Our Universe, My View of Sci-Fi Gaming

As a kid, my parents had a subscription to National Geographic. Somewhere along the way, I (well, really "we" as a family, but I sort of commandeered it) came into possession of the National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe (Roy A. Gallant, published by TBS The Book Service Ltd, 1980). I'm not sure if it was giveaway as part of a subscription, or if it was a book for purchase that my parents thought I (and my siblings) would appreciate. Regardless, it became THE book that informed my knowledge of the solar system, and what the solar system might be like in an alternative sci-fi-informed reality. To this day, it one of the 2 books that forms the foundation for how I "see" sci-fi gaming (the other is Profiles of the Future by Arthur C. Clarke). I won't go into too much detail on how this book inspired me, because Brian Koberlein has done a nice, concise job of expressing the same sentiment.

Long ago, the book left my parents house. I believe it went to Goodwill or similar. Well recently, I came across a copy at an estate sale, and could not pass it by... especially for just a few bucks. So I thought I'd share a few things from the book that I find particularly striking.

Let me start with the image that first struck me... the cover. It's a killer painting of star cruiser by John Berkey. If that names sounds familiar, it's likely because he's did a number of paintings/illustrations for Star Wars Episode IV. In the bigger scheme, his contributions were fewer than Ralph McQuarrie, but important nonetheless. BTW, though Berkey died in 2008, many of the paintings he left behind are available for licensing (and I'd love to see somebody in the community license his art for a cover). In fact, should I ever get back to Starmasters, Berkey's, I hope to do just that myself.

Now let's look at a couple of key images from the interior. One of the first things that struck me were the "What if..." images, speculating what alien life would be like on our solar system's planets and their moons. Check these out!



And then, the pages for each planet almost read like an appendix to Deities & Demigods.



I'll leave it at this for now. I just wanted to share a little slice of my childhood that was recently re-found, and share that with you.

Dragon's Eye: Jerome Bixby

Although many of you may not know the name Jerome Bixby, there's a good chance you're familiar with the man's work.

Remember that Billy Mumy episode of the old B&W Twilight Zone? (Okay, there's actually three episodes of tTZ in which Mumy starred, so I'll be more specific). Remember that Billy Mumy episode of the old B&W Twilight Zone in which he possesses certain "magical" powers which allow him to read minds, control others, et al? Sure you do. Spielberg remade it as part of his Twilight Zone movie. Well... Bixby wrote the story on which the episode/segment were based. It first appeared in Star Science Fiction Stories No.2 from Ballantine Books in 1953 and, in 1970, was voted as one of the 20 finest science fiction stories ever written by the Science Fiction Writers of America.

In addition to his work as a sci-fi writer, he was also editor of Planet Stories from Summer 1950 to July 1951. Planet Stories was a the pulp mag offshoot of Planet Comics, and was actually funded by the comic's success.

Given Bixby's background as a writer and editor, it was interesting to find the illustration above (obviously penned by him) in issue 61 of Planet Comics over at the Digital Comic Museum. Especially considering it accompanied a short story by Thornecliffe Herrick, the writer of the comic's The Lost World series. Although Bixby's illustration was published during the summer of 1949, I think it captures the same essence of the art of the earliest generations of RPGs from the early 1970s... art done by those who weren't always/necessarily professional artists, but with capabilities enough to execute those cool ideas. It just sort of "works."

BTW, it took me a while to realize that was probably a human space explorer of some sort clutched in the beast's fist.