Looking Out of Spaceships
Shusei Nagaoka's cover for the 1978 Deep Purple rock album When We Rock, We Rock And When We Roll, We Roll is a great way to exemplify the microgenre of retro science fiction art I'm taking a look at today.
We're looking at views that originate within cockpits, and are looking out into space or alien landscapes.
Examples might be educational, like this Fred Freeman illustration – done in 1958 for This Week Magazine's serialization of Wernher von Braun's First Men to the Moon! title.
Gary Meyer has a sober example for the 1965 cover to Space Horizons #1, too.
However, I'm expecting a lot of video game art – illustrating a ship from the perspective of the viewer puts them in the shoes of the protagonist, a concept that gaming is built around much more than most other mediums. Terry Hoff's 1982 Atari 2600 box art for Star Raiders certainly delivers.
So does Lee Gibbons' 1987 art for Starfox, aka The Rubicon Alliance, which even includes the pilot's eyes staring back eerily at the viewer from the rearview mirror.
This ad uses the 1988 box art for the Commodore64 game Ring Wars, although the artist isn't credited on Mobygames.
I haven't been able to find a date or publication for this beautiful Fred Gambino illustration.
I posted that Gambino on social media last year, when I was doing a new illustration of a sci-fi control panel every Saturday. (They're all tagged on Tumblr over here, if you're interested) Control panels and cockpits overlap pretty frequently – here's another example, Peter Gudynas' 1981 cover to Harry Harrison's Wheelworld.
This 1975 cover by Johnny Bruck for Perry Rhoden #742 probably isn't the only example of this trope popping up in the incredibly long novella series.
Mike Hinge has a colorful example on this page from a comics story he contributed to a 1979 issue of Heavy Metal.
Tim White's 1977 cover to The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein, really packs in an absurd amount of control panel buttons.
Giuseppe Festino has a similarly reclined astronaut on his 1977 cover art for the Italian SF magazine Robot #21.
I love Michael Whelan's tilted cockpit for this 1979 cover to H. Beam Piper's Four Day Planet. I'm actually hoping to get this one in my 2027 art collection.
This space exploration concept art is by Robert Watts for Teledyne Ryan in late ‘60s/early '70s, according to the Humanoid History blog.
This December 1983 cover to Micro Mundo magazine credits "Walter and Jacques" as the artists. Via Lookcaitlin.
John Mostacci's 1986 back cover to The Transactor Magazine, Volume 6 Issue 05, includes old copies of the same magazine lined up on the dashboard.
Ralph McQuarrie has a few on-theme Star Wars concepts.
I'm proud to debut what may be the worst-ever image quality seen on this blog – Frank Morris cover art for a vinyl record of Judith Merril reading her story “Survival Ship.”
Too many of these pilots are humans! Let's switch over to the aliens. This Keith Page illustration shows how cool an alien spaceship interior can be.
I love this one from Max Bertolini.
Joe Petagno has an alien in this art from Steven Eisler's Space Wars Worlds & Weapons, 1979.
HR Giger's Alien concepts aren't exactly looking out of the cockpit, but they're worth including – here's “Pilot in Cockpit,” followed by “Alien Derelict Cockpit,” both from 1978.
Finally, here are two more examples that I couldn't find any information on with a quick search through my usual sites – Tineye, Yandex, and Google Images. Anyone recognize them?
I'll probably return to spaceship interiors in the future... they make for a rich vein of illustration. For now, if you want further reading and a whole lot more Tim White, check out my companion post: Looking Into Spaceship Windshields.
Cool Links
Here's a link to play the entire 2003 game in your browser.
Other than that, I haven't really been reading enough articles to share anything cool here. So, here's a list of movie/show recommendations instead.
For recent TV, I've been watching: Furious, Lanterns, Adults, Ludwig, The Ghost in the Shell, Slow Horses. For older TV, I've been watching The Americans for the first time (turns out it's good!) after liking the main actor in Widow's Bay. I'm also rewatching Veronica Mars – some weird politics in it, but still a great example of the "20+ eps a season" era of TV.
For movies: I Am Frankelda, Coyote vs. Acme, Cache, What Keeps You Alive, Angel Heart, the 1933 King Kong, The Furious, I Love Boosters.
Music Rec: I really enjoyed this mix from DJ Anton Beznosuk. It blends "Japanese city pop, indie electronic and hip-hop classics, Malian afro-groove, rare Soviet funk artifacts, and even music from the Hayao Miyazaki universe."
Next Time: Paying readers get a look at the impressively varied career of David B Mattingly.