The Graveyard Book cover ask reminded me of something I’ve been wanting to ask for a long time.
Is there a comprehensive list of your books that have Pulp Fiction covers? As far as I can tell from my *extensive* googling, it’s only said that Anansi Boys, American Gods, Stardust, and Neverwhere were released with the pulp cover (according to articles from 2016) but I bought a brand new Ocean at the End of the Lane w/ the pulp cover in 2020. So do you know if it’s only those 5 books with the pulp style covers?
Are there plans to release more of your works in the pulp style covers? If not, can there be? Because, if I may be so bold, pulp fiction style covers of Good Omens and The Graveyard Book would be two very cool additions to my bookshelf.
Sorry for this incredibly nerdy and inane ask but I’m dying to know.
There are seven out so far, with an eighth being painted:
Robert McGinnis, the artist, is 95 years old. I’m grateful for every painting he does for us.
Here’s his website: http://www.mcginnispaintings.com/
I’m looking at the website and I am utterly boggled and shook. I had assumed these were just remarkably accurate parodies/reproductions. They’re so accurate because he’s reproducing himself. The “pulp style” is his style. That’s epic.
(It is still also an amazingly accurate reproduction, because he’s tuning the style very precisely to specific eras, which is awesome. Without the lettering I would swear the cover of American Gods is from a Hardy Boys book. Anansi Boys is going off things like Fleming novels - the covers of which McGinnis did in fact paint, apparently. Stardust is, mmm... I’d say about mid-60s, early 70s fantasy? Around the time of Barbara Remington’s Tolkien covers, Dragonquest, that sorta thing. And every one of the others is identifiable, too. The precision of the style is AMAZING.)
Absolutely. That's Todd Klein's brilliance.
The sequence is, Mr McGinnis sends in sketches for a painting, and then Todd and I put our heads together and talk about it, and then talk more when the painting arrives. The American Gods cover reminded us of late 60s blockbuster novels. Stardust of early 70s fantasy, as you say. Then Todd would find examples of things and I would find examples and we'd point stuff out to each other. Then Todd would make magic... (Would anyone be interested in the process? I could go and find some of the paintings and sketches, and explain.)
It's at https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/649854944500908032/so-to-begin-with-mr-mcginnis-said-yes-the-brief -- I found the Anansi Boys emails, so used that.




















