Gifts For the Geek | Day 16: Michael Whelan Artwork

Michael Whelan is one of the best artists working in geek genre! In fact, the argument can be made the he is the best ever. I will never forget where I was when I first saw Michael Whelan artwork. I had picked up the trade paperback of The Gunslinger by Stephen King and Whelan's artwork graced its cover. It was a powerful piece, featuring the Gunslinger in the foreground, looking off into the distance, even as the background held his focus, the Dark Tower. Later I learned it was two different Whelan images that were used to create the cover. But by that time, it had left its impression. I was a Dark Tower fan for life thereafter. Michael Whelan has a great online shop where fans of sci-fi/fantasy can purchase gorgeously-wrought giclees of his paintings. And the one up above made my Gifts For the Geek list! Here are details: With Idris Elba in talks to play Roland—a great and inspired choice, no matter how difficult it makes Detta/Odetta's portrayal in the second movie, The Drawing of the Three—I am hoping that a great deal more people will discover Dark Tower and read the novels! For that fan in your life, this might be a great spot to go shopping! Ka is a wheel! And Michael Whelan is a part of it! Gifts For the Geek continues tomorrow!

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Shawn Speakman is the author of The Dark Thorn, an urban/epic fantasy hybrid novel bestselling author Terry Brooks calls, "a fine tale by a talented writer." He also edited the bestselling anthology Unfettered. When Shawn isn’t lying for a living, he runs The Signed Page and Grim Oak Press. Follow him on Facebook and @shawnspeakman!