star Wars radio show—saw movies, and attended science fiction conventions together. As he lived much closer to the campus than I did, we often ended up at his house after school, to chat, read, or listen to TV or movie soundtracks.

 

 

From my Freshman High School Yearbook

 

I remember once, during our Freshman year, glancing over at him when class ended. His thoughts seemed far away. "You okay?" I asked. 

 

His eyes slowly focused on me. "Just reliving 'Star Trek The Motion Picture'" he told me.

 

That was my friend Raol.

 

Dragon Dave