Mark (who knows his Hazlewood) wrote:
> A number of late '70s and '80s PI series had pretty
distinctive cover
> art, like those by Arthur Lyons, Jack Lynch, Stephen
Greenleaf, etc.
Oh yeah - the first three or so Greenleaf covers, those
Tanner novels with cityscape backdrops, with Tanner sort of
cropped out and shifted slightly, creating a black void where
he should be (and hence a vague and appropriate sense of
dislocation)? Those were really good. That's a series I
definitely dscovered because I just liked the cover.
And those garish, blinding 3am-in-a-strip-joint Lyons covers?
Seems to me the same publisher did the Joseph Hansen
Brandstetter novels as well, but in a different -- and more
subdued style. Great great designs, and well-done renderings
that stand the text of time, and not merely due to nostalgia.
The sepia-toned Cain reprints, with their distinctive
typeface choices and retro-style photography were solid work,
too, even on some of the more negligible Cain books -- thanks
for reminding me.
God, is it possible the seventies and early eighties were the
last great era of mass market paperback covers worth looking
at, at least in the North American mystery field?
Even the occasionally amateurish covers for the Black Lizard
imprint had a sense of personal style -- a far cry from the
predictable BIG BLOATED TEXT and clipart style currently so
in favor.
In the eighties, the Brits started to do some darn good crime
stuff with photography and simple, understated typography,
and the then-new
"yuppiebacks" in North America started to boast some good
airbrush illustrations, even if the overall cover designs
were often lame. But mass market in North America,
particularly in the crime fiction field? I think it all
started to slide in the mid-eighties.
Sure, the Hard Case Crime covers nowadays are good (I love
'em, as a quick glance at almost any "cover" of THRILLING
DETECTIVE will tell you), and it's a welcome change from the
same old same old -- but they're really (and intentionally)
pastiche, whereas the covers Mark and I were discussing --
even the retro ones) juggled illustration styles, photography
and typography in distinctive and unique ways.
And of course, it's not like there aren't still some great
covers out there, but they seem to be more the exception than
the rule these days
-- and the simply mediocre is a lot more mediocre than it
used to be
(And don't even get me started on the puke-inducing montages
of amateurish Photoshop wankery so prevalent among
self-published POD authors).
But overall , browsing a bookstores these days is a lot less
exciting, at least visually, than it used to be.
Which is why a good cover can still suck me in.
And that ain't Diddley.
Kevin Burton Smith AT LAST! The Thrilling Detective Web Site
January 2006 Issue With Weinman, MacLean, the return of The
Thrillies and cover art by pulp legend R.A. Maguire. http://www.thrillingdetective.com
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 24 Jan 2006 EST