The above image is the work of Frank Kelly Freas. He created the above cover in 1953 as an illustration for the story "The Gulf Between" by Tom Godwin. The image was captioned "Please... fix it, Daddy?" It's a great image, but that caption really drives it home. The whole suite of confusing emotions: sadness, pity, horror, alienation. Of course, most of us have not had lives such that we'd see a 1953 science fiction magazine, but the image is still familiar. Here we see it again for Queen's News of the World album. If you're even younger, you may only recognize it from an episode of Family Guy where the running gag is Brian teasing Stewie with the image.
So what happened? Why is the same accidentally murderous robot given a second chance to then go ahead and murder one of the more iconic bands of the 20th century? Queen had seen Freas's picture and wanted it for the album. They contacted the author, who agreed to alter the painting for the album cover, also adding more art for the inside of the album. Seen as just the Queen album cover, it's already an emotive image. But bringing it back to its original state and adding in that caption, it's haunting. Wikipedia Link Frank Kelly Freas News of the World on Youtube News of the World on Amazon
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