This oversized art book presents a huge dose of Al's exceptional illustrations for stories authored by Harlan Ellison, Bruce Jones, Mark Schultz, Archie Goodwin, and Mark Wheatley. It includes new and never before seen art and stories in addition to the highest art quality reproduction of the very best comic art Al Williamson has created. Look for a dramatic new cover illustration of Al's favorite comics strip character, Flash Gordon.
This book reprints a selection of Al Williamson's non-Star Wars stories from the 80's and 90's (a period when the artist was primarily inking over other people's pencils to pay the bills). Unlike the stories reprinted in Al Williamson: Hidden Lands or The Art of Al Williamson, the comics and magazines originally publishing these stories would not be incredibly expensive to collect individually, however it is nice to have them in one large (primarily) black-and-white collection. Reprinted in this book are:
“Along The Scenic Route” by Harlan Ellison "Cliff Hanger" (chapters 1-6) by Bruce Jones from Somerset Holmes #1-6 (1983-84) “Relic” by Archie Goodwin from Epic Illustrated #27 (1984) “The Few and the Far” by Bruce Jones from Alien Worlds #1 (1982) “One Last Job” by Mark Schultz Dark Horse Presents #120 (1997) “Out of Phase” by Archie Goodwin from Epic Illustrated #34 (1985) "Tracker" by Mark Wheatley
I'm not certain where "Along The Scenic Route" or "Tracker" were originally published. ATSR is the only story reprinted in color, presumably because the original artwork is colored.