FIRESTARTER

Cover illustration for Stephen King

Apr 07, 2025

Lit by a building set ablaze on the horizon, a young girl stands on a ridge overlooking the destruction. Next to her lay the charred husks of two humans, reduced to little more than skeletal remains. Lines of zig-zagging fire run through the field behind her, indicating that she was the point of origin of the inferno that clouds the sky with billowing black smoke. Her hair whips in motion as if she's just caught sight of the audience. Her eyes are fixed with searing intensity on her next target. — FIRESTARTER (1980), Acrylic on Masonite - 20" x 30"

It might surprise some that my first work with Stephen King wasn't The Gunslinger. We first met at the World Fantasy Convention in 1979 where we were both Guests of Honor.

Low quality photo from the World Fantasy Convention held in Providence, RI in 1979. Stephen King speaks from the lectern. Next to him sits a young Michael Whelan with his wife Audrey Price. — Stephen King speaking at the World Fantasy Convention in 1979

The cover assignment for Firestarter from Phantasia Press followed shortly after, but due to limited exposure—only 725 LE copies and 26 lettered were produced—many fans never saw the art until its inclusion in The Art of Michael Whelan in 1993.

Side-by-side, the program cover for the fifth World Fantasy Convention featuring art by Michael Whelan and the original art titled EMERGENCE. A monster emerges from an eyeball that shatters like glass. — Program cover for World Fantasy Convention featuring EMERGENCE (1979)

I used my niece Laina as model for the main character Charlie, seen here experiencing her full power. Over the years, many have remarked on the similarity to Drew Barrymore, but the painting predated the movie by 4 years.

A year later, when the time came to discuss artists for The Gunslinger, the author had one name. And that's how my decades long association with the Tower began.

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