Is it a metaphor?

I don't know if the keyhole's narrowest point is uneven, or just a result of the smarmy Martian's posture.

Or perhaps the odd angle of my photography. But something is off here.

What, me flrghpefrgp?

and what a difference!

Yeah, well, you know what they say about guys with long fingers ...

>2 EndofDiskOne: Angle of the photo, I'd say. If you line up the bottom of the keyhole with the bottom of the screen, the left side is a bit higher.

It's not really a bad cover: I think Kelly Freas does a decent job of suggesting "annoying little green guys with even less respect for people's privacy than the US government." They made a (not very good) movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martians_Go_Home_(film)

He looks like the Martian equivalent of a used car salesman to me.

>3 TorMented: More appropriate than you knew (or you're very clever/subtle): this is a Kelly Freas cover and he also drew the canonical Alfred E. Neuman.

@EndofDiskOne: I can't tell either. Owned this book for years and never noticed.

The book is a sarcastic comedy, and the Martians are jerks, so the cover is very appropriate.

Going to have to say: other than the keyhole weirdness, this is not a bad cover.

>8 GSSex-noob: I thought that it was a Freas cover, mainly because of the style. But the Martian also gave me an Alfred E. Neuman vibe. I don't know if the Martian has a missing tooth. For that matter, I don't know if Martians have teeth.

I don't see it, personally. AE Neuman often is a mocker, but he's also a fool; the Martian looks like he's about to say something nasty, but he doesn't look _stupid_.

A rather more basic cover.


And a distinctly misleading one.

>6 bam2001: I am so glad I missed that movie. I vaguely, vaguely recall how terrible the word of mouth/reviews were. Many of us were insulted. It was dismissed right away. We do not speak of it.

Later that same year I was watching a friend's table at a con and sold Kelly some very good pictures of Bette Page, which his wife had spotted first. He was a fun guy, great raconteur, and getting to see his work in art shows was always impressive. There's a poster around here that he autographed to Mr. xn.

>10 bam2001: That first cover makes me wonder what gives with the Martians wearing outfits the exact same color as their skin.

The second one is not only WTF, but I don't recall the book being what I'd call "eerie". It's a farce and I don't know what the amorphous blobs are intended to represent.

I've been reluctant to say it, but something about the Martian's facial structure reminds me of Wallace Shawn.

>12 GSSex-noob: Martians, I guess. Millions and millions of Martians.

>14 bam2001: They weren't translucent though.

@paradoxosalpha: Did the Martians advise against a land war in Asia?

>13 paradoxosalpha: Never go in against a Martian when death is on the line!