Emsh #2: Bill Griffith and the Mekas Brothers in Outer Space

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Below is an excerpt from Adolfas Mekas' Hallelujah the Hills (1963), shown at the first New York Film Festival. The cinematography on Hallelujah the Hills was by Ed Emshwiller. During the time of the filming, Emshwiller painted this cover for the April 1963 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, illustrating a James White story, "Fast Trip," about a crew member who starves so another can remain strong enough to pilot the spacecraft. Anyone who knew Adolfas and Jonas Mekas back then instantly recognized them as the anguished astronauts. The painting played like an inside joke, since Adolfas always appeared quite healthy, while Jonas seemed somewhat undernourished. 

Emshwiller's neighbor in Levittown was future Zippy cartoonist Bill Griffith. He painted the 13-year-old Griffith and his father into this issue of Original Science Fiction (September 1957).

For our previous post on Emshwiller, go here.