NIGHTMARES AND NIGHTSTALKERS

My favorite science fiction novel series growing up was "ALDAIR" by Neal Barrett Jr, comprised of four books: ALDAIR IN ALBION, MASTER OF SHIPS, ACROSS THE MISTY SEAS, and THE LEGION OF BEASTS. In book one alone Aldair of the Venicii is a student in the Rhemian Empire, becomes a heretic, an outlaw on the run, and a slave in a foreign land to an archeologist who recognizes and encourages Aldairs fierce intelligence. Set in a world seemingly parallel to our own past, their world is filled with Bear-men Vikings, Wolf-men raiders, Reptile-men Egyptians, and boar-men Rhemians. Aldairs path leads him to learn his peoples past isn't what they think it is. There were cities on Earth long before their religion tells them there was life. Book one ends with Aldair discovering all the beast-men of the word were created by strange hairless creatures with pink skin and no snouts who called themselves men and that those ancient cities were once theirs.

The rest of the series takes Aldair on a quest to learn what happened to man, change the destiny man left for his creatures to follow, and ultimately leave Earth for the stars, where Aldair learns the darkest secret of all.

The first three 1970's novel covers are intentionally vague in showing what Aldair actually looks like, and are wrong in what little they do convey. The fourth books cover from LEGION OF BEASTS finally shows Aldair and his crew, in an amazing Ken Kelly cover, and while liberties were definitely taken with how Aldair (and his cast) looks and what they wear (they wear clothes and Aldair is white, not blue), Aldairs look on it is so iconic in my mind, my 1:6 custom of Aldair here (loosely from "Master of Ships") is a fusion of the characters novel description, Ken Kelly "Legion" cover look for him, and my own ideas.