The Metal Art of Michael Whelan

Have you ever seen a book cover and thought, “Wow, that’s the most eccentric, ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.”? Well, there’s a good chance that the cover in question was done by Michael Whelan. For a long period between the 70s and 90s, bookstore and library shelves were dominated by incredible works of cover art that occasionally far outstripped the quality of the books within. Let’s take a look at Whelan’s career, accomplishments, and works.

Who Is Michael Whelan?

Michael Whelan is an American fantasy artist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest fantasy and science fiction illustrators of all time. His art is absolutely everywhere, and it has been featured on innumerable bestsellers, including those by such prominent names as Stephen King, Anne McCaffrey, and Isaac Asimov. He has won tons of awards, and his style might be described as fantastical realism.

Whelan was born in Culver City, California in 1950. He showed an early interest in art and followed his passion until adulthood. He earned a painting degree from San Jose State University in 1973, and after graduation, he began his career as a freelance artist. Through a rare combination of luck and skill, he quickly found work illustrating book covers for science fiction and fantasy publishers.

What Were His Most Famous Covers?

Whelan's early work was notable for its incredible attention to detail and its ability to convey a sense of wonder and imagination. He often combined realistic, almost classical human figures with epic, magical, and colorful backdrops. The style resonated well with audiences, and he quickly became one of the most sought-after illustrators in fantasy and science fiction. Some of his early successes included The White Dragon, The Best of H.P. Lovecraft, and Aliens!, a Sci-Fi Anthology.

While it’s far from his most dramatic, one of Whelan's most iconic pieces is the cover art for Stephen King's The Gunslinger, the first book in King's Dark Tower series. The cover features a lone gunslinger standing against a bleak, post-apocalyptic landscape. A sense of desolation and despair pervades the image, as a crow spreads its wings ominously on the man’s shoulder. Readers and critics seemed to agree that the scene perfectly captured the tone of King's story, and today it is widely considered to be one of the greatest book covers ever created.

Semi-realistic scenes like that of The Gunslinger are cool, but they aren’t exactly what Michael Whelan was known for. He continued to evolve throughout the 1980s and 1990s, during which he experimented with increasingly fantastical techniques and styles. In general, his work became more abstract and expressionistic, while still retaining the same level of detail and imaginative energy that had made his earlier efforts so popular.

During what was arguably his golden era, most covers featured lush fantasy backgrounds and figures of exotic beasts, aliens, or idealized human characters. Women were almost always unashamedly hot, whether well-dressed or half-naked. Men were usually drawn in cool action poses, often with Schwarzenegger builds.

Did Whelan Work With Other Mediums?

Maybe you’re illiterate and you’ve never been to a library, but you’re still thinking you recognize some of this. Well, if you’re a music fan, you’ve probably seen some of Whelan’s album covers, which were commissioned by such popular and iconic musicians as Meat Loaf and Sepultura.

He has also created images for trading cards, calendars, and other merchandise. If you’re a Magic: the Gathering nerd, perhaps you recognize his Nalathni Dragon card (but probably not, as it’s 1/1 and not really that great).

Over a long career, Michael Whelan won countless awards for his work, including multiple Hugo Awards for Best Professional Artist and the Spectrum Grand Master Award in 2017. His art has been featured in galleries and exhibitions around the world, and his influence on fantasy and sci-fi simply can’t be overstated.

Have you ever seen Heavy Metal, the insane, hypersexual ‘80s film featuring a woman riding a strange, flying beast?

Something about this cover seems oddly familiar….

Oh yeah…

Anyway, Michael Whelan is a true master of his craft, whose art has inspired and captivated audiences for decades. His incredible attention to detail, his vivid imagination, and his ability to capture the essence of a story in a single image have made him one of the most celebrated fantasy artists of all time.

And if you’d like to read something as epic as these images, check out our books, including The Elder Wyrm, a retro fantasy novel inspired by the art and music of the 70s and 80s,