Posted on 7/24/2022

Nice!  I've always liked this cover.  Kinda Powers-ish.

Posted on 7/24/2022

So many people misidentify it as a Powers because a lot of the paperbacks were cropped at the bottom and the signature is missing. But some you can see it.

Posted on 7/24/2022

Yes, you can certainly forgive anyone assuming this was painted by Richard Powers, as it was done in the exact same approach that Powers himself was taking with his Science Fiction covers at this time and Blanchard was no doubt purposely channeling that look in order to keep it consistent. The Ballantine's may even have requested that he look at Powers' approach and do something in that vein.

1 - Posted on 7/24/2022

Considering that Blanchard was the Art Director at Ballantine during this period, I'm sure he took it on himself to try and mimic Powers style all on his own. I bought a bunch of art including a stack of cover proofs of the books he did the covers for and he was a third rate artist at best. He really wasn't very good and didn't have one style you could peg hin on. I think this is one of his best covers and he probably struggled to get it looking decent.

Having those cover proofs opened up a world of Blanchard work none of us collectors knew anything about in regards to him doing the covers. There's a series Ballantine put out and lots of those proofs were in his stack as well as two of the original covers so now i know who did them and what they are all about and need to do a little story about them for my friend's paperback fanzine one of these days. And my other favorite cover by him was at the bottom of the box and a quarter of it had eroded away from being in a shed upstate NY for so many years. So bummed. But I have some of it!

Posted on 7/25/2022

Yeah, I'm not surprised he wasn't a very good artist in his own right. Art Directors are often guys who weren't skilled or talented enough at actual painting and drawing, but they had good skills at directing and coming up with ideas. Kind of like pro sports coaching. A ton of coaches are former pro players, sure, but many were pro players who weren't very good at the pro level, but are smart and have good sports minds, which is perfect for coaching.

Good thing those cover proofs turned up, for sure. When you say you're thinking of doing an article on them for your friend, are you talking about Gary's Paperback Parade? And if I understand you correctly, you now also own three quarters of a Blanchard painting due to erosion?