Science Fiction Quarterly Aug 1956 – Astronaut Burns Alien Rock Formation
A pulse-racing sense of danger and gritty determination radiates from this Atomic Age cover as a square-jawed astronaut in a gleaming red pressure suit and bubble helmet fires a handheld cutting tool into a jagged, dark alien rock formation. The weapon spits a brilliant white-hot stream, suggesting desperate survival rather than triumphant conquest. Rendered in bold gouache with striking reds against a pale background, the composition pulls the eye between the hero's steely expression and the crackling, spiny alien matter he battles.
The handheld tool blasting a concentrated white-hot beam into writhing, spike-covered alien rock matter — essentially a man cutting through a living nightmare with a glorified blowtorch — is quintessential mid-century pulp bravado at its most viscerally satisfying.
“SCIENCE FICTION QUARTERLY August 25¢ BEYOND THE DOOR by Sam Merwin Jr. THE TAINT by John Jakes ALL NEW STORIES ANC.”
