The world of dime store novels retains such a fascinating nostalgic allure. Few really seem interested in the actual stories anymore, many of which were as cheaply written as their costs and just as trashy, but the best covers portray enough intrigue, danger, and taboo connotations to weave an interesting tale all by themselves.
Artist Ástor Alexander has translated a few of Nintendo's popular series into their own outstanding pulp fiction covers. You can see the noir takes on Mario, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda below. You can also head over to the artist's gallery page to take in some other excellent works.
Would you pick one of these tales up off the discount rack? Let us know which is your favourite.
[source behance.net]
Comments 56
Very creative!
These are really excellent.
Awesome! I really liked these.
Wow, nice Mario looks like Tom Selleck here.
Hubba hubba Twilight Gal! She looks even better human!
I'd love these framed on my wall.
Woah Midna looks fine as hell.
Twilight Gal is definitly my favourite :3
Is it just me, or is "human" Midna one of the most underused characters of zelda history, measured by how much the fandom loves her ?
I wonder what a Kirby or Donkey Kong one would look like...
I love this old style art, particularly for science fiction. So that in mind, and my love of Metroid prior to Other M and Fusion, you can imagine how much I'm loving The Bounty Hunter.
Wow, very original and beautifully made!
These are awesome!
"The Bounty Hunter" is my favorite.
@Einherjar You're not the only one who sees,human Midna is underused well at least she came back in hyrule warriors as a playable character.
Those would be cool posters for the basement or garage
awesome love it!
I like the lengths the artist went in making the covers look old and worn out. Really gives them that authentic feeling.
The Twilight Gal one is especially clever.
I want a Pikmin one!!
Olimar would look fantastic!
Not sure why, but The Bounty Hunter reminds me of Megaman II's box art... (looks at laser pistol)
That's some sweet stuff! I would definitely judge those by their covers and pick 'em up. 'Specially Twilight Gal. Link looks pretty cool!
I never imagined this, but it looks good!
These are awesome! They'd be awesome posters to frame!
Love the Samus and Mario ones!
I think that Mario joke is a bit much but i like all of them. They didn't have to remake Link
Cool! I like the Metroid and Mario ones.
I've seen the Twilight Girl one before, quite a while ago I think… how old are these?
Really dig the Mario one.
Looks realistic to me.....wonder if its intentional.
I want to read Twilight Gal now lol. I also kind of want to read the Mario. I'm not interested in the Metroid one though.
Yes yes and yes!
Completely awesome!
Those are really cool!
Holy cow! They all look amazing, love the art style and old school vibe
I totally want Samus and Zelda framed. Love this style
These look amazing, really impressed, good work ^^
The Zelda one looks great, but will only be noticed as what it is by Zelda experts - of which I don't know many. From that perspective, the Mario one looks more interesting and will be my choice when I can order one.
Mario and Pac-Man are to most interesting characters to be re-imagined in art anyway. But while Pac-Man is almost only associated with drugs and fear, Mario receives a more diverse treatment among which there are great things (and here one of few that succeed in re-imagining Peach too).
Absolutely amazing pieces of art! I'd love to get my hands on them to hang them on my walls at home.
@Pillowpants You can here : http://society6.com/astoralexander
Artist has framed prints and canvas prints for all three.
A classic Nintendo brand with a pulp aesthetic/theme would be incredible. Imagine a gritty detective novel re-imagining of the Mushroom Kingdom as Mario investigates and interrogates his way to finding Princess Peach. Of course, for this sort of concept to work, it would have to be subtly tongue-in-cheek. This could very well be one of the most hysterically funny games of all times if Nintendo played their cards right.
But... the masses would prefer a new New Super Mario Bros., so Nintendo would be reluctant to take a gamble on doing something radically different with their tried-and-true franchises. -.-
A pulp Metroid would be great too.
Excellent!
Really cool!
@NibelsnarfNoob Thanks for the link! I might order them soon
awesome
These are so cool! Thanks for sharing!
Lincoln. Took me a second.
Pretty good stuff. A couple of the fonts bother me and don't integrate into the weathered look of the covers, but the paintings are fantastic.
Interesting... I'll have to tell my comic creating friend about these, if he doesn't know already.
Twilight gal is my favorite. At first I didn't get it until I saw her glove.
Those are awesome love the Samus picture
"Taken ...Again. Some would say she had a taste for being kidnapped."
Who says video games couldn't provide an interesting narrative? Stockholm syndrome, drug addiction, and mutant experiments aren't your every day teen romance novel fodder!
Man these are amazing I want them framed on my wall!
HA! Love em!
Very cool!
Twilight Gal is my favorite.
...Samus scares me now, lol
wow... that looks amazeing!!
How about an action scene set in the jungle with Mario and Luigi attempting to capture a feral Yoshi (depicted as a Ferocious T-Rex).
Coolio.
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