Chris Calle (American, B. 1961) "Space Men Rendezvous" Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board.

Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 29c Space Men stamp issued January 25, 1993.

Ever since author H.G. Wells unleashed his Martian invaders on an unsuspecting Earth in his novel The War of the Worlds, people have contemplated the possibility of aliens landing in their hometowns. What would happen? Would contemporary armaments be effective against creatures capable of space flight? The overall consensus was a resounding no! So authors like Wells invented an array of weapons capable of destroying the most wicked, mean and nasty aliens the universe could throw Earthward. In his book The Land Ironclads, Wells invented the armored tank, and in The World Set Free, his heroes dropped hand-held atomic bombs from planes. Edgar Rice Burroughs gave aliens the advantage in his novel A Princess of Mars. The Martians, both red and green versions, zipped about in bathtub-shaped craft shooting radium bullets from radar-equipped guns. As the wars moved to the big-screen, fleets of ships blasted off in pursuit of evil aliens. Presser beams battled tractor beams; photon torpedoes were launched, only to be destroyed by disintegrator rays. Phaser fire weakened protective force fields, while hand-to-hand combat was waged with space axes, blasters and light-swords. The motion picture Star Wars even brought carrier-like space cruisers that patrolled the galaxy in pursuit of the "Evil Empire" and its ultimate, planet-destroying weapon the Death Star.

Image Size: 14.25 x 12 in.
Overall Size: 23 x 19.25 in.
Unframed. (B14128)

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23 x 19.25 in