Ariel: The Book of Fantasy
Entry updated 22 May 2020. Tagged: Comics, Publication.
Large-letter-size US magazine/anthology (12 x 9 in; about 305 x 230 mm), only the first issue (Autumn 1976) of which is unequivocally designated a magazine, and was made up almost exclusively of original material; the three remaining issues or volumes (1977, April and October 1978) typically presented reprint stories with new illustrations. All four were edited by Thomas Durwood. Ariel was lavishly produced on glossy paper, emphasizing fantastic art and Heroic Fantasy, including episodes of the Comic strip Den by Richard Corben and a feature on Frank Frazetta. Critical and historical articles were interspersed with fiction by Harlan Ellison, Michael Moorcock, Larry Niven, Keith Roberts, Roger Zelazny and others. In the main Ariel can be said to have been a triumph of form (good) over content (mixed).
Because Ariel is bibliographically speaking a mixed bag, we list the four issues or volumes below. [PN/JC]
Ariel: The Book of Fantasy
- Ariel: The Book of Fantasy: Volume One (Leawood, Kansas: The Morning Star Press, 1976) [magazine/anth: pb/Richard Corben]
- Ariel: The Book of Fantasy: Volume Two (Leawood, Kansas: The Morning Star Press, 1977) [anth: pb/Frank Frazetta]
- Ariel: The Book of Fantasy: Volume Three (New York: Ballantine Books/Ariel Books, 1978) [anth: pb/Barry Windsor-Smith]
- Ariel: The Book of Fantasy: Volume Four (New York: Ballantine Books/Ariel Books, 1978) [anth: pb/Michael Hague]
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