Odds and Ends: October 2025

Do you know this meme?

Maybe you don't – it's not a hugely popular one.

But I've seen it for years, and only relatively recently learned what its origins were: Nora Reed on Bluesky asked about it, and they got a response from cartoonist Roger Langridge:

"I've found it - the shonky lettering identified it as a Charlton comic from the early 60s, and sure enough, it's from Space Adventures 59, November 1964. Art by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia."

Here's one of the cooler submissions I've ever gotten on my Tumblr.

Someone was pointed to me after they found, while cleaning out their deceased father's garage, what appears to be an original Peter Ellenshaw 60 x 28 inch illustration of the USS Cyngus spaceship, done as concept art for the 1979 Disney movie The Black Hole.

Here's what they said:

"found painting if my dad’s garage after he died. he has had it for 40yrs and from research i can find it in the black hole by disney. signed by peter ellenshaw in lower corner. not sure of importance or value but looks really cool. thought it was a poster but it actually has paint on it so looking for more information."

Here's what I said:

"Oh wow that’s a nice one! Yeah, looks like concept art for the film. See if you can get it appraised!

This Ellenshaw Black Hole art sold at auction for almost $4k, and this one sold for over $22k, so there’s good precident for that one being worth a good deal. You can sign up for a free account on HA.com to get access to the prices and see how much similar Ellenshaw pieces have sold for."

Someone in the comments added some interesting advice in their tags, which I've reformatted to be readable to someone who isn't on Tumblr:

"Oh wow, something I know a little bit about. If the mat on there has a yellowed bevel I would suggest removing it immediately. If you’re nervous about handling it then go to a local framer and see what they can do... avoid Michael’s framing though because they aren’t necessarily trained in how to handle art.

But a yellowed bevel is a sign of acidity in the mat, because back in the day most mats were not acid free and were made out of tree pulp. And that acidity can damage your artwork and stain it. Even if you just have the framers take it out of that frame and get it put in a nice acid free foamcore folder, it will be better than it having continued contact with an acidic mat. I cannot tell if the mat is acidic from the picture but most of the things I have encountered that were framed before 2000 have acidic mats.

Also also, if OP takes it apart and finds that it is stained, you can technically fix that with paper conservation but that is expensive."

The original poster hasn't gotten back to me. Hopefully they found it helpful!

I missed this great Johnny Bruck cover for Perry Rhodan #51 when I was putting together my medics and doctors roundup a while back.

I found this one on the r/CoolSciFiCovers subreddit, in a post that also includes the original art and some interior illustrations.

Also, I just stumbled on another great image I should have used, this uncredited (I'm guessing Dean Ellis) 1968 cover to The Immortals by James Gunn.

Here's an unsolved mystery someone asked me about on Tumblr a while ago:

Q: just found your blog after an hours long search to find the name of an artist and/or piece of art of which my dad used to own a print, my apologies if it's something you've already covered; the piece was an alien landscape with two retro astronauts on a plateau among a field of skulls, the piece was in black and white with little or no shading; there may have been a block monolith with a Moai style head atop it and a spade or heart on its chest? could have been another piece by the same artist

A: Wow, sounds cool but it doesn’t ring a bell. If the style looked similar to this 1968 magazine cover, than it might be on a 60s-era magazine like Worlds of If or Galaxy - they tended to do adventure covers that were kind of similar to that.

If anyone has any ideas what it might be, drop me a comment or email!

One of the more interesting posts I've seen recently on Tumblr is “Deina,” a 1973 illustration by Frank Frazetta for Dow Elements Magazine, vol. 1, no. 3.

I was already familar with the final piece here:

But the Transistoradio tumblr blog also posted the preliminary, which was new to me:

Plenty of people are arguing over which version they like better in the comments.

A 2018 Heritage Auctions listing has a little more information about the publication: "One of Frazetta's rarest published appearances graces this 1973 issue of Dow Elements – a magazine seldom seen by the general public, as it was distributed only to employees and clients of its company."

Speaking of Frazetta, I can't believe I forgot to include his incredibly metal 1964 cover art for Gardner F. Fox's Warrior of Llarn in my sci-fi steeds post!

Granted, that post was already very long, but this is genuinely among my favorite Frazettas of all time.

I originally tried to get it in my art collection, before I trimmed down my list after realizing how expensive Frazetta's stuff is to license. Only Syd Mead was pricier, if I recall correctly.

Some fun old box art here, posted on Bluesky by David Weiner of the "‪It Came From..." blog.

"I love how the Aurora Prehistoric Scenes models of my ‘70s childhood, with their epic box art, actively reinforced the idea that humans and dinosaurs battled & co-existed."

I think it's safe to say that Wayne Barlowe is the retro science fiction artist most active on LinkedIn today. Give him a follow!

Here's the latest artwork he's posted on the platform. "Something new from my upcoming book, The Wildlife of Hell," he says.

Music rec: I had never heard of the 2016 underwater video game ABZÛ before its very calming soundtrack was recommended to me. Now I might try to play it sometime. Also, the version of the soundtrack I'm linking includes a text-based commentary from the composer, which I've never seen before.

Next Time: Looking in Spaceship Windshields