The Falling Man

The illustration on the cover of Weird Tales for April 1925 is for "When the Green Star Waned" by Nictzin Dyalhis. The artist was Andrew Brosnatch. It shows a man who appears to be falling into a mass of aliens that have invaded Earth. In actuality, the aliens have levitated him the way a Roman might hold a grape over his open mouth. The intent is the same: the aliens mean to eat him. In a moment, they will let go with their powers of levitation and he will plunge into their mass, where they await with their "triangular, gaping, hideous orifices." The man is spared his fate by the merciful actions of the Venus-Men.

Andrew Brosnatch's cover illustration makes me think of Christian art, especially depictions of Hell and the casting into Hell of sinners. His garb is also redolent of ancient or biblical dress. First is Brosnatch's cover, then an example of the falling man from Christian art:

"Casting the Damned into Hell," the right wing of a triptych entitled The Last Judgment, by German-Flemish artist Hans Memling (ca. 1430-1494). See in particular the figure on the middle right.

There are many more examples of the falling man, cast into Hell, in Christian art. If you go looking for such imagery, be ready for some nightmarish, yet fascinating, depictions of Hell, some of which remind me of William Hope Hodgson's description of our nightmarish future in The Night Land (1912).

Depictions of Icarus by European artists show a similar falling man from pre-Christian and pagan times. The image of the falling spaceman is common in science fiction art, the art of the future. (I guess apocalyptic art is art of the future, too.) Here's an example of that:

The Fallen Spaceman by Lee Harding (1973), with art by John and Ian Schoenherr. Be aware that I have adjusted this image from an online photograph of the cover. This is not a true representation of the original.

I don't know whether Andrew Brosnatch intended to evoke thoughts of the fall of man from the Book of Genesis, of the sinner and the damned cast into Hell, or of the general image of man falling from grace or from great heights into opposing depths. Those of us with religious upbringing and education can't avoid seeing such things, though.

I have just one more thing. My nephew and I noticed a long time ago that all of the major characters in Star Wars sooner or later fall into a pit. The same thing happens to Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood, also to characters in The Lord of the Rings saga. That fear, dread, and terror at falling or plunging, or being cast into pits and depths, must be deep in us, no pun intended, and always ready to come forth. 

Text copyright 2025 Terence E. Hanley