JOB: A COMEDY OF JUSTICE

Cover illustration for Robert A. Heinlein

Mar 03, 2025

A halo hangs over the head of an unkempt man in raggedy overcoat as he extends his hands in a shrug that says, "Whatya gonna do?" Weightlessly he floats in front of a violent sky covered by clouds tinted gold and red. A mix of symbols winds around him defined by a zig zag of a road. A futuristic silver sports car speeds along in ascent until it fades into clouds. Overhead coins, a cross and chalice spill along the path implied by the road. Over one shoulder a trio of tiny devils hover. Over his opposite shoulder, set lower down, a cluster of penitent angels gather. One carries a blue standard, another a large cross. In front of our everyman the symbols morph into nonsense: a blimp, a book, a sundae in parfait glass, a pair of old brown shoes, a variety of plates, and a monkey smoking a cigarette. — JOB: A COMEDY OF JUSTICE (1984), Acrylic - 30" x 20"

This was a difficult book to illustrate. When confronted with a plethora of ideas, themes, and opinions, the best I could do is mirror that complexity rather than to choose only one idea and compose a misleading cover.

LEFT: Rough color study capturing the shrug in front of gold and red clouds with dusky blue sky showing above. RIGHT: Rough color study capturing the shrug in front of a cream colored background that blends to red below. The sky above is rendered darker green. — Color studies for JOB: A COMEDY OF JUSTICE

While reading this book, I thought the cover painting should suggest antique Vatican art, so I chose a color scheme that hinted of age and heavy coats of varnish gone yellow. It occurred to me to add a "crackle" varnish coat and apply gold leaf to the halo, but I decided that both effects wouldn't have made the transition well into print.

A preliminary sketch of a man in ordinary clothes shrugging as a thin halo hangs over his head. — Pencil sketch for JOB: A COMEDY OF JUSTICE

A side note: to get the right angle and lighting on the figure's shoes, I had a friend hang from a tree by his hands while I sketched his feet. I had to draw quickly!

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