Friday, January 21, 2011

STAR TREK 4 Art by Lou Feck

As a sci-fi fan in the 1970s, the Bantam Books Star Trek paperbacks by James Blish were a steady part of my reading diet. These volumes each contained a half-dozen or so short story adaptations of the original television episodes, and, as the series was inconsistently aired in my central Maine TV market, my first exposure to many of the classic Original Series stories was through Blish's adaptations.

For some reason, almost all of the Bantam editions featured paintings of the Enterprise rather than the characters. I don't know if, this early in the Trek merchandising phenomenon, likeness rights were still a tricky issue, or if someone just thought that the iconic starship was a stronger way to attract the eyes of both Trekkies and science fiction readers in general. Either way, there was quite a variety in styles and artists, and that was cool.

A number of striking starship images graced those covers, but even as a kid, something about Lou Feck's rendition on Star Trek 4 (first published in 1971, and endlessly reprinted throughout the decade) really struck a chord with me. Perhaps it was the cool, blue palette, or the simple, effective composition, with the graceful Enterprise orbiting between a dying planet and its jagged-surfaced moon... I dunno. But I love it.

Someone else liked this painting too  - Bantam re-used it a few years later, sans obscuring cover type, on a collection of puzzles for kids, the Star Trek Puzzle Manual.

Artist Lou Feck is something of a fascinating mystery to me. He was one of the first paperback cover illustrators whose style and signature I recognized as a voracious, adolescent reader, and was one of my favorites.

His work seemed to mostly appear on books from Bantam in the 70s, including many of the early Clive Cussler adventure novels. I even actually own one of his originals (not this Star Trek one, though). Unfortunately, there's virtually no info about this talented artist on the Internet, except that he died in '81.

Anyway, when I stumbled upon this beautiful scan of Feck's painting, it sparked a powerful wave of nostalgia, and I wanted to share it here. The Bantam Star Trek paperbacks were a huge part of my childhood sci-fi fandom and this particular cover holds a prominent place in those memories. Enjoy.

11 comments:

  1. One of my favorite images from a decade that was very strong in iconic illustrative art. Seems like I had a poster of that when I was a kid; I'll have to have look through my archive when I get home... :)

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  2. These are some of my favorites as well. James Blish had some decent novels outside of Star Trek too.

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  3. I have this painting hanging in my hallway, and along with my Drew Struzan, is the gem of my collection. I find myself constantly lost in the ethereal beauty of this piece of art. Little note though, in the painting he painted NCC-1710, not 1701. Not sure if they ever corrected this in later printings. Thanks to Mark Maddox for steering me over to your blog, look forward to losing myself in all the nostalgia here. Best, Lee

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  4. Its...so...beautiful.

    I ain't crying ya nancies. There's *sniff* something in my eye.

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  5. As a born-and-bred Doctor Who fan, that was the only Star Trek poster I had on my bedroom walls during high school :)

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  6. Thanks for finally revealing the artist behind this iconic cover art, and sharing the painting! I have added his name and a link to your post on my earlier entry that featured it.

    http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot.com/2010/03/1999-star-trek-weekly-log-book.html

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  7. Love that painting. I also thought the cover of the ninth book was gorgeous.

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  8. I have a poster of that print that I ordered in the 70's from Scholastic books. I've never seen it anywhere else. I wish they would have released more of his art in prints.

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  9. Some of the space exteriors in the new Star Trek movie "reboot" looked to me like homages to the old Blish paperback cover art--especially in the final credits. How I wish I could tell my teenage self of the 80s to hang onto all those books!

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  10. I had both books, once upon a time. Had completely forgotten about the puzzle book until just this minute!

    Feck was one of my favorite paperback cover artists, his Star Trek my favorites, and this painting one of my favorite Blish/Trek covers.

    Thanks for posting this, Christopher!

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