The Borisography: C

The two are paired because the supervillian Styfe is a clone of supehero Cable.

This fantasy version of the staff is everything you would expect from Boris and Julie but quite why it was painted I cannot say.

A Hindi myth: Camunda is the manifestation of the Hindu goddess Dunga. She is the mate of Siva, the god of creation as well as destruction. Camunda was the slayer of the terrible monsters Canda and Munda from whom her name derives. This goddess was particularly revered by the people of Bengal, Assam and the Deccan.

The CD calls this Cancer, quite naturally. The card notes that Boris' daughter Maya, who is a Cancerian, posed for the painting, and presumably Boris entitled it Maya for this reason. While it is not stated, I believe that his son Dorian posed for the male figure.

This is one of Boris' five Duel paintings (Julie also painted five,) for the set. The paintings show two protagonists in a horizontal format. These were used to produce two separate, vertical format, cards with one protagonist per card.

I show aside the cover from a more recent anthology. It is notable because it includes more of the painting but it can be seen that the girl has now acquired a bikini!

Like the other paintings in the set, this one is signed but not dated.

Painted 1976.

The 2007 campaign was based around six online videos which parodied the TV series Knightrider. The painting was used to advertise the videos rather than the car itself.

Judging by the size of the stadium I would expect Magpies to refer to Newcastle United but I know of no team known as the Hares, so perhaps this is nothing to do with UK football at all.

It must be said that Boris' realistic style of painting makes this a rather gruesome image but it does, I think, bring home the psychotic nature of the character.

A modified (or should I say modestified?) version of the painting was featured in the 2018 Fantasy Calendar under the title Ethereal Sculptress.

Although it is undated the exhibition website gave the year as 2016.

See here for Boris' artwork for the paperback version.

In German mythology, Celis was a most comely maiden and the daughter of the sorceress Uslani. She was pursued by a band of warriors whose intentions were less than honourable. Uslani hid her by transforming her into a deer.

Greek Myth: Centaurs were a race of shape-changers born of Ixion and a cloud that Zeus made to resemble Hera. Their most familiar shape was half human, half horse. They lived in the mountains and were said to eat raw flesh.

Latvian mythology: Cesis was the champion who destroyed an evil, looming, tree planted by Celvasta, the ruler of darkness, to extinguish the sun. Cesis laboured for 500 years, drawing strength from his flowing hair and his magic silver axe, and restored sunlight to the land.

At left is detail of the vase in the lower left corner of the painting.

The painting is not dated but was probably painted in 1978.

The painting is signed but not dated.

The artwork is undated but was apparently painted in 1983.

I show aside the cover from a more recent anthology. It is notable because it includes more of the painting but it can be seen that the girl has now acquired a bikini!

Like the other paintings in the set, this one is signed but not dated.

The image I have doesn't show the various elements clearly enough to discern exactly what is going on but, to my mind the, two rabbits on the right sum up the show pretty accurately…

You might like to compare this with Leap of the Centaur, a drawing based on this painting.

Chilean mythology: Cherufe was a lava creature who lived in volcanoes and fed upon young maidens. The Sun god sent his two warrior daughters to stand guard over Cherufe, armed with swords that could freeze him. Sometimes he would elude them, and a volcanic eruption would take place.

This was painted entirely without a reference, which Boris does not like to do and rarely does.

The ad appeared with the tagline Dominate Youe Draft whereby a lucky winner would receive a visit from ESPN frontman Chris Mortensen, the main figure in the painting, when dafting their fantasy (American) football teams.

Though it is unsigned it was probably painted in 2006 since the advertisement would have appeared in late summer of that year.

Syrian and Phoenician mythology: Goddess of war, mistress of horses and chariots. She captured her horse Baldium from a herd of carnivorous horses of the underworld. The steed fed off the souls of slain warriors, gaining strength and power from his macabre feast.

The artwork is now wrongly dated 1985 - a year after the final artwork was completed. See Amazon Queen for an explanation.

The initial concept had a picture of Asimov sitting on a globe of the Earth (see Isaac Asimov) but it evolved into what is probably an illustration of Stranger In Paradise.

This is definitely a personal favourite. My daughter was aware of this and for Christmas one year gave me a wine glass with a replica of this image engraved on it - a treasured glass!

See the commentary above for the preliminary artwork.

Greek mythology: Daughter of Helios and Perse, an Oceanid, she was a powerful witch. When Odysseus' men ate at her table, they all turned into swine. Odysseus rescued them with the help of Perseus.

See above for the story.

Probably painted in 1975.

The model, for both female figures, appears to be Danielle Anjou (of Mirage fame.)

Painting undated.

The painting also appears in the book Fantasy Art Now edited by Martin McKenna (I L E X, 2007) for which Boris wrote the foreward.

Various illustrations of the painting have been stretched at the top (and, I suspect, at the bottom) to change an almost square painting into a vertical format. Not only that, the point at which the stretching commences varies from one source to another – two examples are shown together with the original (on the left.)

The painting appears never to have had the finishing touches put to it - the top of the temple's roof shows through the leg of the figure, or perhaps the other way around (see the detail image.)

My original thought was that was a composite image because the book's back cover features the same artwork without the two figures. I now know this to be incorrect so assume that it is the back cover that is the composite image!

Although it is not dated this was probably painted in 2019.

Eastwood had stipulated a design similar to Frank Frazetta's Dark Kingdom (right) but the final painting was never commissioned. Apparently none of the artwork received met with Eastwood's approval and in the end he commissioned a piece from Frazetta. In his book Icon, Frazetta says that Eastwood was charged considerably more than the going rate for the commission… he then told him that this sum was only for the reproduction rights and charged even more for the painting itself!

The kicker is modelled by Julie Bell, and the kickee by Cathy Thole, another great artist trained by Boris.

It is apparent from Fantasy Workshop that this image, and the other two shown elsewhere, are composites, the backgrounds and figures being painted separately then being digitally(?) combined.

Just to give you some idea of what is involved, this image is made up of at least five elements:

1. a background painting,
2. the female figure from What You Know May Hurt You,
3. the girl's feathered briefs
4. the bird and finally
5. the signature and date.

The left-hand snake appeared along the length of each side of the car whilst the rest of the artwork adorned the bonnet (or hood, if you're American.) The boot (or trunk for the Americans) was a uniform orange with Boris' signature in black across it.

The other paintings are: The Quarterback, The Running Back,, The Sack, The Spike and The Victory.

The painting is undated.

You may like to compare this with the drawing of Conan and Red Sonya shown immediately below from three years earlier.

Although it is undated other sources give the year as 1977.

Painting is undated.

The painting is undated.

The title was obtained from the Comic Images 1993 Conan Collector Cards set.

The painting is undated but was probably painted in 1975.

It is also available, under the title Search for the Horned Beast, as part of a limited edition autographed print poster series.

All the sources, except Fantasy Art Techniques, give the title as The Freebooter.

Painting is undated.

This is the only time I have ever bought a book for its cover. I found the story to be well worth reading, though, as it is told in a humorous fashion, with little gore.

It appears in the first Boris trading card set as Genie and in Fantasy Art Techniques as Iron Warrior.

Painted 1977.

Peruvian mythology: Condor-Chuqui is the father of all birds of prey. Maidens were sacrificed to him in the belief that their spirits would join the army of the Sun god, Inti.

It appears that the top of the painting has been extended but my copy of the original is not of good quality so I am unable to say with any degree of certainty whether any other changes have been made.

Closer examination of the copyright details on the calendar image clearly shows that the original number 1 of the year has been overpainted with the figure 6.

The painting is not dated but was probably painted in 1978.

Greek mythology: Coronis was loved by Apollo, but unfaithful to him. He was brought this news by a crow, and in anger turned it from white to black. He had Artemis slay Coronis, but snatched his unborn son, Asclepius, from her funeral pyre.

This piece shows a quite extraordinary virtuosity in the depiction of the soap bubbles, as shown by the detail taken from the back of the lady's leg.

Although it is undated it was probably drawn in 1984.

Painting undated.

The painting is undated.

This is presumably a mythological reference, but none of the sources gives any information about which, nor is a date visible in any of them.

The painting was also used in the 2013 Fantasy Calendar.

It is not apparent from the thumbnail but the painting shows two early hominids warily gazing down at an alien being and its space craft (in the background.)

Crystal, real name Crystalia Amaquelin, is an Inhuman princess and one time wife of Quicksilver. She has the power to manipulate the four classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Although it is undated the artwork was completed in 2021.

When returned by the publisher, this painting was not properly packed and was folded in half, damage which is clearly visible on the trading card version - the version illustrated here was taken from the book cover so doesn't exhibit the damage.

This book was the basis for the Six Million Dollar Man television series.

Cyclops is a human mutant and one of the original X-Men.