Space travel ain’t what it used to be! Technology, design, and planetary knowledge have evolved since these beautiful Topps trading cards came out in 1958. But if you are like me and easily amused by vintage space art, these cards are worth checking out.
Below is a slideshow featuring a few dozen of my favorites. You can find a complete collection, including scans of the text on the back of the cards, at http://www1.coe.neu.edu/~dan/tsc/go.html
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Meteor Peril! Isn’t space travel exciting?! The only thing that could make it more fun is fried eggs.
An hour-long reading of fifty original poems selected from Anything Sounds Like a Symphony, Animal Inside You, and Never See the Night, along with two previously uncollected poems, all narrated by the author. This audiobook is now available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Ebook editions are available through Kindle and Smashwords and many other major ebook retailers. A paperback edition is available on Amazon so you can read along!
Holst originally composed The Planets for two pianos, except for Neptune, which was an organ solo. Peter Sykes’ nine-minute organ transcription of Neptune captures a depth of tonality and emotion that surely would have pleased the composer.
Much less mystery would surround this sculpture if anyone felt like working in its corporate office building this time of year. Google searches yielded nothing. Calling random offices at that location yielded nothing. Maybe in 2014 we can find out more about it.
If you want to take a crack at it, the address is 4450 N. 12th St. in Phoenix, AZ. And if you want to visit it in person, look how close the bus stop is!
We dig the concentric rings that seem like a nod to both atomic science and astronomy, and the way it makes the landscaping much more interesting. We built a little model of it in our 3-D software, and put it in the queue of subjects we’d like to draw or paint.
John Byrne’s establishing shot of the evil planet Apokalips may well be the high water mark for Legends. The series attempted to simplify and reintroduce some characters in the wake of DC’s continuity-destroying Crisis on Infinite Earths. Other than kick off what many fans remember as a cool run for the Suicide Squad, the series won’t be remembered for much. But, we will always remember this stunning planet, seething with electric and cosmic energy, bathed in a wash of interstellar light effects, its complex surface suggesting massive structure with tiny lines. From a student’s perspective, this panel abounds with art lessons. Welcome to the John Byrne Academy of Awesome!
Here’s the second Adam Strange story from his first appearance in Showcase #17 (1958, DC Comics.) That’s right: two complete stories in one little comic book. Didn’t anybody tell Gardner Fox about writing decompressed story arcs for the trades?
It’s not like you’re going to find this issue in the bargain bin, Martians. Even in so-called “Good” grade (which we all know means ‘good enough to house train your puppy’) it’s going to be a couple hundred bucks. Much more reasonable is the DC Comics Archive Edition Adam Strange hardcover from 2004. That’s more like $25, with white pages, and a better coloring job. If that doesn’t charge your Zeta Beam, we don’t know what will!