On the Cover: Bob Eggleton

How Bob Eggleton Saved Earth from Annihilation:

Whenever there was a decision to annihilate an inhabited world, there were bound to be few naysayers. However, the plan to destroy the Earth was a little less controversial. Asteroid 13562 was a candidate. The space rock was the correct size, and given its orbit, it would be easy to nudge it on a collision course with the Earth. Among the selection committee, there was curiosity that it bore the title “Bobeggleton.” It was correctly assumed that this was the name of a human. But who the hell was Bob Eggleton?

Earth Annihilation Project Status: Project Aborted

A human with a unique mentality has been identified and recorded. Bob Eggleton is a repository of myth, legend, cultural tales, science fiction, film history, horror, artistic traditions, and narrative structures. He is embedded in an extensive network of social connections in which he is honored and highly influential. He has great curiosity. Annihilation cannot be authorized when a unique life form can be lost. The single example of Bob Eggleton is sufficient to cancel the project given the possibility that there might be others like him within his species. Suggest initiating a project to promote coexistence.

Now it is time to focus on the real Bob Eggleton: Bob Eggleton does have an asteroid named after him. “It was those guys who watch for stuff in space that could destroy the earth. They’re the ones that have a direct line to the president and they’ve used it more than once. They knew my art and thought I was worthy enough to have an asteroid named after me.” It is also true that to be in conversation with Eggleton is to be exposed to a stream of fascinating information, at firehose velocity, on such topics as Star Trek and Godzilla conventions, science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, movies of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, book covers, posters, and comic books, “Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius,” The Ant Bully, Magic: The Gathering, Godzilla in Hell, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, and more. After a forty-five-minute Zoom call with Eggleton, I felt my work was cut out for me. I had to check out all the references, ideas, and opinions he had thrown at me. For example, I looked up these three as soon as the call ended: 5,000,000 Miles to Earth, Prog Core Fantasy, and Guillermo del Toro’s unmade movie At the Mountains of Madness. I haven’t even talked about Eggleton’s artwork yet. Let’s not beat around the bush; he is the preeminent illustrator of science fiction working today. Impressively, he has won The Hugo Award – science fiction’s equivalent of the Oscars – nine times. Even more impressive, between 1998 and 2012, he had 32 nominations. Perhaps most impressive is the work itself.

Eggleton is prolific. His output is so varied it can be hard to know where to start. However, here’s as good a place as any: the Godzilla vs. Biollante poster issued by Mondo, which references the 1989 sci-fi/ horror film of the same name. It’s a highly detailed and realistic portrait of Godzilla entangled with a gigantic carnivorous plant, created from Godzilla’s genetic material. The similar color and texture of the skin of Godzilla and Biollante suggest a familial relationship. It also conveys what is at stake in their battle. Your eye is drawn to the rose, which is gorgeous and repulsive. The saturated greens, blues, reds, and yellows jump out at you like the very best of Pop Art. Get a print copy of this issue of Motif… maybe five copies. Hold on to them. Take them to G-FEST 2025 and get Eggleton to sign them. No guarantees, of course, but in a few years, who knows, it could be the equivalent of your kid’s college tuition. — John Kotula