Out of this World: the art of Josh Kirby
Artwork for the Panther Books 1958 edition of the book by Edison Marshall. Painted 1957/8.
Edison Marshall’s 1951 novel - actually called The Viking - was made into a splendid film, The Vikings (1958), starring Kirk Douglas and Janet Leigh, whose faces appear on Kirby’s artwork. The cover’s celebrity portrait approach results in an untidy composition on this early ‘movie tie-in’ edition. The design idea was probably not Kirby’s but perhaps Panther’s art editor at the time, thought to be Ed Blandford.
Used with the permission of the Trustees of the Josh Kirby Estate.