Beyond Science Fiction

The Alternative Realism of Michael Whelan

Michael Everett

and

Michael Whelan

Apr 27, 2025

∙ Paid

Against the paneled concrete wall of a massive chamber, a stone sphere hovers as if by magic. The outer surface is polished and patterned with overlapping 5-pointed stars. Light from a simple bulb hanging inside fills the sphere with warm light. At the edge of a circular opening, a little girl in pink dress sits reading with her feet and the blanket beneath her dangling unsupported. The metal frames that structure the concrete wall have thoroughly rusted. Much of the stone is dingy and cracked. — Detail from IN A WORLD OF HER OWN

For artists, darkness is a “thing” while white is a boundless void. A robust sense of adventure is required to march headlong into a place where nothing exists yet anything is possible.

Bob Self, from his introduction to Beyond Science Fiction

LEFT: Angled photo of the Riverside Art Museum with the spiky shadow of a palm tree falling on the building facade. In primary colors, the letters A, R, and T overlap in sculpture RIGHT: Closer photo of the banner for "Beyond Science Fiction" featuring the robot Giskard from ROBOTS OF DAWN. — Riverside Art Museum with Beyond Science Fiction banner

Riverside Retrospective

In 2017, the Riverside Art Museum hosted Beyond Science Fiction, a major retrospective featuring over 50 paintings by Michael Whelan. The exhibition presented the best illustration and fine art that Michael produced over the span of his stellar 50 year career.

A hall of fame line up of illustrations—including covers for the Foundation trilogy, Stormbringer, The White Dragon, and A Princess of Mars—hung side-by-side with massive gallery works. Simply put, it was the single best display of original Whelan art that has ever been available for public viewing.

LEFT: An elderly man bound in a wheel chair sits with eyes cast to the sky. The white satin blanket trimmed in gold and decorated with stars and planets covers his legs. Visibly beneath it, his feet are set awkwardly askew, not firmly on the ground. Beneath a white suit jacket with a raven pinned to the lapel, he wears a black mock turtleneck with diagonal stripes on the collar. He looks stately as his arms are crossed and he props a vibrant red book in his lap. Beyond the platform where he sits, the planet has been transformed into a mechanized, futuristic city as far as the eye can see. Rendered in purples and blues, surface entirely metal. Topped by saucers of various styles, towers extend to a sky rendered upward in a gradient from pink to peach. CENTER: A once grand planetary metropolis falls into ruin as massive pillars crash in every direction. Standing casually in the wreckage, an emaciated figure in harlequin garb leans back with knee raised as he plays a futuristic string instrument. A ridiculous ruffled collar makes him look clownish as does the clashing pattern of stars on his shirt and checker board pants, all white on red satin. A tattered pink handkerchief is tied about his calf, but his boots sparkle. His short blonde hair is tussled over a brow raised in question. With his head tilted, his eyes catch the viewer in a knowing glance. His lips are curled in an almost smile. RIGHT: With a leather bag over her shoulder, a young woman with red hair stands on a metal platform set against a pastoral backdrop and blue skies. She wears an olive green jacket and striped shorts with yellow tights. Caught mid-step, she turns her head toward the audience. The angle of her legs are a mirror of the twisted metal of decaying towers that collapse into each other. — HARI (1985), THE MULE (1985), and ARKADY (1985)

Curated by Bob Self, the ringleader of Baby Tattoo Books, the exhibition opened February 11, 2017 and ran for three glorious months.

Michael greeted fans at the opening reception and came back to close the show with an evening at the UC Riverside Library where he spoke to J.J. Jacobson of the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

LEFT: A blonde woman in jeans and a white tank top stands on the concrete support of a highway overpass. Most of the structure is lit in golden twilight, but she stands in shadows underneath an expanse of green metal girders. With one arm out, she steadies herself against the structure while raising a lantern on a chain in the other hand. Opposite her, the tall towers of textured concrete combine with the curvature of the road to form an arc on the left side of the painting reminiscent of a question mark. Tall light poles, thin and roughly T-shaped, echo their form in the lower right. RIGHT: A massive blue-green wave rises to vertical like an exponential growth curve. From left to right, the water begins smooth and placid, rippling as the curve begins then running in long ridges up a wall of water that fills half the painting. Lavender clouds fill the background sky. — THE BIG QUESTION (2007) and WAVE (1994)

Most of the paintings were from the Whelan collection but a few were graciously loaned by private collectors. Transporting so much artwork across the country, of course, was an enormous task and came at some expense. It was all made possible through a successful Kickstarter campaign that ran months earlier and funded in just 45 minutes.

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A sweeping panoramic photo sweeping across one corner of the gallery at the Riverside Art Museum. The juxtaposition of paintings gives a real sense of scale with gallery art like THE BIG QUESTION occupying more space than THE WHITE DRAGON and A PRINCESS OF MARS combined. This represents only a fraction of the 50 paintings that were displayed. — Panoramic photo taken while hanging the exhibition

Commemorating the Exhibition in Print

Prior to Beyond Science Fiction, Baby Tattoo had run successful Kickstarter campaigns, including Beauties Beasts for Olivia De Berardinis and Jordu Schell, but this was the first crowdfunding we had been involved with.

The main reward was a book that shared the same title as the exhibition and catalogued the paintings on display. It was the first collected edition of Michael’s art produced in 25 years—and still remains his latest!

Cover A (left) features IN A WORLD OF HER OWN while cover B (right) features THE ASTROPHYSICIST — Covers A and B for *Beyond Science Fiction*, both available signed in our shop

View BEYOND SCIENCE FICTION in our shop

There is a limited edition hardcover (1500 unnumbered copies) exclusive to the campaign and a paperback edition widely available in book stores. Though there is a choice of cover art (either IN A WORLD OF HER OWN or THE ASTROPHYSICIST), the interiors are the same.

The books measure 7” x 10”—essentially the size of a graphic novel—and feature exquisite color reproductions. The smaller format makes it a perfect introduction to Michael’s work, and the lower price makes it an ideal gift idea.

We offered a range of more unique rewards in the form of original art: Leftovers & Palette Gremlins from that year, concepts for A MEMORY OF LIGHT and VICTORY, and a pair of Stephen King inspired visions.

Backers also had their contributions to funding the project commemorated at the back of the book. The retrospective would not have been possible without their generous support. Thanks to everyone who pledged and especially those who traveled far to see the show!

Feel free to drop any memories or photos into the Substack chat thread.

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LEFT: Bird's eye photo of the gallery at the Riverside Art Museum. Audrey Price and Bob Self look up from their work while hanging the show. Behind them is a lighted dimensional sculpture, a black pillar with a milky orb on top demonic flourishes. On the wall behind are paintings that include THE SNOW QUEEN and THE SUMMER QUEEN, both panels of LOVECRAFT'S NIGHTMARE, and smaller pieces from the Leftovers & Palette Gremlins gallery project. In the immediate foreground is a table with print outs of paintings. RIGHT: Michael Whelan sitting on the pedestal with a sculpture of the Baby Tattoo mascott, a large headed baby with buff body and tattoo on his chest posing with biceps flexed. — LEFT: Audrey Price and Bob Self coordinating the display of the paintings. RIGHT: Michael Whelan taking a moment to indulge in the moment

Remembering Bob Self (1966-2022)

In August of 2022, we were shocked to learn of Bob’s death as the result of a kayaking accident on Mono Lake.

It was obvious to anyone who met him that Bob was a showman to his core. He was a supporter of the arts and organizer of events like Baby Tattooville, an artist-centered convention, and Beyond Brookledge, a showcase of magic and variety acts. His events were experiences not to be missed. He was also a founder of Spectrum Art Live! convention.

Michael Everett

Photo of Bob Self and his introduction to *Beyond Science Fiction*

Introduction to Bob Self

We went to a tiny convention in Denver. The dealers room was truly the smallest we had ever seen. It was an especially small event for Michael to agree to be a guest, but it gave us a chance to visit with family and an old friend of Michael’s from high school.

There was one smallish ballroom with maybe 10-12 booths/tables. At one was Baby Tattoo Books. Bob told us he drove from LA just to meet Michael. He had been a Whelan fan since high school—even saving up the $1,200 to buy the lettered edition of The Art of Michael Whelan at that time.

Bob was so memorable that we kept in touch sporadically after that.

Some time later, we shared a booth with him at the New York Comic Con and he came up on the train to visit us. He was always so entertaining—even in our charmed lives of meeting so many famous and interesting people, he stood out.

We hung out with him again at the Spectrum show and that’s when he started talking about a book and a museum show.

Audrey Price

Weekly Art Recap

Grid of images 3 across in 2 rows corresponding to the list below. — Art featured from April 21 - 26

Tarrant’s Realm - cover for Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
The End of Nature VII - will folly doom us or ingenuity save us?
Chilling Grasp - prelim for At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
Wave - a mathematical exercise visualizing a population curve
The Gamplayers of Zan - classic SF cover for Michael A. Foster
Page Turner - proof a good book can hold your attention anywhere

Coming Soon…

Join us for another Whelan Wednesday as we continue to unveil art from A Memory of Light and At the Mountains of Madness.

An exclusive preview of the original art releasing this week will be available for our paid subscribers on Substack before the art is released in our shop on Wednesday, April 30 at 11am ET.

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Below the cut, there are nine bonus images, the proposed mockups Michael had to choose from for the cover of Beyond Science Fiction.