Ray Bradbury's Double Feature: "Twilight Zone" & "It Came From Outer Space"

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Hello, Pulp Friends,

After "THE SCYTHE", my tribute to Ray Bradbury posted a couple of days ago, I am continuing the celebration of this great writer with a new tribute illustrating his episode for the beloved series TWILIGHT ZONE titled "I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC" (above) and  reposting a Pulp Sunday classic (below): the monstrous aliens of "It Came From Outer Space" ("Destinazione... Terra!" in its Italian release), written by Ray Bradbury in 1953and directed by Jack Arnold.

Wish you all a wonderful Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco


Click on the images for the BIGGER VIEW

Artwork © 2009-2012 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2012 Francesco Francavilla.

"War Of The Worlds" (1953) Take 2

Hello, Pulp Friends,

I did promise you that I was going back to take a more "realistic" stab at these guys for the 1953 classic "War of the WOrlds", didn't I? ;)
Well, the last thing I want to happen is that people say I don't keep my promises :)

I went a bit more elaborated (in terms of composition) on this for two reasons: 1) it's a clear tribute to my previous vintage videogame take, with the aliens coming down from the sky; 2) it's the last Sunday of November, so this is the closing tribute for this Alien month.
But fear not, since I am not nearly done with the Watchers from Outer Space, so... expect more in the future and in the meanwhile watch the skies. ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

"Zontar: The Thing From Venus" (1966)

... although his name is untranslatable to any Earth language, it would sound something like Zontar.

Hello, Pulp Friends,

We leave the pseudo tukey-alien of yesterday (hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving) for a more "real" (HAHA!) alien today: ZONTAR, The Thing From Venus! :D
When you make a low budget remake of the low budget movie "It Conquered the World" (1956, directed by Roger Corman), what you get is a B-movie square :D
Hope you dig my "take" on Zontar and looking at it now, the skeleton of yesterday, minus waddle, could be Zontar's skeleton ;)

Wish you all a wonderful Black Friday :D

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

"Robot Monster" (1953)

Moon monsters launch attack against Earth! How can science meet the menace of astral assassins? New Science Fiction Thrills!

Hello, Pulp Friends,

Today's offering, "Robot Monster", directed by Phil Tucker in 1953, is in the same category of "Plan 9 From Outer Space": CULT movies! :D
Speaking of Plan 9, I should feature it in here as well - definitely ;)
Meanwhile I leave you with Ro-Man, our helemted primate from the moon and with my wish to draw a full book, one day, with this guy. I would LOVE to do that :)

Wish you all a wonderful Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

"It Came From Outer Space" (1953)

Hello, Pulp Friends,

1953 seemed to be the golden year for sci-fi and alien invasions.
After "Invaders From Mars" and "War of the Worlds", from the same year, we deal today with the monstrous aliens of "It Came From Outer Space" ("Destinazione... Terra!" in its Italian release), written by Ray Bradbury and directed by Jack Arnold.

Monstrous aliens, I said, but in this case first impressions can be deceiving.
Stranded in the Arizona desert, the monstrous, but pacific, crew of an alien ship xenomorphically take the aspect of the local people so they can fix the ship without alarming anyone and leave to go back home.
A classic indeed :)

Wish you all a wonderful Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

"War Of The Worlds" (1953)

Hello, Pulp Friends,

There is anything to add about this movie? I hope not becuase I am short on time ;)
I just hope you guys dig the more "different" approach of this week tribute ;)
Planning to do a more "realistic" portrait of these bad guys later this week.

Hope you all had a wonderful Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

"Invaders From Mars" (1953)

Hello, Pulp Friends,

I feel like I have been neglecting this blog a bit, after the "busy" Halloween month in October - I just have a few deadlines I need to take care so I have been focusing on "work" lately ;) As matter of fact I haven't had chance yet to watch the "V" series premiere, even if I DVRed it so maybe this weekend I will fix that.

Meanwhile here's a classic for our Alien November: "Invaders From Mars" (or "Gli Invasori SPaziali" in its italian release), directed in 1953 by William Cameron Menzies and remade later in the 80s.

Quick Synopsis: A kid witnesses a starship landing on Earth and disappearing undergorund. He tries to warn everyone about this but only a doctor believes him.
Shot in 3D, this movie is the proof that you can accomplish a lot with really good ideas, even if the budget is tight.
Paranoid, obsessive, unforgettable.

Happy Pulp Friday, everybody! :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

"Vultus Premens Belua" (1204 circa)

Hello, Pulp Friends,

as mentioned yesterday, this November will be dedicated to all those aliens out(er) there who try to conquer Earth (or let's say we prefer them evil ;))
The occasion is the premiere of the new "V" series on ABC, a series I very much look forward to, being a big fan of the 1980s first version with Marc Singer and Michael Ironside (among others).

To start, a little Vultus Premens Belua, found in a bestiarium from 1204 and in a series of successful movies in recent years ;)
Stay tuned for more "Watchers form Outer Space"!

Happy Pulp Sunday, everybody! :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
"Watchers from Outer Space" © and TM 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

Shadow of the Skies

Hello Pulp friends :)

like we see it happening in each Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror, here's a little "cameo" of UFOs in between old pulpy horrors.

There are two reasons for today's post.
The main is that I wanted to pay tribute to the latest AWESOME creation of the cool and talented Dave Flora, of Ghost Zero fame. His Doc Monster is running this month competition over at Zuda Comics, DC label for webcomics.
If you haven't voted yet for Doc Monster, please do now by clicking here: there is still 48 hours to make Doc Monster win :)

The other reason is that, while October was dedicated to the horror, November will be all about classic sci-fi and aliens, thanks to the premiere, on Nov 3rd, of the new version of "V" on ABC. I did an ALIEN month in December 2008, so, about a year later, it's time to see more "Watchers" invading Pulp Sunday.
Hope you guys will tune in for some extra-terrestrial Pulp :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2009 Francesco Francavilla