For a lot of us growing up, watching anime on Cartoon Network after school was our version of science fiction pulp stories from the mid-1900s. Given that pulp fiction and anime share some commonalities, it’s a bit odd that they haven’t been mashed-up more often. If the results turn out as good as this Dragon Ball Z x science fiction-style book covers, more artists should be looking to pair the two up.
Ástor Alexander has been creating unique art that re-imagines well-known characters on science fiction pulp novel covers. He might have hit the jackpot with his designs that would grace the covers of Astounding Science Fiction’s Androids Saga, a Dragon Ball Z story arc.
These covers brilliantly show what Android 17 and Android 18 would look like if this story was told back in the 1960s. The art depicts the two androids as the main characters of a sci-fi novel and perfectly marry the old science fiction style with famous Dragon Ball Z characters. Especially with all the extra touches, like the weathering on the art and the classic font, you are practically transported back in time. Which is handy when time-traveler Trunks makes his appearance in part three.
As fans of Dragon Ball Z know, the Androids Saga leads into the Cell Saga, and the most terrifying creation of Dr. Gero makes his menacing debut on the cover of part four.
If you like what you see here, you can check out Ástor Alexander’s webpages for a close-up look at this art as well as more stories that are given the pulp science fiction treatment. The covers look so good you can almost see yourself heading to the library and actually picking one up. Do you think there are any other stories that deserve the artistic throwback? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Tumblr (Ástor Alexander) via Kotaku
Top image: Tumblr (Ástor Alexander) (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Tumblr (Ástor Alexander)