The Borisography: M

Peruvian history: in May 1536 Incan forces besieged the Spanish held city of Cuzco. The siege became a stand-off and in an attempt to break the deadlock the Spanish launched an attack against the Incan headquarters at Ollantaytambo, close to Machu Picchu. The Spanish failed in this attempt and the painting depicts the Incan victory. The siege of Cuzco remained unresolved until the arrival of Spanish reinforcements in April 1537 resulted in the ultimate defeat of the Incans three months later.

A limited edition ⅙th scale 3D model, based on this painting, was issued by Yamato USA in 2009.

The artwork is undated but was apparently painted in 1983.

See Sword of Fate and Victory Dance for the other two covers in the series.

Asa Drake is a pseudonym of C Dean Andersson under which name the book has since been republished.

The model would appear to be one of Julie Bell's sons.

Painted 1983.

Eastern European Mythology: The Mahr were vampire moths that lived in the Carpathian Mountains. When they fed on humans, it was believed, they stole the soul. A wooden stake through the heart or exposure to daylight would kill the Mahr and return the soul to its owner.

The painting is undated but several sources state that it was painted in 1977 which is consistent with Ace's republication of all (then) five World of Tiers novels with Boris covers.

Based on Peruvian legend. Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo, son and daughter of the Sun, emerged from Lake Titicaca. They journeyed to the Valley of Cuzco, which at that time was inhabited by barbarians. These savages, however, recognized the two deities as Gods and accepted the laws, the concepts of justice, and the skills they taught them. Thus the great empire of the Incas was founded.

The models are Boris and his sister Patricia.

Indian legend (but which Indians is not stated): A monster with the body of a lion and the face of a man, and with razor-sharp teeth and jaws powerful enough to crush bone, he was hunted by a fearless tribe of Indian women, the Maruts, who would eat his flesh and make poisoned darts from his fangs.

Mariko Yashida was introduced in 1979 and provided a romantic interest for Wolverine.

The painting was used for the month of June in the 2014 Fantasy Calendar.

FABV says this was painted in 1977 but, since the book was published on 12 Jan 1977, I am fairly certain that the year should be 1976.

According to Julie Bell's Instagram account this was commissioned for an article about the group in the December 2006 edition of the magazine Maxim, thereby giving rise to one of its alternative titles.

The CD calls this Cancer, quite naturally. The card notes that Boris' daughter Maya, who is a Cancerian, posed for the painting, and presumably Boris entitled it Maya for this reason. While it is not stated, I believe that his son Dorian posed for the male figure.

The painting appears never to have had the finishing touches put to it - the top of the temple's roof shows through the leg of the figure, or perhaps the other way around (see the detail image.)

Greek Mythology: Medea was the wife of Jason, the famous Greek hero who retrieved the Golden Fleece. When he was about to wed another woman for political reasons, she killed his wife-to-be, and then slew her sons by Jason. She was, it seems, a woman scorned.

This was a sketch for Ladies, but the concept changed (this part of the tale is not told in the book) and another painting took its place.

Sketched, probably, in 1989 or 1990.

The UK artist Oliver Tupton produced a small (approximately 22cm high) sculpture based on this design. Resin casts were available in at least three colours: Ivory (off-white with golden snakes,) overall pewter and overall bronze finishes.

Greek Mythology: In this image, we see Perseus about to capture Medusa's head. Boris does not portray her shock of snakes which served her as hair.

It would appear that the name used here is/was the correct name for the original painting, copies of which are available from borisjulie.com under the name given in the previous paragraph.

Medusa was, together with her two sisters, one of the Gorgons. In Ladies the story is told of Medusa's early life and her dreams of flying. She thought she could learn to fly by progressively leaping greater distances and the drawing illustrates the stage where she could "…leap as far as a horse."

This was also used in the 2002 Fantasy Calender for both the cover and month of December under the title Memories.

Described on the back of the card as a cover for Pocket Books in 1979, although the painting itself is dated the following year. The card also claims that the picture was used in Fantasy Art Techniques, which is incorrect; the painting above was so used.

Although undated, the painting would have been completed in either 2017 or 2018: these are determined by the date shown on the preliminary artwork, and the time of publication of the 2019 calendar, respectively.

I have seen the question asked "Which tail belongs to which being?" I can tell you, from a study of the characters' fins, that the tail on the right belongs to the triton (the male one, in the background.)

As with the other Lynx ads, the painting is unsigned but a signature was shown on the published version which, I believe, showed the year 2004.

In addition to the cover the book also contains 12 pen and ink drawings by Boris which you may see on the Micronauts book page.

The name was applied to this drawing comparatively recently by Boris & Julie's website. My suspicion is that it was used by mistake due to the similarity to some of the earlier portfolio's drawings.

Norse Mythology: A giant of superhuman strength, he stood knee-deep in the Waters of Ultimate Wisdom, holding the Kjolen Mountains on his shoulders and watching over the oracles who drank the water to learn the secrets of the world.

This was also used in the 2002 Fantasy Calender for both the cover and month of December under the title Memories.

Apparently the story is partially biographical insofar as one of the characters is drawn from the author's own experiences.

The 2007 campaign was based around six online videos which parodied the TV series Knightrider. The painting was used to advertise the videos rather than the car itself.

The left-hand snake appeared along the length of each side of the car whilst the rest of the artwork adorned the bonnet (or hood, if you're American.) The boot (or trunk for the Americans) was a uniform orange with Boris' signature in black across it.

As stated below, two verions of the painting have been published – this sketch enables us to see which is the original version.

The title above is that shown on the original Certificate of Authenticity but see the entry under The Mistress of the Rain, the title used in a brochure for the set, for the updated painting published elsewhere under that title.

The model for the painting appears to be Danielle Anjou, who featured in many of Boris' paintings from the late 70s to early 80s.

The painting has since been modified to give the figure much larger fins and it is this version that is illustrated here.

The preliminary artwork is dated 1999 whereas this painting is dated 2002 so clearly this was a rather protracted project.

This was also used in the 2002 Fantasy Calender for both the cover and month of December under the title Memories.

A limited edition ⅙th scale 3D model, based on this painting, was issued by Yamato USA in 2009.

This second painting of The Hulk shows the character in an unusually relaxed mood.

I have no information about this painting's purpose but the background (is this a composite image?) was used, in conjunction with a painted overlay, to create the image Next Dimension.

The book was subsequently republished under the author's real name of C. Dean Andersson and a new title of Warrior Rebel of Hel.

Since 2000 Boris and Julie have reverted to reusing paintings for their calendars so in many cases it is not possible to say whether an artwork was produced for that purpose. However the date, and the fact that it is a square format, suggest that this one was originally intended for the calendar.

September '96 image. Offered for sale on the official Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell Web site under the title Dannie.

Although undated it was probably painted in 1976.

I would guess that this was painted in 2010.

A modified version of the painting appeared in the 2016 Fantasy Calendar under the title Escape.

For those that are interested, R Y L stands for 'Risk Your Life.'

A modified version under the title Tragedy Falls was used in the 2007 Fantasy Calendar.

The other paintings may be seen at I Love You So and Mermaid Love.

In folklore, Myrddin was a legendary, medieval, Welsh prophet who was regarded as a madman. He was subsequently incorporated into Arthurian legend and is better known as Merlin the Magician.

The painting is undated but was apparently painted in 1978 (if the copyright year on an advertising postcard is to be believed.)

An edited version of the painting was used in the 2015 2015 Fantasy Calendar under the title The Standoff