BOB LARKIN THE ILLUSTRATED MAN

BOB LARKIN THE ILLUSTRATED MAN
Mr. Larkin is an American Illustrating Legend
This is the ....
Bob Larkin Omigod Gallery

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Bob Larkin: Dark Advent (1988)





The cover’s kinda beaten up and the demon’s paper teeth could use a little reconstructive surgery, but there’s still no denying that if you want a cover painting of a demon with a girl in its mouth done right, the artist to go to is Bob Larkin!

And it’s not just a front cover painting! Open the book, and you’d find that the girl is actually part of an even larger painting—and that the demon’s mouth is really the opening of a cave. In publisher’s terminology, the second painting is known as a “stepback” cover, and used to be all the rage for mass-market horror and romance paperbacks. The front cover would act as a tease, with the stepback displaying whatever dramatic scene you thought would work best to draw the reader into buying the book.

The craziest part of this particular project? Apparently there are no demons or combustible cave children to be found anywhere in the novel!

Written by Brian Hodge, Dark Advent is a postapocalyptic tale in which most of humanity is wiped out by a virus. Survivors—both good and bad—band together, and then it’s a struggle to see who comes out on top. So, kinda like Stephen King’s The Stand, only without The Walking Dude causing all sorts of trouble and God’s pointy finger making an appearance.

Scans courtesy of Will Errickson, at the blog Too Much Horror Fiction: http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/


Steve Roman

1 comment:

Will Errickson said...

Glad to finally learn the artist's name! Thanks for posting.