Saturday 12 January 2013

TROUBLE ON TITAN

You can't beat a good set of treads in space and the tracked vehicle was a popular motif for Sci Fi cover artists. Ed Valigursky could turn his hand easilly to capture treads trundling across alien landscapes as seen in these two covers above and below.
Another fine painter of dusty tracked vehicles, especially tanks, was John Schoenherr. Below are three examples of his space tanks set in his trademark barren plains.
Analog - June 1967 - cover artist John Schoenherr
Did the concept of the space tank or treaded vehicle feature in publications or toys in your part of the galaxy?

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, SPACE TANKS! Great hulking machines of destruction grinding over alien surfaces just looking for any target to shoot at. For me it was a role-playing game called "OGRE" that emerged around 1983.

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  2. Yes - tank tracks, drills and grabs were always de rigeur on toys for me and later on army toys too. Ive also bought loafs of sci paperbacks on the strength of the vehicle design on the cover.

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  3. Ooh yes - this one in particular stuck in my memory - cover of 'Postmarked The Stars' by Andre Norton.

    http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348847049l/1183803.jpg

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  4. That's cool MartG, a new one on me too! Space Tanks forever!

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