Monday 29 January 2018

The K'annals of Mars



Barsoom 40ked

Aye up folk,

I  generally like the gothic and the grimdark / Dark Baroque when it comes to 40k .. but I also appreciate many other styles of non 40k art..  I find myself wanting to combine an admiration for pulp sci fi  into a warhammer setting. I have been wanting to create some sort of early expansionist pre old night/ dark age of technology stuff for some time.. so i did some research and found that i would start this project with a loose homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series, John Carter of Mars.

I have never read any of the barsoom series , just did some research  here .  I wanted to capture a spirit of science fantasy ..

to quote Wikipedia : Distinguishing between science fiction and fantasy, Rod Serling claimed that the former was "the improbable made possible" while the latter was "the impossible made probable"

Its all wip and there is still no Jon K"ata nor his Princess but i thought i would share..

I imagine The  crashed ship His Jon K'atas' a human diplomat from terra who has crashed in the radwastes of mars.. bereft of communications he joins forces with a local mutants to fight the savage rad beasts and automatons that wander the barren red planet.





Radwastes of Mars


















Ras Thavas ( mad doctor archetype ) the mastermind of mars   a brilliant cognitive augmented ex mechnaicus thrall, thrown out of the forge for dabbling in abominable intelligence and gene splicing..




















On of Ras thavas's experiments, the mind of a man in a white ape like rad beast



















 Tars Tarkus






Leader of a group of nomad rad mutants








Sola






Tars Tarkus's daughter 



Tars & Sola

Hunting for automatons to trade back to the forge for food and weapons












The Starling 

Jon K'ata's stellar rocketship











Now crashed in the kannals of mars.. an ancient trench network of  vast ducts kilometers long , the crisscross the rad wasted martian landscape.. filled with feral automata and wandering rad  beasts. tribes of nomad thralls venture here to collect data cores and fragmenst of Mars's lost terraformed history.









Pulpy inspiration




























































6 comments:

  1. I'm sure I recognise some of the artwork from the Stewart Cowley/Steven Caldwell (Terran Trade Authority/Galactic Encounters) books from the 70's and 80's. Truly a fantastic collection of pieces inspired by the sci-fi imagery of that era. :3

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    1. Love the tta books , i only have the derelicts one though ._ so inspiring ._ i have seen a fe dios based on the art within._ i will have a look for them._ cheers gretchin.

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    2. You're a naughty naughty man, Mr Neil! I love the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs and this just fills my head with the itchy fingers of inspiration! ><

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  2. :D I really should get up to speed with my reading of the classics,._or just reading in general :D . Your stuff is always amazing ._ you sculpt like a pro.

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  3. great work a favbulous treasure trove of inspiration.

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