Virgil Finlay's Alien Encounter, Other Worlds Science Stories April 1956
More painterly and sensual than Finlay's typical interior pen-and-ink work, this cover for Other Worlds Science Stories showcases his rare full-color style alongside contemporaries like Ed Emshwiller and Kelly Freas. A red-suited astronaut in a sleek helmet reaches toward an exotic, scantily clad alien woman draped in jeweled fabric, both framed within a gleaming saucer interior. Flying saucers drift in the blue distance, anchoring the scene firmly in Cold War-era space fantasy with unmistakable pulp glamour.
A red-armored spaceman reaching for a half-dressed jeweled alien beauty inside a gleaming saucer is peak 1950s pulp magnetism. The lurid color contrast and exotic feminine figure would have leapt off any newsstand spinner rack.
“OTHER WORLDS SCIENCE STORIES April, 1956 35¢ WITCH OF THE DARK STAR To Her Was Given Power Over Space And Time SUDDEN LAKE He Could Juggle Atom Bombs With His Mind! BUNDLE FROM HEAVEN Out of Deep Space He Came— A Waif On Earth's Doorstep Help Name A Successor to Edgar Rice BURROUGHS! K 10”
