Bob Larkin: Mighty Marvel Team-Up Thrillers (1983)

It’s a Marvel Superhero Fightapalooza—Bob Larkin style!

This trade paperback (only $5.95?! Man, I miss those days) was part of the “Marvel Origins” series—Origin of Marvel Comics, Son of Origin of Marvel Comics, Bring on the Bad Guys, The Superhero Women—and collected Amazing Spider-Man #16, Marvel Feature #11, Marvel Team-Up #79, Silver Surfer #4 (original series), Tales of Suspense #58, and X-Men #9 (original series).

That’s a lotta punches!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin : Conan the Liberator - 1978

Conan is King in this painting by Bob from 1978. Got to love the Bevy of Babes. It's good to be Conan .....sometimes.

Bob Larkin - The Magic Island - Doc Savage

Here is the 1st official Doc Savage cover done by Bob Larkin. This August 1937 pulp story was originally titled "Ost". The Bantam book was published in July 1977.

This is a very striking cover, although Doc is presented as being older. Bob would continue to do the most Doc Savage paperback covers of any artist.

As Bob was a big Doc Savage fan growing up, he was very ecstatic when Len Leone, the Bantam Art Director, gave him the assignment.

Courtney Rogers

Bob Larkin: Kolchak: The Night Stalker: A Black & Evil Truth (2007)

Next to “The X-Files,” one of Bob’s favorite TV shows was “Kolchak: The Night Stalker.” Spun off from two 1970s made-for-TV movies (“The Night Stalker” and “The Night Strangler”), the one-season horror series starred Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a down-on-his-luck reporter who fought the monsters haunting Chicago. (You younger Larkin fans may recognize McGavin as The Old Man, patriarch of the Parker family in the movie “A Christmas Story.”)

Bob finally got a chance to paint Kolchak, for this C. J. Henderson novel published by Moonstone Books, and Carl never looked better!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Praise for the Master Artist

And deservedly so. All found in my Internet travels. Nice to see that Bob’s work is still appreciated.


“Larkin’s importance in his field can be judged by the fact that Joe Jusko is providing the introduction to [The Savage Art of Bob Larkin] and Alex Ross is writing the afterword. His paintings were very influential on the current generation of cover artists.”—ICV2


“Throughout the’ 70s and ’80s, if you saw Bob Larkin’s name on the cover to a magazine or comic, you simply had to have it. This is a guy that’s never truly received the credit for being one of the best all-time cover artists.”—Shotgun Reviews


“With Larkin’s vibrant movie-poster style, ferocious barbarians, sci-fi and fantasy icons, classic monsters and buxom beauties burst from the page, caught in breathtaking action.”—Bookspan


“One of the great icons of painted comic artwork.”—Bud’s Art Books


“Long before Alex Ross, Bob Larkin became a celebrated figure for his work in science fiction, fantasy and comic books.”—Comic Mix


“With his vibrant, movie-poster style, Larkin was one of the most sought-after artists of his time.”—Science Fiction Book Club


“A prolific and accomplished painter, Bob Larkin ‘owned’ the Marvel magazine format. If you've ever seen a circa Bronze/Modern large-sized Marvel painted cover that just took your breath away, you were probably admiring the work of Bob Larkin.”—Gotham City Art

“Bob Larkin is one of the fine cover artists of our generation. He's done countless memorable covers for Marvel, Warren, and others. His run of Doc Savage covers alone shows his great skills.”—Rip Jagger’s Dojo

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Pizzazz #5 (1978)

Doctor Strange and Captain America on guitar, and C-3PO on drums?!

That’s one hell of a backup band that 1970s singing sensation Linda Ronstadt has on this Larkin cover, painted for the short-lived Marvel Comics children’s magazine (it lasted only thirteen issues).

It’s so easy to fall in love—with great art!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Electric Company Magazine #59 (1979)

He’s gonna turn it on
He’s gonna bring you the power…

A lifelong fan of classic horror movies, here Bob got to introduce fans of the PBS children’s show to the wonder of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Does this mean that Easy Reader, actor Morgan Freeman’s character on the show, would be the stand-in for Blade, the Vampire Hunter?

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Doc Savage vs. The Shadow (2011)

“So, Bob, what do you think about a drawing of Doc Savage and The Shadow in a Mexican standoff?” I asked as I made plans for assembling the contents of The Bob Larkin Sketchbook.

Published in 2011 by my company, StarWarp Concepts, it’s his first-ever collection of pencil art from various projects—some of which you’ve seen in their final painted forms right here at this blog. But when I looked over the material Bob had provided, I thought it important to have some brand-new art included, particularly of the character he’s most known for: Doc Savage. And pitting Doc against his Conde Nast pulp brother, The Shadow, seemed like a natural fit.

Except for one thing…

“What’s a Mexican standoff?” Bob asked.

Oh.

“Okay. You ever see a John Woo movie, like Face/Off or Broken Arrow,” I asked, “where two guys are standing at arm’s length, with guns pointed in each other’s faces? That’s a Mexican standoff! How about Doc and The Shadow doing one of those? It’d make a helluva center spread for the book.”

Bob thought about it for a second. “Yeah. Okay.”

He’s so easy to work with.

The result is the piece you see here. Of course, to properly see it in all its penciled, two-page glory, you’d have to order a copy of The Bob Larkin Sketchbook, available now from StarWarp Concepts. Like, right now.

I am nothing if not subtle. ;-)

There’s a link over here in the left-hand sidebar. Go ahead and click it. You know you want to buy it…

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: “Diane…”: The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper (1990)

A direct tie-in to the cult classic TV series Twin Peaks, this audiotape collection of FBI agent Dale Cooper’s recordings to his secretary as he investigated the Laura Palmer murder was actually performed by Special Agent Cooper himself, actor Kyle MacLachlan. And Bob’s art for both Cooper and the Washington state setting is so accurate you can almost smell the damn fine cup of coffee Dale was just drinking.

Eerily enough, (SPOILER!) Laura’s killer was ultimately revealed to be a malevolent spirit named… Bob. Who in the final episode of the series possessed Special Agent Cooper.

Hey, you don’t think…?

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Conan- The Sword of Skelos

This May 1979 Bantam book features a fold up cover by Bob.

Raquel Welch and Bob Larkin?

Once you stop focussing on the awesomeness that is Raquel Welch, you might notice cave man Bob in the back ground.

Too funny!

Bob Larkin: Batman Forever and Batman & Robin Movie Toy Art (1995, 1997)

Here are several pieces of art that Bob did for the Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997) movie tie-in toys. Really cool!

Bob Larkin: Spider-Man Team-Up #6 (1997)

The comic book cover that alerted me to the fact that Bob Larkin was still out there, working his painterly magic.

At the time, I was an editor at Byron Preiss Multimedia, a book-publishing company that had licensed the rights from Marvel Comics to create original novels and anthologies based on their characters. (I ultimately got to write three X-Men novels under that license.) After coming across this issue at the local comics shop, I called my contact at Marvel Licensing.

“Hey, Mike, I just picked up Spider-Man Team-Up six. Was that cover done by Bob Larkin? There’s no signature, but that Dracula face looks like the one on his old Tomb of Dracula magazine covers.”

“It sure was.”

“Holy crap, you mean he’s still painting?” (See, since I used to come across his work all the time on 1970s comics and magazines, I figured Bob must be older than Methuselah—turned out he’s only a little more than a decade older than me. Wait—does that make ME Methuselah?) “Any chance I can get him for one of our book covers?”

“Well, here’s his number. Go ahead and ask him—and he’s approved, by the way, if you do get him.”

So, that’s how this fanboy got to meet —and hire—Bob Larkin, one of his all-time favorite cover artists. And it’s all been downhill from there… :D

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The Alphabet of Manliness (2006) and The Alphabet of Manliness 2010 Calendar

Man versus monkey, in all their testosterone-fueled glory—as only Bob Larkin could depict it!

According to the Web site run by Maddox, the book’s author, the Alphabet is “written like a reference book, read like a Bible.” A manly book for manly men, published by Citadel Press and still in print; in fact, it was re-released in October 2011 with TWO paperback editions—both still using Bob’s art. And before that there was the Extended Edition in 2009 (the blue cover), and the 2010 calendar. That’s a lot of mileage from one cover painting!

As manly as he might be, though, Maddox loses points for listing on his Web site every artist involved in the book—except Bob.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The Alphabet of Manliness (2006)

Bob’s pencils and final painting for the cover of manly author Maddox’s guide to drop-kicking people in the face, and other rules of etiquette.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The Savage Art of Bob Larkin (2009)

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Bob Larkin: The Visitor (1979)

The Spanish edition of Bob’s poster for a movie about a telekinetic eight-year-old girl whose powers are derived from her space-alien heritage.

For a film that stars acting legends like Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen, John Huston, Sam Peckinpah, Shelley Winters, and Franco Nero (as Jesus Christ!), you wouldn’t expect it to be so lame…or would you? Good thing Bob was around to make it at least look interesting!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Tron: Assault on MCP (1982)

A board game…based on a movie about video games?! Believe it or not!

Produced by Ideal to coincide with the release of Disney’s original Tron film, it’s pretty clear that Bob wasn’t allowed to use the likenesses of stars Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, or Barnard Hughes, yet he still manages to reproduce the world of Master Control in this box art.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Terror Train (1980)

The German edition of Bob’s poster for this Jamie Lee Curtis slasher flick. I’m not sure why producers had Bob paint starlet Carol Lynley of the original Poseidon Adventure (or her look-alike) when she’s not even in the movie, but those costumes sure are creepy!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Shock Waves (1977)

Nazi zombies are on the loose, and Hammer Studios legend Peter Cushing is the evil creep responsible for the hideous creatures—in this movie he’s been building an army of them on a remote island! Only boat captain John Carradine and party girl Brooke Adams can prevent the rise of a new, zombified reich…or can they?

In this poster art, Bob shows just how wrinkly dead guys can become, especially if they’ve been lurking underwater for long periods—it’s like the worst case of dishpan hands, only all over!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)

Foreign editions of Bob’s movie poster art, celebrating(?) the sequel to the 1978 cult classic produced by Roger Corman. Fun movie fact: this was James (Avatar, Titanic) Cameron’s directorial debut! He’s sure come a long way from flying piranhas, hasn’t he?

Bikini-clad beauties in peril from hideous monsters were a staple of 1970s and ’80s poster art, and Bob does a fantastic job of making the women here look as though they’re actually scared of winged rubber fish attached to poles. (What? That’s how the special effects techs did it for the actual film.)

Oh, and that guy waaay in the back, running for his life? That’s Bob!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: New Year's Greetings 2012

Before we get too deep into 2012, here is the New Year's greeting done by Bob.

At least we got the Bob blog going before the world implodes this year! (well, according to the Mayans)

Bob Larkin: Dazzler #1 (1979) and Essential Dazzler, Vol. 1 (2007)

Next to his iconic painting of the Incredible Hulk angrily holding up a fist, this is probably the comic book cover painting that Bob is most known for: the arrival of mutant superheroine Alison Blaire—the disco-inspired Dazzler!

Unfortunately, due to the paper stock used for Marvel’s comic book covers in the 1970s and ’80s, the reproduction of the original painting fell far short of the mark, turning vibrant colors into dull tones. Thankfully, someone in Marvel’s production department saw fit to restore the art for its reproduction on the cover of Essential Dazzler, Vol. 1.

Steve Roman

Why a Bob Larkin Blog?

....you may ask. Why, indeed?

There are many reason why we needed this blog.

First, Bob Larkin's prodigious amount of artistic output deserves to be collected all in one place. This will enable fans and art lovers to go to one source and see an amazing amount of varied material. The internet will be able to pinpoint this singular spot with easy searches.

Second, Bob's talent is simply amazing. His work is deserving of being shared and marvelled at.

Third, Bob Larkin is alive and well and still plying his artistic trade. His output has slowed in recent years as he has stepped back to handle the health of his family. As he has stepped out of the limelight, various people like Terry Allen (Fantom Press) and Steve Roman (Star Warp Concepts) are working with Bob to promote him back and offer current outstanding artwork to everyone.

Fourth, and probably most important, Bob is just the greatest person around and he deserves the attention and accolades.

Now there are other reasons for this blog, like it has been too much fun so far! And the fact that Bob will be able to sign on and make comments and contributions himself. And this blog will point to other areas where Bob Larkin stuff can be purchased that will help to support him and his family. And so on.

Since 2007, I have been doing research on a relatively unknown artist named Fred Pfeiffer. I have been working diligently on searching for paperback covers done by this fine artist and have tried to find out more about his like (and death) in order to not have him become "forgotten". In 2010, my pal Scotty Phillips came up with a brilliant plan to create a blog on Fred Pfeiffer, called cleverly "The Pfeiffer Pfiles", that would enable us to showcase him and the artwork I had painstakingly compiled to an unsuspecting public.

This blog had worked so wonderfully, that I asked Scotty if he would create one in like manner to showcase Bob Larkin. As you can see, Scotty did another fantastic job.

So please, enjoy this blog site, the Bob Larkin Omigod Gallery (or b.l.o.g.) and feel free to make comments and email us. And please feel free to access the sites of Terry Allen (http://www.fantompress.net/) and Steve Roman (http://www.starwarpconcepts.com/) and purchase some of those Bob Larkin incredible items.

Thanks for joining us!

Courtney Rogers
Glendale, AZ

Bob Larkin: Unlicensed Art Uses

I guess it happens to just about every artist: discovering that someone has appropriated his or her art, without permission, for whatever means. Sometimes it’s done to rip off the artist (who’s gonna know, right?); most of the time, however, it’s done as a sort of tribute, such as a blogger wanting to showcase a particular piece of art that they enjoy. And Bob is no exception, as these three examples show.

“The Retrospace Horror Movie Mix” reproduces Bob’s cover art for Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula #3 magazine (1980), and appears at the Web site Retrospace, which explores 1960s and ‘70s pop culture. The art is used for the “cover” of a free, downloadable “mix tape” of Halloween music—in this case, selections from horror movie soundtracks. (Actually, it’s a good collection.)
You can find it here.

http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/2011/10/retrospace-mix-tape-15-horror-movies.html

“I’m the Wolfman” is another Retrospace free music download, this time reproducing Bob’s cover art for Marvel’s Haunt of Horror #1 magazine (1974) as a faux paper sleeve for the 45rpm single by the group Round Robin. (FYI: The models who posed for this painting are Bob—as the Wolfman—and his wife, Fran.)
You can find it (with other “45s”) here.



http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/2011/10/vinyl-dynamite-33-ghoulish-grooves.html



As the site’s owner, Gilligan, states in Retrospace’s disclaimer, he means no disrespect to the artists whose work he reproduces, and makes no claim to ownership—he does this purely for entertainment purposes.

Unfortunately, there are others who aren’t quite so respectful…

What you see here is an unlicensed Doc Savage action figure that’s shown up at conventions and in online stores, selling for between eighty and one hundred dollars per figure. It illegally uses one of Bob’s paintings as the packaging art—which means he’s never seen a dime from this theft.

What’s always amazing is how, in an age when just about everything winds up on the Internet, someone could steal from an artist and not expect photos of their actions to be posted somewhere. Sheer brazenness—or utter stupidity? You make the call!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Piranha (1978)

The Japanese version of Bob’s poster for Roger Corman’s answer to Jaws. See the previous entries on Piranha and Rue Morgue Magazine #103 to see other uses of this dramatic piece of art.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Troma’s WAR (1988)

The citizens of Tromaville rise up against an army of terrorists. The art for this DVD packaging is reproduced from Bob’s original poster art, and shows just how hellish war can be!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

Before he and his hairpiece blew up Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II, William Shatner suffered the worst case of arachnophobia, ever! Shatner doesn’t appear in this movie poster that Bob painted—but you can still feel his presence in it, can’t you?

What this poster does show, though, is Bob’s love for one of the greatest monster-spider movies ever made: 1955’s Tarantula—only without an appearance by Leo G. Carroll, of course.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Monster, a.k.a. Humanoids From the Deep (1980)

A Roger Corman classic—at least that’s what it now says on the DVD packaging! Underwater mutants want to mate with our women, and only Doug McClure (star of At the Earth’s Core and The Land That Time Forgot) can stop these ugly beasts from spawning hideous offspring.

In this poster art done for the foreign market, Bob shows that, all things considered, the Creature From the Black Lagoon wasn’t such a bad-looking guy, after all…

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)

Troma Entertainment was one of Bob’s movie studio clients, and considering the low-budget look of their films, it’s amazing what Bob did to transform a character who suffered from poorly executed makeup effects into a hero worthy of Frank Frazetta. For a putty-faced mutant in a tutu, the Toxic Avenger can certainly strike a dramatic pose!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

In 1985, ABC-TV was the first network to broadcast the second Star Trek movie. At the time, Bob was providing TV Guide with halftone advertising illustrations (back when the magazine had black-and-white pages), and in this two-page spread, he really had a chance to shine. Ricardo Montalban never looked tougher, Leonard Nimoy never more contemplative—and William Shatner’s toupee never more lifelike!

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: The First Doc Savage Painting

I remember seeing this green Doc Savage painting somewhere on the internet. I was thinking it was a newer Doc painting that was destined for the Doc doubles but never made it because of the switch to omnibuses, like the All-White Elf and The Running Skeletons. Imagine my surprise when Bob said that was his “try-out” painting for Bantam Art Direction Len Leone in 1969 or 1970! When presenting the artwork to Len, Leone said “good job but you’re not ready yet.” Maybe that was because Mr. Bama was still doing the covers! When asked what happened to the painting, Bob said that “it just disappeared.” Back in the day, the used and unused artwork would be stacked in the basement at Bantam, and quite often people would help themselves to it.

This painting deserves to be on a Doc Savage novel.

Bob Larkin: Rue Morgue #103

When the movie Piranha was re-released on DVD in 2011 to tie in with its successful remake Piranha 3D (see the earlier entry on Piranha), Bob’s movie poster art was used as the cover for this issue of the popular horror magazine.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin: Terror on the Planet of the Apes

Breaking News!

Coming from comic publisher Boom! Studios is the limited series Terror on the Planet of the Apes, which reprints a classic serialized story from Marvel Comics’ Planet of the Apes b&w magazine of the 1970s. It’s written by Doug Moench (Batman, Master of Kung Fu) with art by Mike Ploog (Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night, Abadazad), and reprints Bob’s cover art from the original series.

Seen above are the covers for the first two issues. Terror on the Planet of the Apes #1 is scheduled for release in March 2012.

Steve Roman

Bob Larkin : Tomb Of Dracula #1 and Blood Reign Inspiration

Steve Holland as the Count. .. Tomb of Dracula was a great series and the comic would become classic. Gene
Colan would keep me glued to each issue. I read them all and Marv Wolfman made Dracula the kind of Anti-hero that you loved to hate and at times had some sympathy for. Bob did more of the covers to the magazine that we will post soon.

The new cover Bob is doing for the Pandora series are some of his best. He just keeps getting better and better. Amazing!

Bob Larkin : Blood Reign

From Steven Roman

Bob Larkin: Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2

For the cover of the second novel in this young adult dark-fantasy series, StarWarp Concepts publisher (and Pandora Zwieback series author) Steven A. Roman asked Bob to recreate his 1979 cover painting for Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula #1 magazine, swapping out Dracula and his victim for 16-year-old "Goth adventuress" Pandora in the arms of an Elegant Gothic Lolita vampiress from Japan.

Blood Reign is scheduled for publication in June 2012, from StarWarp Concepts. For more information on the series, for which Bob is the cover artist, visit the PANDORA ZWIEBACK WEB STIE