pulp hero over opinions?

[demonjuice]

what are people's opinions of the pulp hero cover?
I myself am fairly disappointed at the logo for the line, and the art for the cover. you look at how gorgeous original pulp covers still are, and other suppliments, and the covers looks unprofessional at worst and below standard at best

[Tclynch]

Logo loooks very cartoony, not really what I would try to convey if I were launching a product line. The cover art itself....better than most of the recent stuff I've seen but I long for the day when Hero had good art....

[demonjuice]

I have revised my opinion, The cover art for pulp hero is an embarasment, and cannot have an anything but an adverse impact on sales.
Just look at the text logo in comparision to the logo's other product lines alone, not to mention Justice Incorporated, and look how inferior it is. even on a dark background the distance visability of the logo is terrible. it takes just a few feet before it starts to disolve into something that looks like a rorshach puddle of p*ss because of the awful design.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Oh good lord. You haven't even SEEN the actual cover. You're basing all this nonsense on a low-res .jpg. :rolleyes:

[Tclynch]

I have revised my opinion, The cover art for pulp hero is an embarasment, and cannot have an anything but an adverse impact on sales.
Just look at the text logo in comparision to the logo's other product lines alone, not to mention Justice Incorporated, and look how inferior it is. even on a dark background the distance visability of the logo is terrible. it takes just a few feet before it starts to disolve into something that looks like a rorshach puddle of p*ss because of the awful design.
EEK! Dude...it's not THAT bad....:ugly:

[mallet]

Wow, you guys are being pretty harsh. I think the logo is fine. Same with the art. It might not be the type of picture I would put on a cover, but it is still good. (I'm partial to the giant robot/mad scientist style of pulp)

As for adverse sales? I doubt it. The Pulp genre is pretty unique and the people who want to play it, or are interested in it, will buy the book no matter what the cover looks like. Other people might buy it later with good word of mouth or reviews, in which case, again, cover art won't matter.

There has been way too much *****ing on these boards about book art. Art is so far down the list of importance it is not funny. It is the text of the book that is important. If you guys want fancy art go to a f--king museum.

[Blue]

Wow. Are we looking at the same cover?
Admittedly I'm somewhat of a Hero fanboy, but I think the cover's great!

[MisterBaldy]

I like the cover of PULP HERO...Looks very much like the cover of a modern "10¢ Store" novel.

Very nice work, in my opinion.:thumbup:

[Curufea]

Judging a book by ....

:)

[Sketchpad]

The art looks good ... I may have went with a slightly different logo, but it works.

[Beetle]

I thought about starting a thread like this when I first saw the cover, but didn't want to seem like a doom loving nabob of negativity. But since you asked my opinion, here goes...

I think the art itself is very nicely done. No complaints about the ability of John Grigni here. But I do have a problem with the content of it. Call me old fashioned, but I don't like that there's a man pointing a gun at a woman on the cover. Not a big deal perhaps, (I'm surprised it's bothering me actually) but it could be offputting for other people.

The logo, with it's big friendly yellow letters, seems more like something from Seventies game show than the era of hard boiled adventures to me. But I'm sure the person who designed it has probably done more research in this area than I have.

Bottom line - I don't think it will deter people from buying the book, but I doubt that it will positively influence people who are debating buying the book.

[Captain Obvious]

It's not bad. If I were making the call, though, I'd have two guys beating the crap out of each other while a dame in ripped lingerie screams in the background.

[Derek Hiemforth]

I do have a problem with the content of it. Call me old fashioned, but I don't like that there's a man pointing a gun at a woman on the cover.Bah. There's a man pointing a gun at a Nazi on the cover. The fact that she's a woman is totally incidental. :D

[Greatwyrm]

I like it well enough.

Out of curiosity, it the little bit of swastika you can see on the zeppelin enough to get the book banned in Germany? I was under the impression they're pretty picky about that.

[JTesla]

I have to join the "Like it" chorus. I think it conveys the feel that the book is trying to create. To an outsider, reading the words Pulp HERO isn’t going to be as much a draw as seeing what Pulp HERO is.

[pinecone]

Sorry...I like it...it seems very "pulpy" to me ...though I too would have liked a more "spicy story" style cover....say a adventurer/football player battling a natzi hand to hand to rescue a damsel in ripped clothes...to each their own I guess...:)

[Samurai007]

I was rather hoping that they'd decide at the last minute to use the Pulp Hero cover I did for the latest Digital Hero on the book instead, but they'd already commissioned the book cover, layed it out, and sent it off to press.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Tommiskey/Art/DHPulpCover32.jpg

[Blue]

Another great drawing. Boy things are looking up as far as forum art these days :)

[Super Squirrel]

Well if you consider your average pulp covers normally look like this:
http://www.imagenetion.com/supercoll/pulpart3/pages/p-Pulp_Art_060_H_J_Ward.htm

Or this: (Not Really all that Safe for Work)
http://www.imagenetion.com/supercoll/pulpart3/pages/p-Pulp_Art_059_Margaret_Brundage.htm

Or maybe this:
http://www.photonetion1.com/pinot/pulpart1/pages/p-Pulp_Art_010_H_J_Ward.htm

Or this:
http://www.photonetion1.com/pinot/pulpart2/pages/p-Pulp_Art_032_Rafael_de_Soto.htm

I think the art work is pretty good for the cover. It has action, adventure, and thrilling places all in the cover.

[Teflon Billy]

I thought your art was great for DH, but I personally don't like Nazi symbolism being used in general for something that is going to be the lead for an item, which the cover of a book is.

I know that wasn't your intent, and it clearly is an in-genre piece of art, I just find it to be crass. Look at any modern pulp action novel in the supermarket, you will invariably see a book that has a swastika on the cover. It catches the eye, it is salacious (in a non-sexual way) to our sensibilities.

So, I feel that the current cover art would have been the better choice even if your piece had been offered up in time.

TB

EDIT: Well, now that I look a little closer at the artwork it turns out that I'm not as observant as I thought I was. The airship clearly has a swastika on it's side, just it goes off the page so it isn't immediately obvious that it's a Nazi Airship. Well, it is obscured enough that it doesn't jump off the page and scream Nazi at me so it doesn't bother me so much as if it were front in center.

[Lysando]

Somehow a man shooting at a woman, even if she is a Nazi, I found very disturbing and not really in keeping at all with the Pulp genre. Call it sexist or whatever you like, but it seems to be to be in contradiction to the general attitude at the time that women were to be protected, generally, and not shot at.

I don't like this cover at all.

[Derek Hiemforth]

The cover rocks. Best. Cover. Ever.

[Admiral C]

The logo, with it's big friendly yellow letters, seems more like something from Seventies game show than the era of hard boiled adventures to me. But I'm sure the person who designed it has probably done more research in this area than I have.

Bottom line - I don't think it will deter people from buying the book, but I doubt that it will positively influence people who are debating buying the book.

I agree about the lettering. I have no problem with the art though (I thought I smelled a Central American temple weeks ago though). The lettering is really going to bug me as time goes on not only because it will be on my copy of Pulp Hero when I get one but I'll have to see the logo on any Pulp Hero products as well as everytime I got to the main part of the Hero web page under the procust catagories.

It's only a matter of time before all the logos appear next the appropriate bins on the message boards and I'll have to see it there too.

Adm

[Curufea]

I actually think a male shooting at a female gives it a Noir feel.

[BlackSword]

I like the cover art, very nice and conveys the feel and a lot of elements of pulp stories. The lettering in the title is a bit goofy to me, but its okay.

Shooting the dame doesn't both me so much, as Curufea said its not terribly uncommon in the noir stories for women to get shot.

[Blue]

Franky, I'm surprised the "shooting" aspect was even an issue.

[The Mad GM]

Look closely. The guy isn't shooting her. No muzzle flash, no smoke, no 'zing' lines. He is refraining from shooting her.

[Mad_Ernie]

I am going to agree with Demonjuice on this one. I don't like the cover art nor the logo. Now what's inside might be altogether different, but compared to what was used for the boxed "Justice Inc." set back in the early 80's, this is a big disappointment to me.

Mad_Ernie
:thumbdown

[austenandrews]

Well if you consider your average pulp covers normally look like this:
In terms of execution, those are considered some of the better pulp covers. But subject-wise, they're reasonable examples.

As for the PH cover, I don't like it. It looks too airbrush-y for my taste (pulp covers were vivid and high-contrast). The composition is lacking dynamically (a pulp cover should grab your eyes and throw them around the page; this has me searching the page to make sense of it). The rope anchors from the bridge intrude. The faces aren't clear, so the characters don't engage you. The temple-thing in the background is a pastiche, which is fine, except that it's not especially interesting.

All in all, not a great cover for the flagship of the product line.

[Greg]

I do a lot of Photoshop work and it looks like someone just found the text transformation tool for the "Pulp Hero" logo. As far as the art goes I don't care for it, but looking at Grigni's site I like his black&white art so I think it may just be the digital coloring that's just not evoking the pulp feel for me.

[PhantomNarrator]

I'm still positive about this book, and you can be sure my agents will be working to secure my hardcover and secret decoder ring, but frankly, when I compare this cover with the original art of the Justice Inc. box, I just want to :weep:

The logo is less offensive, but I'm sorry to say I think the cover is pedestrian. Worse, it's *computer generated* (shudder). Tres, tres non pulp!:tsk:

[Derek Hiemforth]

The cover's awesome. I have it set as my wallpaper on my computer, and I have it printed out and posted on my wall. Words can't describe how wonderful the Pulp Hero cover art is. Woohoo!!! :)

[Dr Rotwang!]

I wanna know if Storn was, like, busy that day or in Reno or somethin'.

[Dr Rotwang!]

Upon further reflection, I find that the book's cover is, at worst, not very exciting or evocative. I want to look at a pulp RPG cover that looks exciting, lurid and dynamic.

[James Gillen]

I do a lot of Photoshop work and it looks like someone just found the text transformation tool for the "Pulp Hero" logo. As far as the art goes I don't care for it, but looking at Grigni's site I like his black&white art so I think it may just be the digital coloring that's just not evoking the pulp feel for me.

Yeah, the coloring is a bit too "mod" for me.
But let's see: Ancient temple in the background- check.
Jungle bridge decorated with skulls- check.
Nice looking blonde- check.
Strong-shouldered guy in jungle fatigues- check.
Zeppelin (MANDATORY)- check.
Map and/or map scrollcase- check.
One party with scrollcase firing at the other with the map, who is escaping via a ladder dangling from the zeppelin- extra credit.

No problem there.

JG

[Fazhoul]

I was rather hoping that they'd decide at the last minute to use the Pulp Hero cover I did for the latest Digital Hero on the book instead, but they'd already commissioned the book cover, layed it out, and sent it off to press.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Tommiskey/Art/DHPulpCover32.jpg
Now THIS would have made an awesome cover. The covers are still too bright for a pulp cover though.

[st barbara]

I am not sure that the man on the cover is ACTUALLY shooting at the woman. Yes he is threatening her with his gun but he could just as easily be saying "Stop or I will shoot !"; trying to intimidate her into returning the stolen plans or blueprints or map or whatever she has in her hand.

[Old Man]

Cover art: meh. Could be better, but at least the subject matter is appropriate.

Logo: Pretty good, but could use a little extra... at least a thick stroke around the edges in a bold color like orange. Better would have been to separate 'Pulp' and 'Hero' visually by using different colors.

Interior layout is fantastic compared to previous genre books. See the difference a custom header font can make? There's still room for improvement, graphically, but at least we finally have a genre book that doesn't look like a Word document.

[demonjuice]

Having seen the cover in person, I am still admant about it being a very poor visual and business choice. In dramatic contrast to the qaulity of the content. It is like the company voiding it's bowels on it's own wedding cake.

[TheImperialKhan]

I wouldn't go that far.

But I have to say that I don't care for the Hero threatening a woman with a gun. It's just not appropriate for the genre.

Also I think the original JI cover had more pazzaz.

But you be the judge. Here's the JI cover to compare.

[st barbara]

Yes I think that the cover of "Justice Inc" was better; but the "Pulp Hero" cover is O K by me tto. Let's face it; the cover could have been all black with the words "Pulp Hero" in white block letters and I would still have bought it !

[AlHazred]

Compared to other Pulp RPGs, I find it to be fine. I mean, White Wolf's Adventure! (http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/Adventure.html) cover was kind of blah color-wise and had a static pose, while The Secret of Zir'An (http://secure1.white-wolf.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=70&products_id=632) cover has excellent colors but lame composition and content - where's the action? (Interestingly, an earlier version (http://icv2.com/images/335100secretziranlg.jpg) shows that the color scheme choice was made late in the game.) GURPS Cliffhangers, First Edition (http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/Cliffhangers/img/cover_lg.jpg), is halfway decent, but you get the feeling the real action is about three seconds later; meanwhile the Second Edition (http://www.hillcity-comics.com/role_play/gurps/sjg6027.jpg) cover has excellent action, but a crappy color scheme. Daredevils (http://www.leisuregames.com/acatalog/copy_of_copy_of_Daredevils_RPG.html) and its supplements from FGU had kind of a washed-out look, to me.

Of the independent, third-party pulp games: Planet Pulp's Pulp Adventures (http://www.invasivedesigns.com/planet-pulp/index.htm) has an incredibly crappy cover artist, but he got the elements and the color scheme right. Two-Fisted Tales (http://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=46) from Politically Incorrect Games has crappy cover art, especially the PDF (http://www.pigames.net/store/product_info.php?products_id=55) - dark and dim, and with none of the elements that make a pulp cover.

So, from all that, I'd say I might have liked to have seen an homage to the classic Justice Inc. cover (probably the greatest pulp rpg cover of all time), but I'm happy enough with the one I got. And the logo is fine - it's just what I'd expect to see on the cover of a pulp magazine.

Incidentally, while investigating this, I came across this interesting resource (http://www.fantasylibrary.com/lounge/pulpavengers.htm) on Gamemastering pulp adventures.