Ray Guns
Science fiction magazine covers of the '30s-'50s loved thinly-reskinned adventure tropes. Skeletons on deserted islands became skeletons on deserted planets; Wild animal attacks became alien monster attacks. The violence inherent to the genre meant that pistols and rifles were naturally the next in line for a revamp.
H. R. Van Dongen’s November 1952 cover to Science Fiction Adventures is from the era when the line between adventure and sci-fi pulp hadn't even been firmly drawn.
I'm including it because it's particularly visually interesting, too: It pulls off the rare "ray gun reflection."
Jack Guaghan has a classic 1960s ray gun scene on his 1966 cover to John W. Campbell's The Planeteers, where I assume those astronauts are shaking down that poor alien for its wallet.
Frank Kelly Freas had one of the longest careers of his generation as an in-demand science fiction artist – from around 1950 into the '90s – so he's done plenty of old-school ray guns.
Here's a great example, featuring what looks like an anachronistic Josh Brolin, for the September 1969 cover to Analog.
By the '70s and '80s, ray guns were already a throwback to figures like Flash Gorden and Marvin the Martian. But that didn't mean they went away.
Ray guns might function as a way to underline the "science fiction" element of an anthology series. Here's The 1973 Annual World’s Best SF, with cover art by William S. Shields.
Keith Parkinson’s 1994 cover to Harry Harrison’s anthology Galactic Dreams is a funny example.
They would also turn up on covers that mashed up fantasy with science fiction – likely because ray guns were such an established sci-fi concept that they were an easy way to encompass the entire genre.
Jennell Jaquays' September 1980 cover for The Space Gamer included a ray gun, dragon, and a viking helmet all in the same scene.
This 1982 James Talbot illustration pairs ray guns and little green men with a damsel straight off a romance novel cover. (Check out this old post for more info on the context behind this one)
Vincent Di Fate gives an angel a ray gun in this 1980 illustration.
However, the most common examples of ray guns on '70s and '80s covers were simply within the same pulpy adventure context that they were always best suited for – just reinterpreted with more detail and higher verisimilitude.
Check out this sick 1978 Fred Gambino cover.
Or Paul E. Stinson's 1982 art for the Marauder video game.
Paul Alexander has a particularly complex example for his 1978 cover to Jean Mark Gawron's Algorithm.
George Barr's 1972 cover to The Day Star, by Mark S. Geston, includes plenty of ghoulish alien monsters (a natural trope to pair with the ray gun needed to blast them away).
Tais Teng has a cool ray gun on his 1979 cover Onderneming Pegasus, by K. H. Scheer.
I love the purple and green atmosphere on Van Vindt's cover to this title for German language Gemini Science Fiction series.
Blair Wilkins has a great understated ray gun, along with some mysterious floating land-mine-style drones.
Philippe Caza's art always oozes style, and this 1973 piece is no exception.
Granted, not every '70s ray gun was a huge leap forward in design from past decades – this arresting Gray Morrow illustration for a 1974 Perry Rhodan novel would have fit right in with '50s pulp.
This stunning Davis Meltzer illustration combines a classic old-school ray gun with a composition that highlights the creepy skull-like inner workings of an android.
The artist included his last name along the side of the gun, and to be fair, "Meltzer" does sound like a ray gun brand.
One trend I spotted: The ray gun with a cord or tube connecting it to a power source ported around on the user's back. Here are some examples from Peter Andrew Jones, Fred Gambino, and Tais Teng.
Ray guns are another one of those topics that I could keep posting illustrations on for far longer than these posts ever go, so I'll cut it short. Maybe I'll do a follow-up covering space rifles.
For now, we'll wrap up with a few of the wierder ray gun illustrations I've stumbled upon.
It's a ray with a ray gun! Richard Hescox's 1992 cover for Alien Blues, by Lynn S. Hightower.
Here's a Wojciech Siudmak illustration, from relatively early in his career, for a French translation of Isaac Asimov's The Stars, Like Dust. I don't associate Siudmak's surrealist work with classic sci-fi tropes like a ray gun, but it's definitely cool.
Finally, here's Bob Fowke's impressive 1978 cover to The Zap Gun, by Philip K. Dick – to my knowledge, the only cover artist in history to depict someone scratching their nose with their ray gun.
Cool Links
I saw this 2-minute animated short when it first came out four years ago, and every time I have remembered it since then, I need to drop everything and watch it again. The creator also has a bunch of other good stuff, but nothing super similar to this one. Check this link out! You won't regret it.
SWORD & SORCERY IS BACK?! - Sarah Zedig
I don't typically link to Letterboxd lists, but this one comes complete with a fascinating mini-essay about the unheralded reimergence of violent barbarian fantasy films in today's pop culture.
Music rec: Okay, I know Christmas is over, but this one's more "Winter" themed anyway: It's a big Vaporwave mixtape collab with no AI.
Next Time: Beams From Flying Saucers