Need help IDing an illustrated Sci-Fi book

Cafe Society
1

I was given a book for my bar mitzvah back in 1980 that I have lost in the intervening years. I can’t quite remember every detail but I am hopeful these details will bear fruit:

  • I am pretty sure the book was more illustration than written but I don’t know if I would call it a graphic novel. For one thing the form was much bigger, maybe 12"x12".
  • It was not Heavy Metal but I’d say there were similarities.
  • I think the story involved some sort of giant train.
  • There was a character named Pvt. Parts :smack:
  • There was at least one image of a woman, wearing a white shirt and the out-line of her nipple was enough to catch the attention of my 13 year old self.

I know the Dope has done more with less so my fingers are crossed.

2

I’m stumped at the moment. You said you got it in 1980, so that rules out Le Transperceneige, published in English as The Escape, which was made into the film Snowpiercer back in 2013. Also, I don’t recall a character with the decidedly English-speaking joke-y name of Pvt. Parts.

Epic Illustrated was started in 1980, but it was an anthology magazine like Heavy Metal and I don’t recall a train story in the first 2 years of publication.

I’ll keep thinking and looking tho.

3

Harry Harrison, Planet Story, illustrated by Jim Burns. Used to be in my school library in the early 80s, until the Christian Brothers caught sight of the illustrations.

4

Still on Amazon, too, nipples, trains and all.

5

Just under 2.5 hours for a correct response. Standards are slipping around here. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Apparently it’s Private Parrts, not Parts. Much more dignified.

7

That is the book! Thanks so much. I just ordered a copy.

8

Harrison did some weird crossover stuff in the 1980s, blending his skiffy and comix backgrounds. I remember a couple of completely second-rate short novels, in mass paperback format, with line illustrations throughout. Neither added up to being worth the cover price.

But you have to remember ALL female renderings had nipples in the late 1970s-early 80s, starting with the Farrah poster and going on to JC Penney mannequins. There was actually a subindustry of “modernizing” old mannequins with improved figures and prominent nips.

(The progression, for non-fans, is Speculative Fiction - Science Fiction - SF - sf - sci-fi - skiffy [which sticks to the roof of your mind].)

9

Took me right back to being 13 in 1981, it did.

10

Hell! Now I want a copy!

11

Me too!

Me too!

12

Wow…that would have held my attention at that age too!!

13

I got my copy yesterday; it is near-new condition. The artwork is amazing; the story is 100% Harrison ripping yarn in the Bill the Galactic Hero mold. I’m about halfway thru and so far it’s been a ton of fun.

Thanks very much for this thread, Ike and for knowing the book, Penfeather. This is a fantastic addition to my library.

14

Isn’t it Bil (only one “L”) the Galactic Hero?

15

Not on my copy it isn’t. It is, however, Bill, the Galactic Hero. Mea culpa; I forgot the comma.

Finished Planet Story last night before I went to sleep. And yeah, the similarities in characters, plot and writing style to Harrison’s best-loved and most well-known works made this just a blast to read. Jim Burns’ artwork is stunning and brings me right back to the late 1970s/early 1980s and reading great science fiction in OMNI magazine and Heavy Metal and Epic Illustrated.

Again, thanks to the OP and y’all for helping me add this to my collection.

I liked it so much I just ordered a copy of Mechanismo to keep it company on the shelf!