Weird Wheels


Here's a few intriguing monster hot rod hybrids from an old bubblegum trading card series called Weird Wheels. A handful of these cards can be viewed on flickr. A smaller, but complete collection, can be seen here.

R.M. Ballantyne - “The Kitten Pilgrims” 1882


The following illustrations and prose can be found in the incredible childrens book written and drawn 126 years ago by R.M Ballantyne, The Kitten Pilgrims. The story involves a group of kittens and a dog who must adventure into a land of monsters, each one representing a different sin.


An awful creature first they met,
A worm of low degree;
Its name was Sloth—a terrible thing,
With tails that caught the three.
And down they fell, but Flim escaped,
And back to the rescue ran;
And stabbed, and gashed, and pluckily slashed,
As brave as the bravest man!

Chorus:
Oh-o-o-o! what terrible monsters they did fight
While travelling through the land!


In desolate land, remote and grand,
They met with the Griffin Rage;
The most horrible thing—head, body, and wing, -
That kittens could well engage.
They fought him hard, and they fought him long,
And he nearly killed them all;
For wasn’t he gruff, and fearfully tough,
Though at last he went to the wall!

Chorus:
Oh-o-o-o! what monsters fierce they had to fight
While travelling through the land!


An eight-armed Octopus next they slew,
On the shore of the lovely sea;
So flabby and still and dead he seemed, -
But a regular cheat was he.
With a beak concealed to tear their flesh,
And glittering eyes to glare;
A face all puckers, with dozens of suckers
Hid under him slily there.

Chorus:
Oh-o-o-o! what monstrous cheats they had to fight
While travelling through the land!


And now at last, the journey past,
“Home, home!” they shout with cheers.
When, ghastly and cold, that sinner of old,
The Giant him-Self appears.
They fight him and catch him, and horribly scratch him,
Till a biddable slave is he;
Then, back to the Mother, Truss, Flim, and the brother,
With Self and the Monkey flee.

Chorus:
Oh-o-o-o! what dangerous foes they fought and felled
While travelling through the land!

The entire book can be viewed at Athelstane E-Books.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Monsters


A Journey Round My Skull has posted a fantastic assortment of the more monster infested woodblock prints by Kuniyoshi on Flickr.
See the full set here.

Artist previously mentioned here.

Aegidius de Columna - De regimine principum, 15th - 16th century

Battling demons mounted on elephants composed of humans and animals. Gouache on paper,18th C.

Jean Edouard D'Argent - Les Lavandieres de la Nuit (The Washerwomen of the Night) 1861

The second copy is cropped due to a very ugly watermark logo from some print site.
I'm on the look out for a higher res copy of this painting, if anyone can help I'd really appreciate it, thanks!

What To Ask For Christmas


There were 2 books published this year which any fan of Monster Brains should really want to have on their bookshelf. The first is the biggest book of Lovecraft inspired artworks ever made and likely to ever be made. It isn't cheap but it is worth it. Granted, I got my copy for free because my artwork was included in the end pages, but if I had the money I would have spent it on this book.

It is normally priced at 400 US dollars but can be found for 270 dollars on Amazon. Visit Millipede Press to buy it directly from the publisher or if you'd like to pick out a more expensive version priced at 500 and 2,500 US dollars that include art prints and signed copies of the book autographed by the likes of H.R Giger, Mike Mignola and other artists involved in the book. You Kramers Ergot fans thought you had it bad! But honestly, this book is truly worth the money if you can afford it.

A brief review of the book can be found at The SF Site.

Pictures above found at a review of the book at Enter The Octopus.


The second book is the fantastic collection of monster artworks, Beasts! Book 2. Jacob Covey, the editor and designer of the book, has put together an amazing assortment of artist visions covering many legendary creatures through out history. I was honored to have a vast number of my monster drawings included across 4 pages in the book. You can buy it for 35 dollars at Fantagraphics.com

The first volume was recently reprinted and is also available here.

And check out the Beasts! Book blog to see more from the two books and related art shows.

Also, I'd like to welcome all Boing Boing readers. If you've never been here before, you have a lot of monsters to catch up on.

Desalles - Le Diable L'Emporte , hand colored etching, 1815

"Near the end of Napoleon's reign, he was often identified with the Devil. Napoleon is perched on the shoulders of the Devil, whose tail has the form of a snake with its teeth into Napoleon's arm. Napoleon is crying, perhaps from the pain of the snakebite or perhaps at the thought of his imminent plunge into the fires of Hell.

..the drawing was published in July 1815. The dépot légal was by Desalles and Henri-Gerard Fontallard on August 16, 1815." - source

Robert Lawson - Poo-Poo and the Dragons Illustrations, 1942

Lucas Cranach the Elder - Hell(lower part of the celestial ladder of St Bonaventura)woodcut, 1510.

Pre Historic Animals and Reptiles, 1889
I would like to request the help of anyone familiar with this kind of prehistoric creature illustration. I'm collecting work to present as a week long post devoted to dinosaurs next spring. I'm interested in illustrations of dinosaurs more along the lines of those found in this previous post where the interpretations aren't exactly scientifically accurate, but are perhaps more fantastic, thanks!

- image sent to me by artist Russell U. Richards

Sidney Sime - Zagabog Illustration, 1901
Here's a fantastic Sime illustration I'd not seen before. It is included in the book "Fancy Free" from 1901 and illustrates the poem "Zagabog" by Eden Phillpotts. The poem along with the entire book can be viewed in multiple formats at archive.org

- source

Sidney Sime previously mentioned here.