Sat 17 Jan 2015
An inquiry from Bill Bickley:
Hello- I’m trying to identify what book the painting I purchased recently was used on…any ideas?? I thought it was a Mack Bolan or Nick Carter but have gone through most of those covers online to no avail. Do you know or perhaps know someone who has an encyclopedic knowledge of these types of books you can show or post this for others to see and offer opinions/answers?? Thanks!
January 17th, 2015 at 4:37 pm
Doesn’t really look like a Carter of Bolan cover. The elements look a little like those in a Colin Forbes novel (title eludes me right now I think TANK IN ARMOR is the one I’m thinking of.).
Are you sure it’s a Bolan or Carter cover, because both tended to be in a much different style than that? That frankly looks more mainstream paperback.
January 17th, 2015 at 5:26 pm
The position of the characters may have led you to think of Carter or Bolan, but I agree with David. This is not either of those.
January 17th, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Isn’t there a current book franchise in publication, about a dog/cat pair of ex government agents who roam the world thwarting the enemies of America? I saw advertising recently, a bookcover with a man hanging off the skid of a seaplane, could be same characters as the duo in this painting.
January 17th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
It looks to me like a Gold Medal cover from the 70s or 80s, though it could be current. Colin Forbes was published by GM during that time, so that is a possibility.
On the other hand, the scene is awfully generic. It looks familiar but it’s not ringing any bells.
January 17th, 2015 at 7:16 pm
You could try asking Steve at Bear Alley. He may be able to help.
http://bearalley.blogspot.ca/
January 17th, 2015 at 7:26 pm
or, http://www.coverbrowser.com
January 17th, 2015 at 8:38 pm
My guess is this was an unused cover for the Boxer Unit OSS series, a Warner Books series from 1982 published under the house name Ned Cort. The style is very similar. There were only 4 vols published, I think. Maybe this was for an unpublished fifth volume? Whatever it is, it’s clearly set in WWII.
January 17th, 2015 at 10:29 pm
There were five in the series, and I’ve found cover images of all five. You’re right, Joe, they seem to be in the same style, but none are matches. Here are the covers of the first two. I can post the other three if anyone wants to pursue it.
January 17th, 2015 at 10:33 pm
The couple in book #2 look awfully close to the pair in the painting, don’t they? As long as I have them, here are the other three:
January 18th, 2015 at 12:41 am
WWII–because there’s apparently a German soldier in the far background? Otherwise I’m not so sure. The tanks are vague and the models of the guns look more recent than WWII. She’s got an automatic in her hand, right? But its not a Luger. I would have said it was a James Bond style snub-nose handgun *except* that the artist maybe took some liberties and added a long barrel. The girls hairstyle and the man’s jacket look hip as well…
January 18th, 2015 at 12:43 am
The man’s haircut too, looks ‘current-era’ and the way the babe is holding the gun–wasn’t that developed in the 1960s?
January 18th, 2015 at 2:25 am
I thought of the OSS series, but they usually depicted more than two of the main characters on the cover and this one would not adapt well to that lightning format cover.
Of course it could be a cover for a book that never actually got printed. It isn’t uncommon to cancel a series title even though the book is written and the cover ready for the printer since distribution is the big investment.
It does look as if it is a series and perhaps a WWII series, but it doesn’t look like any I recall in the Bolan or Carter series.
January 18th, 2015 at 9:37 am
You guys are good…lightning bolt covers are done by the same guy, James Dietz..he now specializes in all things military but back in the day he churned these covers out at the rate of a few per month. He never got this one back from the publisher and told me he has no idea where it was used. The male lead model was someone he used regularly, so yes same guy! I hope you guys keep coming up with ideas, you got closer in 1 day than I did in 1 month of poking around on my own.