I remember seeing the Heroe's Die cover on Amazon a while back and it made me cackle. The guy's facial expression and pose mixed with the tagline, "A man shouldn't die with no understanding of why he's been murdered." LOL.
I still added it to my wishlist because it amused me so much, and the story sounded pretty interesting to boot. It's good, and sad, to hear that the cover under-represents the work. I'm looking forward to reading it, sometime.
Wahay! Even Stephen King is not safe from CCS (Crap Cover Syndrome)
Steady Matt, I don't want you stealing this cover for CAINE BLACK KNIFE:
Or this one for Revenge of the Sith!!!
Last edited by juzzza; March 16th, 2005 at 10:40 AM.
That Romantic novel front cover was exactly how I envisioned 'Caine: Black Knife's' cover. Exactly
I may be alone in this but I think that the picture for the stand is not that bad...it is eerie, not comical, and it makes me uneasy. Just what King would want I expect. I'm not going to comment on the Star Wars book cover. It would be too easy.
Just be thankful you don't have any bulgarian covers yet Matt... this is the cover for Carrie:
I like the King cover, too. Simple and to the point.Originally Posted by Leiali
That Romantic novel front cover was exactly how I envisioned 'Caine: Black Knife's' cover. Exactly
I may be alone in this but I think that the picture for the stand is not that bad...it is eerie, not comical, and it makes me uneasy. Just what King would want I expect. I'm not going to comment on the Star Wars book cover. It would be too easy.
I know Leiali, you don't want to insult juzzza, he worked hard tracing that cover when he was 12.
12? I did that on Saturday for my son's homework... he's six and refused to take it to school
Juzzz, you're even more screwy than I thought - you had your son when you were 6?
The Bulgarian cover looks like a beardless Jesus. Hey that could be a great name for a band!
I really like the King cover too! It has a nice vintage look to it, like something you'd find in the back of the used book store... and it's creepy. I think there's a similar sketch in the book somewhere (even though my copy has a different cover), it looks familiar.
I think that cover for the Stand is a nod to Heironymous Bosch (I think that's how you spell his name).
The guy was a totally isolated incident in art history. An island of madness and demonic imagery smack dab in the middle of a time when that sort of thing could have got you in big trouble with the Church. It wound up that they liked him because he showed aweful things happening to sinners I guess.
Anyways, you should look up some of his art, it's funny and tremendously disturbing at the same time.
Is there any literal meaning to the Blade of Tyshalle cover or is it just an abstract picture? Do you guys think abstractions would be generally better than literal covers?
Thanks! That's some crazy artwork.. I can't believe it's from the 1400s-1500s, it looks more modern than that... I wonder why I never heard of this guy?
I never heard of him myself til someone in my class did an art history presentation about him in college, I laughed at every picture but by the end I felt like I needed a bath.
There is a painting by Bosch of the Tower of Babel which is quite famous. Very dark and intense - he is famous for his depictions of the circles of hell. Completely bonkers.
Hmm... well this may be a tad off topic, but so is the whole thread lately... I think I can get away with it
While we're on to DARK/SURREAL ARTWORK, I have a really cool 2003 calendar, called Dark Worlds (darkworlds.com) and while it has no Bosch, it contains some wicked and frightening artwork from
Clive Barker
Wayne Barlowe
Zdzislaw Beksinski (my fave, I have a whole book)
Brom
Marc Fishman
HR Giger
Wolfgang Grasse
Judson Huss
Christophe Vacher
Jacek Yerka
Sorry for the grave-digging; I found this topic through Google, and the topic matter has me somewhat in distress!
I'm just about halfway through Heroes Die, and the cover depiction of Caine, artistic merits aside, is wreaking havoc on my experience of the book. My mind's eye started seeing him as a member of the Village People (), making the violence morbidly and inappropriately hilarious, and since then I just can't help but see all kinds of wacky **** beyond the author's intention. I see the action sequences as set to Macho Man, for Christ's sake!
Mr. Stover, please know that I love your book, and don't take this as criticism. Your book is not at all cheesy. I just need to get this idea out of my head! I'd be grateful if you, or anyone else, could humour me and answer me this question: if you could choose a Hollywood actor to play Caine, who would it be? Any kind of fitting image to replace the one currently etched into my brain would help!
Well . . .
If I had my druthers, I'd probably cast Robert Downey Jr, just because he's the best actor working today who's in Caine's general age-range (39 - 50) -- and he's good at the cuddly-but-scary kind of semi-psycho character (check out his work in ZODIAC, for example, or KISS KISS BANG BANG). Actually, he's good at everything.
Mark Wahlberg could handle it -- he's got the requisite working-class hardass aura (cf. FOUR BROTHERS and THE DEPARTED).
Vigo Mortenson would be swell, too; if you doubt it, give A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE a try, then watch EASTERN PROMISES.
Hell, Matt Damon could play Caine a few years from now, if he was ever interested in expanding his action-hero creds beyond Jason Bourne -- and if he ever outgrows that younger-than-his-years face.
Not that any of them are going to be making such a picture, you understand; Hollywood's not interested in my stuff. Yet.
Last edited by MWStover; April 22nd, 2009 at 06:03 PM.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks