The Illustration Poll: Warlock of Firetop Mountain

[drmanhattan]

OK, I guess this might be several years too late to get any interest, but let's give it a try.
I think I managed to snag all the internal illustrations of Russ Nicholson from Warlock of Firetop Mountain, truly a grab bag of archetypes, rats, bats, orcs, vampires, zombies, worms, spiders, cylops, minotaur, troll, its all in here.


Nominate your favourite THREE illustrations (I included the filler treasure stash and sword as one entry) then we can see those three in a bigger size and have a proper vote. I suspect I know the image which sticks with most of us who read this back in the 80s but there are so many great memories here, even the images without monsters.

(dont read anything into Cyclops being "selected" in the thumbnail above, and I noticed I finger fudged the word "snake". please don't write in)

[Law]

The necrophage... Kaneki-kun... And the ghouly-gin-gan-ghoul.

Okay, the wild man and the ***k in a box are my 2nd and 3rd picks.

[bloodbeasthandler]

Ghoul, Zagor, Minotaur. 
I remember trying to copy them all at the time, with mixed results. 

[daredevil123]

My favourite is the Warlock - he looks genuinely intimidating and the illustration builds a sense of anticipation before the final battle. I also remember reading the book at school once and freaking out a teacher with the picture of the ghoul.

[peasantscribbler]

1. ghoul--best jump-scare in the book.
2. wild man--pretty menacing, heightens the dilemma of what to do about him.
3. armoury--really makes me want to take that shield.
Honourable Mention: boathouse skeletons--Finally, I can see what's behind the door before opening it.

[kieran]

Chest - because it's so rewarding to actually see the treasure after all that

Warlock - because he looks damn cool

Drunken Orcs - because there's so much character and detail going on

[linflas]

WOFTM illustrations never left a mark on me but, objectively the ones who look best to me are
orc chief
wild man
zombies

[drmanhattan]

If I add my own results (Wildman, Dragon, Ghoul) then Ghoul is ahead on tiebreak. 4 votes but 3 1sts and a 3rd (total: 6) compared to Wildman with a total of 6 but two 1sts and two 2nds.


daredevil123 did not pick a 2nd/3rd after Zagor so that could change things


7 voters

Ghoul (1, 1, 1, 3)
WildMan (2, 1, 2, 1)

Zagor (2, 1, 2)

Chest (1)
Orc Chief (1)

Dragon (2)

Snakeinabox (3)
Minotaur (3)
Armory (3)
Drunken Orcs (3)
Zombies (3)



I do like a lot of the understated illustrations for the strong sense of nostalgia, that first tiptoe past a sleeping orc, the portcullis closing, the rest weary traveller bench, the shield in the armory etc even the first cave opening

[Peter]

All of them transfixed me as a youngster. On reflection:
The entrance - evocative
The wild man - a great example of an illustration as a mid-action snapshot
Kieran's suggestions, for his reasons.

[Wilf]

Cyclops, Minotaur, Tools.

[drmanhattan]

For me I do think the sleeping orc has the most nostalgia just that first few paragraphs there you are choosing to sneak past a guard, no idea how tough he is or what will happen. Amazing memories,

The dragon was something that haunted me, I played the book so many times and kept seeing that image but didn’t find it for ages. Probably a few other illustrations too but the dragon was an iconic monster it was bizarre to me that it didn’t turn up in all the possible routes, where were you damnit!!! Of course we should blame the Maze for that though haha

I assumed when I started that the ghoul would easily be the most iconic but I’d just forgotten that amazing wild man picture, so full of life and energy. Amazing. Like the armory comment so many of them also used the in room perspective to really accentuate that you were drawn into the book as the active hero.

[daredevil123]

Jun 14, 2021 8:44:29 GMT drmanhattan said:

daredevil123 did not pick a 2nd/3rd after Zagor so that could change things

Sorry, my first is Zagor, my second is the ghoul and my third is the wild man in the cell (whom I regrettably killed in my first attempt at the book).

[drmanhattan]

I interpreted Peter comment as "Chest in 3rd" since it was the top of @kierans list.


9 voters

6 votes:
WildMan (2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3) (only 2 1st place votes though)

5 votes:
Ghoul (1, 1, 1, 3, 2) (currently leading 1st place votes with 3)

3 votes:
Zagor (2, 1, 2)

2 votes:
Chest (1, 3)
Minotaur (2, 3)

1 vote:
Orc Chief (1)
Entrance (1)
Cyclops (1)

Dragon (2)

Snakeinabox (3)
Armory (3)
Drunken Orcs (3)
Zombies (3)
Tools (3)

Not sure if "most votes" or "most 1st place" should count but clearly Wild Man & Ghoul are leading, with Zagor currently in 3rd.

[drmanhattan]

I have mailed Russ Nicholson to thank him personally and double check its OK that I posted the mini thumbnails in the original post.
If this thread proves popular I might consider continuing the series and even posting it to some kind of blog in lieu of me getting started on playing the many books I never got round to when I was younger (thinking maybe take the plunge with SOrcery, long overdue, never left Khare in the old days)

[drmanhattan]

I am going to try and do an illustration (I'm no artist so it will be pretty ugly), but of one thing in the book that doesnt have one. I seem to remember some Barbarians in there, and we don't see the Vampire, or even the old boatman and I am sure there are several more rooms and creatures* which didnt get the Nicholson treatment.

* Giant, Wight, Ogre, Crocodile, Piranha, Gremlin, Wererats, Cavemen, Werewolf, Magic Boots, they really got almost all the tropes into this mountain!

[The Count]

Paintings Room
Giant Spider
River

I think the ghoul is utter crap btw

[drmanhattan]

I interpreted Peter comment as "Chest in 3rd" since it was the top of @kierans list.


10 voters

6 votes:
WildMan (2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3) (only 2 1st place votes though)

5 votes:
Ghoul (1, 1, 1, 3, 2) (currently leading 1st place votes with 3)

3 votes:
Zagor (2, 1, 2)

2 votes:
Chest (1, 3)
Minotaur (2, 3)

1 vote:
Orc Chief (1)
Entrance (1)
Cyclops (1)
Portraits Room(1)

Dragon (2)
Giant Spider (1)

Snakeinabox (3)
Armory (3)
Drunken Orcs (3)
Zombies (3)
Tools (3)
River (1)

Not sure if "most votes" or "most 1st place" should count but clearly Wild Man & Ghoul are leading, with Zagor currently in 3rd.

[drmanhattan]

Jun 14, 2021 11:33:11 GMT The Count said:

Paintings Room
Giant Spider
River

I think the ghoul is utter crap btw

I'll be honest, but that comment is both unnecessary and rather silly. Fine if you don't like it, but can you show some of your own work as a comparison? Russ Nicholson is a talented and legendary artist and the ghoul an iconic image that stayed in the memory of many many people for decades. What is "crap" about it. It's one of the best pen and ink sketches of a rotting corpse coming to life that I've seen. Hardly "crap".
Or maybe you're someone who is offended by "undead" and "hellish" connotations perhaps.
anyway, a bizarre and uncalled for criticism IMO.

[drmanhattan]

this was pretty cool. not seen this before
russnicholson.blogspot.com/2010/10/emmanuel-and-his-story-strip.html

[a moderator]

1) Ghoul
2) WildMan (the enlarged version of this in issue 1 of Warlock magazine shows so much fine detail)
3) Spider

[drmanhattan]

I interpreted Peter comment as "Chest in 3rd" since it was the top of @kierans list.


11 voters

7 votes:
WildMan (2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2) (only 2 1st place votes though)

6 votes:
Ghoul (1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1) (currently leading 1st place votes with 4)

3 votes:
Zagor (2, 1, 2)

2 votes:
Chest (1, 3)
Minotaur (2, 3)
Giant Spider (2, 3)

1 vote:
Orc Chief (1)
Entrance (1)
Cyclops (1)
Portraits Room(1)

Dragon (2)

Snakeinabox (3)
Armory (3)
Drunken Orcs (3)
Zombies (3)
Tools (3)
River (3)

Not sure if "most votes" or "most 1st place" should count but clearly Wild Man & Ghoul are leading, with Zagor currently in 3rd.

[drmanhattan]

You can see some higher resolution images of the top 3 contenders on Russ' blog








and very many more amazing illustrations

russnicholson.blogspot.com/

[kieran]

Jun 13, 2021 20:23:06 GMT daredevil123 said:

I also remember reading the book at school once and freaking out a teacher with the picture of the ghoul.

I used to be too scared to look at the ghoul picture. I used to have to take a deep breath when I knew it was coming up. Same for the screaming child in Midnight Rogue and that freaky woman in Khare.

[drmanhattan]

Checking the figures again

Votes 1sts Avg Pos.
Ghoul 6 4 1.50
Wildman 7 1 2.00
Zagor 3 1 1.67
Chest 2 1 2.00
Orc Chief 1 1 1.00
Entrance 1 1 1.00
Cyclops 1 1 1.00
Portrait Room 1 1 1.00
Minotaur 2 0 2.50
Giant Spider 2 0 2.50
Dragon 1 0 2.00
Snake in a Box 1 0 3.00
Armoury 1 0 3.00
Drunk Orcs 1 0 3.00
Zombies 1 0 3.00
Tools 1 0 3.00
River 1 0 3.00

[drmanhattan]

Russ was very happy with me posting the images here, it was WONDERFUL to hear from a legend who brought so much joy and excitement to this teenage boy (now a 50 year old codger). I didn't realize he wasn't in the best of health, but I know all fans of FF will join me in wishing him all the best and hope that things take a turn for the positive rather soon. Thank you Russ, do not underestimate the role your wonderful drawings had on the success of these wonderful books. It's a bit rude having a poll for the best since each of them have their own bit of magic and as others said higher up in the thread, all of us who were there back in the day have memories of all these images and what they meant in our beginning adventures!

[philsadler]

Ghoul
Minotaur
River

[dragonwarrior8]

The Sleeping Orc is the illustration that got me hooked on the book and I will never forget the moment I first saw it. After that I would say Ghoul and Drunk Orcs.

[drmanhattan]

[sylas]

Zombies
Ghoul
Dragon

[arekkusu]

I'll mention that other illustration from Warlock.