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Potoooooooo
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Potoooooooo
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http://io9.com/the-story-behind-bhen-on-the-cover-of-the-magazine-of-f-1741191473#
The Story Behind Bhen On The Cover Of The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction
This is a neat little story: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has produced some fantastic covers over the years, and since the 1970s, they’ve included a little green alien on some of the covers. Over on their blog, they’ve gone back to look at why he was included.
Most covers for Fantasy & Science Fiction illustrate a particular story. But in 1975, when public interest in NASA and space exploration seemed to be declining, David A. Hardy created an illustration to draw attention to NASA’s work and make space seem fun again. He named the alien Bhen (we’ll find out why in an interview with Bhen coming to the blog on Friday), and over the next 40 years the fun-loving big green alien appeared on a dozen F&SF covers, including the current November/December 2015 issue.
Here are all the covers, collected in one place for the first time.
(To see high resolution images of the Bhen illustrations, uncluttered by F&SF logos and text, as well some of Bhen’s non-F&SF appearances, visit David Hardy’s webpage at www.astroart.org.)
Some images courtesy of sfcovers.net.
1. November 1975
The very first Bhen cover! Bhen discovers the Viking I on Mars. The Viking I was sent to discover life, but life discovered it first.
2. May 1976
Bhen takes the Lunar Rover left behind at Hadley Base by Apollo 15 for a joyride.
3. September 1976
Bhen rides the satellite bowl of Pioneer 11 as it flies by Saturn.
4. January 1978
Here we are on Uranus’s icy moon, Miranda. I like to think Bhen’s humming “On Miranda, we can build a snowbhen. We’ll pretend that he is Parson Brown. . .”
5. October 1978
Here we see Bhen trying to hitchhike a ride on the Space Shuttle, but there’s no evidence he ever made it down to the surface of Earth.
6. June 1980
In 1980, cable was still in its infancy and streaming had yet to be invented. Here Bhen treats the Intelsat communications satellite like a couch and plugs in his TV to watch Alien.
7. May 1983
Bhen loves the beach as much as he loves snow. Here he’s sun-bathing near Mercury on a solar panel of the Mariner 10 probe.
8. June 1985
The 1980s saw the beginning of Bhen’s extreme sports phase. Here he’s seen parachuting through the clouds of Jupiter with the probe released by the Galileo orbiter.
9. June 1989
Continuing the extreme sports theme, Bhen returns to Miranda, but this time it’s to climb the 15 kilometer high ice cliffs while Uranus looms in the background.
10. January 1992
Here Bhen takes another Jupiter holiday and goes skiing down the icy slopes of Europa.
11. September 1994
When we discovered that there were geysers on Neptune’s moon Triton, Bhen naturally went there to balance balls on them and do a little arcade-style shooting.
12. Nov/Dec 2015
Bhen returns to Mars, this time with the ESA’s ExoMars Rover. Comparing this cover to the first Mars cover in 1975, what’s wonderful is how much more we know now about how Mars looks and what the light is like.
I also like this cover because Bhen leaves his mark — literally, with his graffiti, and figuratively by his appearance on so many F&SF covers spanning more than half of the magazine’s history.
C.C. Finlay
Filed Under F&SF History
The Story Behind Bhen On The Cover Of The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction
This is a neat little story: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has produced some fantastic covers over the years, and since the 1970s, they’ve included a little green alien on some of the covers. Over on their blog, they’ve gone back to look at why he was included.
But in 1975, when public interest in NASA and space exploration seemed to be declining, David A. Hardy created an illustration to draw attention to NASA’s work and make space seem fun again. He named the alien Bhen (we’ll find out why in an interview with Bhen coming to the blog on Friday), and over the next 40 years the fun-loving big green alien appeared on a dozen F&SF covers, including the current November/December 2015 issue.
The magazine has a gallery of other images from the lovable alien over on their website.
Most covers for Fantasy & Science Fiction illustrate a particular story. But in 1975, when public interest in NASA and space exploration seemed to be declining, David A. Hardy created an illustration to draw attention to NASA’s work and make space seem fun again. He named the alien Bhen (we’ll find out why in an interview with Bhen coming to the blog on Friday), and over the next 40 years the fun-loving big green alien appeared on a dozen F&SF covers, including the current November/December 2015 issue.
Here are all the covers, collected in one place for the first time.
(To see high resolution images of the Bhen illustrations, uncluttered by F&SF logos and text, as well some of Bhen’s non-F&SF appearances, visit David Hardy’s webpage at www.astroart.org.)
Some images courtesy of sfcovers.net.
1. November 1975
The very first Bhen cover! Bhen discovers the Viking I on Mars. The Viking I was sent to discover life, but life discovered it first.
2. May 1976
Bhen takes the Lunar Rover left behind at Hadley Base by Apollo 15 for a joyride.
3. September 1976
Bhen rides the satellite bowl of Pioneer 11 as it flies by Saturn.
4. January 1978
Here we are on Uranus’s icy moon, Miranda. I like to think Bhen’s humming “On Miranda, we can build a snowbhen. We’ll pretend that he is Parson Brown. . .”
5. October 1978
Here we see Bhen trying to hitchhike a ride on the Space Shuttle, but there’s no evidence he ever made it down to the surface of Earth.
6. June 1980
In 1980, cable was still in its infancy and streaming had yet to be invented. Here Bhen treats the Intelsat communications satellite like a couch and plugs in his TV to watch Alien.
7. May 1983
Bhen loves the beach as much as he loves snow. Here he’s sun-bathing near Mercury on a solar panel of the Mariner 10 probe.
8. June 1985
The 1980s saw the beginning of Bhen’s extreme sports phase. Here he’s seen parachuting through the clouds of Jupiter with the probe released by the Galileo orbiter.
9. June 1989
Continuing the extreme sports theme, Bhen returns to Miranda, but this time it’s to climb the 15 kilometer high ice cliffs while Uranus looms in the background.
10. January 1992
Here Bhen takes another Jupiter holiday and goes skiing down the icy slopes of Europa.
11. September 1994
When we discovered that there were geysers on Neptune’s moon Triton, Bhen naturally went there to balance balls on them and do a little arcade-style shooting.
12. Nov/Dec 2015
Bhen returns to Mars, this time with the ESA’s ExoMars Rover. Comparing this cover to the first Mars cover in 1975, what’s wonderful is how much more we know now about how Mars looks and what the light is like.
I also like this cover because Bhen leaves his mark — literally, with his graffiti, and figuratively by his appearance on so many F&SF covers spanning more than half of the magazine’s history.
C.C. Finlay
Filed Under F&SF History
repoman
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Iznomneak
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Atheos
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Hmmm, is that the Chicxulub asteroid looming in the upper right?
Potoooooooo
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Yeah, God got fearful after the dinosaurs invented power tools so he decided to off them
Potoooooooo
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People keep saying that but I don't agree. We don't steal grammar, just words.
bilby
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Yoda with you would disagree.
Grammar was forced on us, similar to the way you might cut a jigsaw puzzle piece to make it fit where it doesn't go.
#boldlysplittinginfinitives
repoman
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gmbteach
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thebeave
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Thomas II
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angelo
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angelo
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Thomas II
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Thomas II
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repoman
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this is real, south park is prophecy.