Bob Larkin: Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives (1989/2012)

Courtesy of Marvel Comics, a classic Bob Larkin Spidey cover is about to be introduced to a new generation of comic book readers!

Originally published in 1989, this graphic novel by Gerry Conway (most recently a writer on the various Law & Order TV shows) and artist Alex Saviuk tells the story of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson: how they met, how they fell in love, how they got married. And now, for whatever marketing reasons they may have, Marvel will re-release Parallel Lives this spring, for just $4.99—a price so low it sounds as though the volume’s being reprinted at comic book size. But hey, anything that helps spread the word about Bob’s spectacular work is always good!

Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives (the reprint) goes on sale in May 2012.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Paranoia: Crash Course Manual (1989)

One of Bob’s many clients was West End Games, producer of roleplaying games based on such licenses as Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and Indiana Jones. An original game series that they published was Paranoia, a humorous science fiction adventure set in a dystopian future (a genre that’s all the rage these days). The “Crash Course Manual” told the story behind civilization’s downfall.

How can you tell this manual was published in the 1980s? Why, just look at the big hair on the female lead! Apparently she got her styling tips from watching Peggy Bundy on long-lost reruns of Married… With Children. (Could’ve been worse—she might have tried copying Max Headroom’s hairstyle!)

The photo of the actual painting beside a copy of the book was found online, in the collection of Brett Easterbrook.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The Snail on the Slope (1989)

Well, this is a pretty self-explanatory cover painting: there’s a snail on a slope. Three, in fact! And a guy in a dress. Oh, wait, there’s a naked woman, too—now I KNOW it’s a Bob Larkin masterpiece! :D

This wraparound cover painting was done for the English translation of a Russian science fiction novel. It’s a little difficult to spot Bob’s signature on the back, given that the UPC box is sitting on top of it, but Bob confirmed it as one of his.

By the way, the part of the man in the minidress (or whatever it is) was played by renowned cover model Robert Larkin. Check out dem gams!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Doc Savage - The Flying Goblin

Here is Bob's second Doc Savage cover for #90 - The Flying Goblin in September 1977.

I always thought that Doc resembled Ronald Reagan here. The cover colors are great.

Courtney Rogers

Bob Larkin: The Fantastic Adventures of Robin Hood (1991)

That is one confused looking Prince of Thieves, right there. And who better to paint such an eye-catching blend of a fictional character in a real-world setting than Bob Larkin?

(In case you can’t tell, Robin is standing in front of the New York City waterfront. The World Trade Center towers are the tall buildings blocked by the author box.)

Compiled by the late anthology master, Martin Greenberg, the “Fantastic Adventures” was a collection of stories that took Robin “from Sherwood Forest to New Orleans to the outer reaches of space” (to quote the book’s back-cover copy).

That’s a lotta robbin’… er, stealing from the rich!

Steve Roman

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

Bob Larkin: Storm Poster (1986)

Ah, yes, 1980s X-Men comics… Remember that wacky decade, back when for some reason the weather-controlling mutant called Storm channeled her inner Grace Jones, slapped on some leather biker outfit, and tried to prove she could have crazier hair than Wolverine?

Good times, good times…

Not my favorite era by a long shot, but for this poster Bob certainly did a fantastic job of showing Storm’s Mohawk-wearing badass persona, balanced with a reminder of her earlier X-days as a storm goddess.

Wolverine still has the crazier hair, though.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The Bob Larkin Sketchbook

Hey Bob Larkin fans!

Don't forget to order the Bob Larkin sketchbook to support Bob and Starwarp Concepts (Steve Roman).

I received mine in the mail this week and would highly recommend it to all.