Planet Stories 'Revolt in the Ice Empire' Ray Cummings Cover, c.1940s
Surprisingly kinetic for an ice-world setting, this Fiction House cover blazes with warm reds and golds against a frozen battlefield backdrop — a deliberate chromatic contradiction that pulp artists wielded expertly. A square-jawed spaceman in a bubble helmet clutches a ray gun and an unconscious alien princess adorned with elaborate golden jewelry, while dark spacecraft and silhouetted combatants erupt in chaos behind them. The composition's diagonal thrust and rich costume detail are quintessential Planet Stories bravado.
A man in a fishbowl helmet rescues a bejeweled unconscious woman from an ice war while holding a ray gun — Planet Stories was not here to answer difficult questions about narrative subtlety. The golden spiral breastplate alone justifies the price of admission.
“PLANET STORIES STRANGE ADVENTURES ON OTHER WORLDS — THE UNIVERSE OF FUTURE CENTURIES REVOLT IN THE ICE EMPIRE by RAY CUMMINGS HERMIT OF SATURN'S RING by NEIL R. JONES THE ULTIMATE SALIENT Attention, Brian O'Shea! The formula for Chlorophyll is C55H72O5N4Mg THE YEAR'S MOST DRAMATIC STORY by NELSON S. BOND VENUS HAS GREEN EYES by CARL SELWYN REPP • AYRE • WILLIAMS • WOLLHEIM 20c FICTION HOUSE MAGAZINES”
