After posting my blog about the
John Gardner first edition paperbacks, reader Dan Gale alerted me to something that I never knew. It's appears my UK
Icebreaker is not a first edition after all, and this is obvious from the cover art. First editions of
Icebreaker had an error in the artwork which resulted in the skull having "fangs". In actuality, they are not fangs, but sections of the artwork that should have been colored in black or cut out completely. This error was fixed on the second print onward.
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| Icebreaker fanged (first) and defanged (second). |
Looks like I'm on a fang hunt. Thank you Dan!
Interesting find. Any idea who had done the artwork for this. The style and layout also seem to be similar to that of third edition of Licence Renewed and the first edition of For Special Services
ReplyDeleteSame artist/designer I'm sure. But they didn't put credits in paperbacks back then.
DeleteNever noticed that before. Neat.
ReplyDeleteWow! Learn something new here every day. Thanks! I think I would have been tempted to wait until I'd secured my own fang version before sharing this tidbit with the world... :)
ReplyDeleteThere was one on eBay when Dan first told me about it at very reasonable price. I was going to bid, but then the seller ended the auction early. After I made him an offer (which was ignored) he resisted with the price quadrupled. I see it now has a bid. Ironically, I probably helped him sell it. :s
DeleteI would have paid his higher price if it was in better condition. It shows as only "Good."
There's also a Canadian one on eBay. In fact, the only two on eBay right now are both "fanged" editions.
Yeah! Mine's got the fangs!
ReplyDeleteI bought it on amazon in great condition!