Illustrations for Der Weg nach Thule (The Way to Thule) by Wolfgang Hohlbein
Chapter vignette
The Way to Thule is the fourth and last volume of the juvenile book series Kevin of Locksley, published in hardcover by Bastei Lübbe (illustrations for volume 2 and 3 here). The announced fifth book, The Pyramids of Azlan, wasn’t realized.
Cover Illustrations for the Pulp Series Vampira, 1992–98
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- Bd. 7
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- Bd. 9
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- Bd. 20
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- Bd. 27
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- Bd. 38
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- Bd. 38
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- Bd. 39
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- TH Bd. 9
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- TH Bd. 17
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- TH Bd. 1
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- TH Bd. 18
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- TH Bd. 37
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- TH Bd. 39
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- TH Bd. 47
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- TH Bd. 54
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- Skizze für Bd. 38
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- Skizze für TH Bd. 17
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- Skizze für TH Bd. 39
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- Skizze für nicht realisiertes Titelbild
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- dito
Gefangen in der Zeit (Trapped in Time)
Vampira is a horror pulp fiction series which was published by Bastei between 1994 and 1999. It reached 110 volumes, 50 in the typical German “Heftroman” format and 60 in in the more paperback-like “Taschenheft” format and with new numbering. Vampira was created by the author Manfred Weinland and the Bastei editor Manfred Schönenbröcher. A new edition started on May 3, 2011.
During the 90s I contributed 18 cover illustrations, all of them oil paintings on cardboard, approx. 40 x 50 cm. Almost all of them (except the covers for vol. 9 and 27 which dated prior to the series) were created after brief descriptions by the editor. As the series subtitle “Dangerous – Mysterious – Erotic” suggests, the motto “sex sells” was part of the basic idea, and the covers reflect that idea (not always, though, sometimes they were allowed to be more mysterious than erotic). The most important accessory of the heroine is a shape-shifting dress, whose literal “life of its own” justifies even the most absurd outfit …
Kind des Grals (Child of the Grail
The series’ title, “Vampira”, is not the heroine’s name but just a catchy word that summs up what this is all about (and maybe it’s a little hommage to Maila Nurmi). The title doesn’t even appear in the novels. The protagonist’s name is Lilith Eden, a not-too-subtle hint at the series’ mythological, actually biblical, background story that uses Old Testament motives as the fall of men and Noah’s ark as well as bits and pieces from other mythologies quite inventively.
The others authors of the pictured novels (besides Manfred Weinland) are Uwe Voehl (vol. 38), Carter Jackson (Taschenheft vol. 9) and Timothy Stahl (Taschenheft Vol 17, 18, 37, 54).
Overview of the whole Vampira series at gruselromane.de
Cover: © Bastei Lübbe
Landrus Sohn
Title Pages and Other Repeatedly Used Illustrations for Pulp Series , 1994–1999
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- Vampira, Rota-Seite
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- Vampira, Rota-Seite gedruckt
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- Vampira, Vorankündigungsseite
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- Vampira, drei Kapitel-Trenner
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- Die UFO-Akten, Rota-Seite
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- Amerika!, Rota-Seite
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- Amerika! Vorankündigungsseite
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- Maddrax, Rota-Seite
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- Maddrax, Vorankündigungsseite
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- Maddrax, drei Kapitel-Trenner
Vampira, Illustration for the reader's page
The so called “Rota-Seite” (named after the rotating printing machines) is the third page of a pulp magazine. In some cases it is illustrated with a fitting drawing to frame the teaser. I drew this kind of repeatedly used illustrations for four different pulp series. Maddrax and Vampira are still (or again) running, but have new title pages, Amerika! and Die UFO-Akten (inspired, obviously, by The X-Files) were abandoned after a year.
In 2011 I drew the title page for the series 2012.
Illustrations for Der Ritter von Alexandria (The Knight of Alexandria) und Die Druiden von Stonehenge (The Druids of Stonehenge) by Wolfgang Hohlbein, 1994/95
The books, published in hardcover by Bastei Lübbe, are the second and third part of the juvenile book series Kevin of Locksley, which takes place in the 12th century; the eponymous protagonist is Robins Hood’s half brother.
The first volume (Kevin of Locksley) was illustrated by Christian Turk. Because he wasn’t able to finish the illustrations for the second one (The Knight of Alexandria), I stepped in and provided, in addition to the already drawn pictures, four more (among them the first two images in the gallery above). Later on I illustrated the third book (The Druids of Stonehenge) and the fourth (The Way to Thule) with 12 drawings each.
Cover Illustrations for the Pulp Series Professor Zamorra, Part 2, 1994–2002
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- Bd. 620
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- Bd. 681
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- Bd. 700
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- Bd. 703
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- Bd. 720
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- Bd. 749
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- Bd. 759
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- Bd. 798
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- Bd. 799
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- Bd. 863
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- Bd. 688
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- Bd. 789
Teri Rheken
Almost half of my pulp novel cover illustrations (26 paintings) were used for the Horror/Fantasy/SciFi series Professor Zamorra, published by Bastei. You can see the first 12 examples in part 1.
The covers for vol. 620 and 759 were painted without an explicit commission, but with regard to certain characters from the series; the subsequent novels were inspired by the images. Vol. 703 and 720 (and two others I leave out) were cover illustrations I originally created for Zaubermond, they were used by Bastei for the second time. The illustrations for vol. 688, 681, 700, 749, 759, 789, 798 und 799 were based on descriptions by the main author, Werner Kurt Giesa. These descriptions could be detailed or vague, for example “something with wolves, please” (vol. 749) or “The novel is called Weresnail on a Rampage – you can do what you like, but the weresnail should resemble Jabba the Hut.” (vol. 789) (Weresnail, yes. The novel was meant as a horror parody.) Sometimes I omitted details I considered dispensible on my own authority, in the case of vol. 668, for example, a car in front of the colosseum.
Brooklyn Bridge
Some of the novels were written by other auhors than Werner Kurt Giesa: Claudia Kern (vol. 720; with WKG: vol. 703), Timothy Stahl (vol. 749), Martin Kay (with WKG: vol. 789), Andreas Balzer (vol. 798, 799) and Christian Schwarz (vol. 863).
My last Professor Zamorra cover, Schwingen des Todes (Wings of Death), painted in 2002 after I had come back from a New York vacation, was published in 2007. Since I had started to work as an assistent curator for the Stately Museums Kassel in 2002, i was lacking time. Or maybe I just got lazy.
Werner Kurt Giesa died in 2008. This picture gallery is dedicated to him. I owe him a lot.
Übersicht über alle Professor-Zamorra-Romane bei gruselromane.de
Cover: © Bastei Lübbe
Illustrations for a John Sinclair Anniversary Paperback Edition, Part 2 (Vol. 5–11), 1994–96
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- Bd. 5/1, Die Todesgondel
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- Bd. 5/6, Der Unheimliche von Dartmoor
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- Bd. 5/7, Die Nacht des schwarzen Drachen
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- Bd. 5/8, Die Killerpuppen
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- Bd. 6/8, Flugvampire greifen an
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- Bd. 7/1, Im Haus des Schreckens
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- Bd. 7/4, Die Totenkopf-Insel
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- Bd. 7/6, Damona, Dienerin des Satans
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- Bd. 7/7, Der Mörder mit dem Januskopf
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- Bd. 8/7, Geister-Roulette
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- Bd. 9/2, Das Mädchen von Atlantis
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- Bd. 9/7, Das Dämonenauge
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- Bd. 10/2, Der unheimliche Mönch
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- Bd. 10/3, Der Satanist
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- Bd. 10/4, Maringo, der Höllenreiter
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- Bd. 10/7, Die Rückkehr des Rächers
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- Bd. 9/5, Das Horror-Taxi von New York
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- Bd. 10/8, Teufelstrank um Mitternacht
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- Bd. 11/4, Die Horror-Reiter
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- Bd. 11/8, Der Alptraum-Garten
Bd. 7/3, Im Nachtclub der Vampire
A selection of 21 out of 32 illustrations for the John Sinclair anniversary paperbacks, vol. 5–11. The edition was chronological reprint of the original horror pulp series by Jason Dark (Helmut Rellergerd). Each book included 8 novels, the interior illustrations replaced the original color covers but were not supposed to imitate them in any way.
Altogether I illustrated 21 volumes with 169 drawings; more images in part 1, 2 und 4.
Overview of all John Sinclair books at gruselromane.de.
Illustrations for the Horror Pulp Series Dämonenland , Part 2, 1994–96
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- Bd. 122, Earl Warren, Der Fluch des Inka
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- Bd. 124, W.K. Giesa und Manfred Weinland, Aufbruch der Werwölfe
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- Bd. 133, Fritz Leiber, Spielball der Hexen
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- Bd. 134, Frank Bowman, Satans Erbe
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- Bd. 136, Logan Derek, Der Augensammler
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- Bd. 137, T.R. Mahn, Das Monster aus der Tiefe
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- Bd. 138, R. Warner-Crozetti, Die Kapuzenmänner
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- Bd. 139, Hugh Walker, Bestien der Nacht
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- Bd. 142, Wolfgang Hohlbein, Das Phantom der U-Bahn
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- Bd. 146, Dan Shocker, Schreckensmahl
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- Bd. 152, Uwe Voehl, Im Schloss der 1000 Tode
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- Bd. 153, James R. Burcette, Der Herr der Untoten
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- Bd. 153, James R. Burcette, Der Herr der Untoten
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- Bd. 161, James R. Burcette, Die sanften Bestien
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- Bd. 164, Das Grauen von Chichen Itza
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- Bd. 167, Earl Warren, Der Satansorden von Chalderon
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- Bd. 169, Damian Fox, Die Spur des Drachen
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- Bd. 169, Damian Fox, Die Spur des Drachen
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- Bd. 172, Rebecca LaRoche, Der Dschungeldämon
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- Bd. 173, W.K. Giesa und Manfred Weinland, Die Vampir-Klinik
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- Bd. 173, W.K. Giesa und Manfred Weinland, Die Vampir-Klinik
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- Bd. ?
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- Bd. ?
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- Bd. 141, Manfred Weinland, Schattenkinder
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- Bd. 174, W.K. Giesa und Manfred Weinland, Draculas Rückkehr
From 1991 till 1996 I drew about 160 illustrations for the horror pulp series Dämonenland, published by Bastei (more here). In the beginning I shared the job with Thorsten Krächan, after he had left I did it exclusively. In addition, four oil paintings were used as cover illustrations.
Overview of all Dämonenland booklets at gruselromane.de.
Cover Illustrations for John Sinclair and Other Pulp Series, 1993–95
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- Gruselschocker Bd. 67
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- John Sinclair Special Bd. 37
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- Mitternachtsroman Bd. 749
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- Raven Bd. 4
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- Raven Bd. 7
John Sinclair vol. 960
The cover illustration for John Sinclair, the most popular German horror pulp series, was originally created for a paperback, Andrew Neiderman’s thriller The Solomon Organization, but finally not used for the book. It’s my only regular John Sinclair cover. In addition, six original Professor Zamorra and Dämonenland cover images were used for the John Sinclair Special Edition, six more pictures were re-used for the horror series Grusel-Schocker.
The two cover illustrations for the miniseries Raven by Wolfgang Hohlbein were originally painted for Professor Zamorra and Zaubermond’s Dan Shocker Edition.
The ghostly piper, my only cover in the so called “Frauen-Grusel” section, was a commissioned work painted according to a description.
Black and white illustrations for John Sinclair paperbacks here (part 1 of 4).
All the above series can be found at gruselromane.de.
Cover: © Bastei Lübbe
