Forever Frozen

A woman frozen in a block of ice as he devil's hand reaches for her. Cover of Famous Fantastic Mysteries October 1950, painted by Rafael DeSoto.

Beauty preserved in ice is a classic mad-sciencey theme, here illustrated on the cover of Famous Fantastic Mysteries (October 1950) by Rafael DeSoto (1904-1992). An American artist born in Puerto Rico, he was originally educated to be a priest but instead became an artist because “I liked girls too much!” (And, in case you might have been wondering, he was indeed a descendant of the famous conquistador of the same surname.) The cover apparently illustrates Arthur Stringer’s (1874-1950) story “The Woman Who Couldn’t Die,” as does interior art by the prolific Virgil Finlay.

A nude woman encased in ice, as illustrated by Virgil Finlay.
“White and beautiful she was, frozen there forever…”

This issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries is available to read and download at the Internet Archive.

Impariamo l’italiano XXII: Esca 023

Barron Jr. sembra aver davvero apprezzato ciò che è successo a sua sorella.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

PAGE 23 (Four panels)

Panel 1: Barron Sr. putting his hand on the barrel of an assault rifle that Wealth Friend is pointing at the sea, a gesture meant to stop him from shooting into the water.

Barron Sr. (1): No, you idiot.

Translation (1): No, idiota.

Panel 2: A view into the boat, showing the now-charred corpses of Yacht Crewman #1 and Yacht Crewman #2.

Panel 3: A view of Peony, now standing some distance away on deck, her head buried in her hands in shock and grief.

Peony (2): No…

Translation (2): No…

Panel 4: A view downward, indicating that Barron Jr. is pointing his camera down but is still filming. (Note that he is about 11 years old at this time.) We see the swimming trunks he’s wearing, his legs and feet and beneath them the planking of the deck. We can also see through the fabric of his swimming trunks that he is having a marked erection.

  Esca (Italiano/Versione a pagina lunga)
Esca (Italiano/Versione con slider)

The bony clutch

A man and a woman are grasped in the clutch of giant skeleton hands on the April 1946 cover of Famous Fantastic Mysteries.

It looks like a grim situation for these good-looking young people on the April 1946 cover of Famous Fantastic Mysteries. This cover painting is by the artist Lawrence Sterne Stevens (1886-1960), who was often credited simply as “Lawrence.” As can be seen from the cover, FFM had as some of its content reprints of already-published stories, and for this issue they’ve picked a great example of cosmic horror, Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows.”

Lawrence Sterne Stevens was also a deft hand at interior illustrations, here providing one for S. Fowler Wright’s “The Island of Captain Sparrow.”

A black-and-white ink illustration of a nude woman i in a tropical scene. An ominous clawlike hand can be seen at the base of the illustration.
“Silence brooded over the scene of tropical peace.”

This issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries is available to read and download at the Internet Archive.

Learning from Elders: Chapter 8, Page 18

Chiara has an unwelcome realization.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

If you want or need to, you can catch up on the entire story to date by either going to the first page and navigating through page-by-page using the arrows at the top, or you can read the story ten pages at a time by opening the Learning from Elders category on this site.

Impariamo l’italiano XXI: Esca 022

Un ultimo sussulto per Phoebe.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

PAGE 22 (Four panels)

Panel 1: Yacht Crewman #1 and Yacht Crewman #2 in the boat by the side of the Yellow Rose, as if viewed through Barron Jr.’s camera. Yacht Crewman #1 has a harpoon raised and aimed, presumably at the tentacle beast. One small tentacle is reaching over the side of the boat. Yacht Crewman #2 is sitting in the back of the boat steering an outboard motor.

Yacht Crewman #1 (1): I’ll get you, you motherfucker!

Translation (1): Ti prenderò, figlio di puttana!

Panel 2: Yacht Crewman #1 and Yacht Crewman #2 appear as blackened silhouettes as some sort of massive electrical discharge hits their boat. The whole craft is surrounded by a flash as if of lightning.

SFX – BOAT AND CREW BEING ELECTRO-FRIED (2): KZZZ-ZOT!

Translation (2): KZZZ-ZOT!

Panel 3: Phoebe’s head resurfaces just a bit. A tentacle covers a triangular region around her mother and nose, rather like a medical breathing mask. Her eyes are closed, and her expression looks almost blissful.

Panel 4: Ripples in the region of water where Phoebe’s head has been pulled underneath for one last time.

  Esca (Italiano/Versione a pagina lunga)
Esca (Italiano/Versione con slider)

Visitor from Venus by Penerotic

Artist penerotic recreates a pulp illustration from the Winter 1943 edition of Thrilling Wonder Stories.

For all of you around the world who are today sheltering and distancing, a tasty pulpy treat, a faithful (down to the yellowing of the paper on which it was printed!) recreation by the artist Penerotic of an interior illustration that appeared in the Winter 1944 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. You can learn more about the issue and its contents in this post. You can follow Penerotic on Twitter at @penerotic, on Instagram at @penerotica and if you like his art like me, you can also support him on Patreon.

Please do not alter or reproduce the recreation above without consent of the creators. Thank you and stay well!

Learning from Elders: Chapter 8, Page 17

"How many ultra-rich perverts could we realistically get near."

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

If you want or need to, you can catch up on the entire story to date by either going to the first page and navigating through page-by-page using the arrows at the top, or you can read the story ten pages at a time by opening the Learning from Elders category on this site.

Gel Girl Pamela Rei Genesis XXV

Transformation is liberation for Pamela Rei.

Transformation is liberation.

The overall action in this illustration series is described in a fragment of draft screenplay, which you are welcome to download if you are interested in such things. This image is available in a much larger size. Right-click to download.

ICUdhara has a DeviantArt site here, and you can also support the artist on Patreon, as I do.

Kindly do not alter or republish this art without our permission.

Impariamo l’italiano XX: Esca 021

Phoebe viene molestata dal mostro tentacolare.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

PAGE 21 (Single panel page)

(Note: footage)

Single panel: View into the water. We see Phoebe underwater, naked and surrounded by a roiling mass of tentacles, some of which appear to be penetrating all of her primary orifices. “Voices” can be heard suggesting the chaos on the Yellow Rose.

CAPTIONS AT VARIOUS POINTS AROUND THE PANEL (1): “Oh God, oh God!” “Kill that thing!” “Get it!””Yes, Mr. Petrobux!” “I’m getting my gun!”

Translation (1): ” Oh Dio, oh Dio! ” ” Uccidi quella cosa!” Prendi! ” ” Sì, signor Petrobux!” “Sto prendendo la pistola!”

  Esca (Italiano/Versione a pagina lunga)
Esca (Italiano/Versione con slider)