Ray Bradbury’s passing was a loss for everyone who enjoys storytelling in all of its forms. Not the least of which are artists and illustrators. Bradbury’s tone, the poetry and atmosphere of his worlds, have inspired artists for decades. Looking at his book covers, extending back over many printings, you see generations of artists reinterpreting the same works for their own era.
Below is just a small collection of Bradbury’s worlds.
Kelly Freas’ Lorelei of the Red Mist. (Correction at comment 35)
Joseph Mugnaini’s iconic Fahrenheit 451.
Bob Pepper’s psychedelic version Fahrenheit 451.
Joseph Mugnaini and The Martian Chronicles. Arguabley, no other artist has drawn from Ray Bradbury as much as Mugnaini. You could spend a very enjoyable day looking up his work.
More recently, Sam Weber did a number of Fahrenheit 451 paintings for the Folio Society.
Switch on the Night, a picture book collaboration with Leo and Diane Dillon.
David Grove’s movie poster for Something Wicked this Way Comes.
Dean Ellis, one of many great paintings for The Illustrated Man.
Ian Miller, R is For Rocket.
Joseph Mugnaini, The Halloween Tree.
James Bingham
A Sound of Thunder by Franz Altschuler.
Al Parker’s the The Veldt. The first time I saw this was in Vincent di Fate’s science fiction illustration class, it has stayed with me since.
The great Leo and Diane Dillon and The Halloween Tree.
Tim O’Brien’s The Martian Chronicles.
Dean Ellis’ The Martian Chronicles.
Jim Burns and The Illustrated Man.
Highrises: Cities on the Moon by Donato Giancola.
Mars is Heaven by Lew Keller.
Mars is Heaven by Doug Wildey.
The Gift by Ren Wicks.
A U.K. edition of The Martian Chronicles.
Michael Whelan’s The Martian Chronicles.
There are many portraits of Ray Bradbury. I thought I’d leave you with this delightful one by Pixar artist Lou Romano.
Thanks, Ray! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s artists come up with.
Irene Gallo is the art director for Tor Books and Tor.com.
Thanks Irene. Between an NPR radio article this morning and your post I’ve got a big desire to run out and pick up some Ray Bradbury stories I haven’t read yet, and reread ones I read years ago.
Cheers,
~Mike
I have a copy of The Illustrated Man with the Ellis cover.
I’ve always loved the Tom Canty cover for Dandelion Wine.
These were great and showed many I’d never seen before (ex. Lou Romano!) What’s missing were the fantastic illustrations from “Dinosaur Tales” with b/w illos by Moebius, Steranko, Bill Stout and more. Thanks for posting!
Hi Ajmitchell,
I know I’m missing tons — due to ignorance, lack of access, and time — that I wish I could include.
I was trying to stay pretty pure to the art-as-art and not show covers with type. That ruled out a lot a great stuff. A post of cover designs would be great to see also.
Martian Chonicles trivia: from 1951 to 1977 the UK edition was titled The Silver Locusts. The UK edition added The Fire Balloons and deleted Usher II.
The first Bradbury book I ever read was The Martian Chronicles with that dazzingly clean and hypnotic Michael Whelon cover. And so started my love affair with Ray Bradbury’s work…
Thanks, Ms. Gallo, for helping me remember one of the greats!
Thanks Irene. I’ve always wanted to do something Bradbury. This is a great inspiration and reminder.
A very nice selection. The first Bradbury story I read was “A Sound of Thunder”, when I was 9, in large part because of the Mugnaini illustration. To me the two of them will always go together.
To see more great cover art check out “Bradbury: An Illustrated Life” by Jerry Weist. An excellent collection and biography.
James,
Jeeze, thanks for reminding me. I meant to mention Jerry’s book. It helped me a lot with this.
These are fantastic!
WOW!!
Some gorgeous art you have collected for us. Some of these were familar to me but many were new. Thank you.
Irene, Glad to be a help.
I’ve always wondered who did that cover for “The Illustrated Man” Weist’s book doesn’t says Artist Unknown. It’s a classic.
Oh, yeah,
I’d forgotten the Dillons had done illustrations for Bradbury books.
Another that will be missed.
A lot of great comic artists did adaptations of Bradbury–Al Williamson and Rich Corben on “A Sound of Thunder,” Wally Wood on “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Jack Davis on “The Black Ferris,” Bernie Krigstein on “The Flying Machine,” John Severin and Will Elder on “The Million Year Picnic,” and others I’m sure I’m forgetting. [And thanks to the great Al Feldstein for scripting most of those adaptations I’ve just cited].
The Whelon Martian Chronicles cover is always the image in my head when somebody says ‘Bradbury’. I fell in love with him through that book, and I love that cover. It’s so beautiful and otherworldly and lyrical, like his work :)
I was sad to hear of his passing. Thank you for posting!
For a more obscure and out of the way stories of his check out “Laurel and Hardy Love affair” in his collection of shorts in the Toynbee Convector” book….a very good romantic little story…your can also find it on a WordPress link here in a full form blog post:
http://hillums.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/the-laurel-and-hardy-love-affair-by-ray-bradbury/?like=1&_wpnonce=9db8f07983
Greg Bear did a some nice paintings as tribute to Bradbury.
http://www.gregbear.com/biography.cfm
I love these digital art shows! And it is a wonderful tribute to a brilliant author. So great to see the artistic visions his prose inspired.
Thanks!
I have the paperback Fahrenheit 451 with the Pepper cover, and many of the others are very recognizable. Some great fantasy art here honoring a great author. Thank you, Irene. Not surprisingly, Whelan’s piece is the most eye-catching.
Dave McKean did an illustrated version of The Homecoming. I think his style suits the story very well. That set of stories has always been among of my favorites of Bradbury’s.
Bavo, Irene. Thanks so much for creating this great collection of artwork Some of it brought back some memories of that first adventure in reading one or another of Bradbury’s stories.
Martian Chronicles: http://tinyurl.com/c3g2kg9
It was very exciting to see Lou Romano’s portrait included in your piece. It was commissioned by the Writers Guild of America’s WRITTEN BY magazine as part of Ray Bradbury week in Los Angeles, which I created and organized in 2010 in honor of Ray’s 90th birthday. The four events Ray attended during the week were, sadly, his last public appearances. The original of the portrait was given to Ray as a birthday gift from Lou at our Fahrenheit 451 event. That event, the Los Angeles City Council tribute to Ray, and clips from a staged reading of Ray’s one-act play, The Better Part of Wisdom starring Oscar nominee James Cromwell can all be seen on the RAY BRADBURY WEEK Facebook page, which is the official historical record of that week. You will also find photos from that week and RAY BRADBURY – ILLUSTRATED MAN, a virtual art show of original works by members of the film animation community in tribute to Ray, a creative inspiration to many animators. http://www.facebook.com/raybradburyweek.
What is your source for crediting the cover art of “The Illustrated Man” to Dean Ellis? I’ve been looking for this artist’s credit for years and have been unable to find it. Both the Doubleday hardcover and the Bantam paperbacks that use this art have never explicitly credited the artist? I’d appreciate anyone who can give me a reliable source.
What a wonderful post. Congratulations.
I’ll answer Michael Hutchins’ question. Yes, you’re right, there has never been a formal credit given to Dean Ellis for his stunning Illustrated Man cover. Bantam books never gave cover artists credit back in the day, which is a pity, because so many great covers adorned this company’s books. Some can be identified, many can’t. Dean Ellis didn’t always sign his illustration art, so in this case, the Illustrated Man can’t be easily identified the way you would a James Bama or Jim Avati. But, what evidence do we have? Well, two things make it rather obvious. Ellis did the other Bantam Bradbury books in that series and the Illustrated Man artwork is completely consistant with his style. In fact, it would be kind of bizarre if it wasn’t his. I could never understand how Jerry Weist missed such an easy one as this. Well, nobody is perfect. In any case, the late Dean Ellis’ Illustrated Man was and is an iconic piece of art.
Guys, it’s Michael Whelan, with an a.
And he’s done loads of great book covers.
My favorite is his Snow Queen/ Summer Queen.
There is some realy great artwork here.
Irene,
As always, thanks for these wonderfully curated little e-collections.
I had seen that Ren Wicks piece before, but never knew the artist’s name. I just plugged that name into Google Images, and realized I have seen a lot of his work over the years (some of it on pinup calendars when I was young), just never knew who the artist was.
I just love the expression of wonder on that little boy’s face.
Isn’t Lorelai of the Red Mist the cover for a collection of stories by Leigh Brackett? Ray Bradbury does the introduction for the collection.
At any rate, great examples of SF art by some of the best. Always a pleasure to see these art posts.
@35: Indeed it is. Wasn’t that the story where Brackett wrote the first half and Bradbury the second? It first appeared in the Summer 1946 Planet Stories, alongside “The Million Year Picnic”.
@35 and 36:
Ack! Thanks. I put a note up top.
I’m going take my inspirations here and make a tribute design for Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Hopefully, some time in the near future, it will become a t-shirt offered at Threadless. Until then, admiration and determination!
Does anyone have an image of the cover of the 1st edition(1955)of ‘October Country. I’ld so love to see it again.
@39: Would that be the Ballantine hardcover, art by Joe Mugnaini? If so, see: http://tinyurl.com/kohwtko