Judith Herzberg, “sentimental” / A 70’s teenagers bedroom / Ben Doller, “Radio, Radio” / Queen, “Radio Ga Ga” / Tom Clark, “Radio” / Ruslan Sabiroff, Radio / John Denver, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” / Judith Herzberg, “sentimental”
Different Worlds 16 (November, 1981). Tom Clark changing up the mood with some fantasy violence. Dark, gritty, this one echoes his cover back on issue 3. The action isn’t quite as dynamic as it appears at first glance, but I really love the palette, the dark tones and that very Frazetta sky. Dig that blue guy’s mask, too.
Different Worlds 19 (February, 1982). The first Call of Cthulhu cover. We’re gonna see a lot of these, indicating that maybe Cthulhu on the cover of a book makes it more likely to sell in a way similar to a dragon. This is also the first issue with a lighter weight cover and glossy interior pages — before this, they really felt the same as a stapled Chaosium sourcebook. ¶ The cover art is by Roland Brown. I am a sucker for just about any early Call of Cthulhu art. It’s often a marriage of weirdness and crudeness that I think works very well. This one seems crude at first glance, but I think it is actually very effectively impressionistic. Brown has very good control of light and the body language and the detailing of the couple is really fantastic. The tentacle monster is similarly well-rendered. This one gets better the longer you look at it!