If you’re a fan of Marvel Films’ extraordinarily successful movies, you’re no doubt aware that tomorrow’s the day for the DVD and Blu-Ray release of Guardians of the Galaxy, the box-office blockbuster adaptation of the popular Marvel Comics scj-fi series. Starring Chris Pratt (Parks & Recreation), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), WWE wrestling legend Dave Bautista, and the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, Guardians has taken the world by the proverbial storm, and is the highest grossing film of the year. Who knew a talking raccoon and a walking tree with a three-word vocabulary could generate such interest?
But, you ask, why am I talking about this movie, here at ’Warp Central? Because long before he became a motion picture star, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, was the star of a series of comic and magazine adventures published by Marvel—and SWC’s own artistic legend, Bob Larkin, painted the cover for one of them!
What you see here is the cover of Marvel Preview #18, with Quill in his 1970s-era costume—a lot more superheroish than what you saw in GotG, but what would you expect from a company that specializes in superhero comics? (Bonus tidbit: the male model who posed for this painting was actor Steve Holland, who not only played Flash Gordon in a popular 1950s television series, but whose rugged features, from the ’70s to today, remain the gold-standard look for pulp adventurer Doc Savage. Holland posed for Doc covers not only for Bob, but for Bob’s mentor, superstar painter James Bama.)
By the way, science fiction comic book fans, have you purchased a copy of The Bob Larkin Sketchbook? If not, you’re missing out on spectacular pencil drawings of Richard Rider, the original Nova (from GotG’s Nova Corps), the X-Men, the Hulk, Luke Skywalker, and a host of other characters by the talented Mr. Larkin. It’s 24 pages of artistic goodness, available exclusively from the StarWarp Concepts webstore. Visit the Bob Larkin Sketchbook product page for all the ordering information, as well as sample pages.
