Edd Cartier

Edward Daniel Cartier (August 1, 1914 – December 25, 2008), known professionally as Edd Cartier, was an American pulp magazine illustrator who specialized in science fiction and fantasy art.

Born in North Bergen, New Jersey, Cartier studied at Pratt Institute. He was taught by Harold Winfield Scott ("H.W. Scott"), also an illustrator for The Avenger, who Cartier credits as a mentor. While a student he began illustrating for The Shadow, eventually creating more than 800 drawings for the pulp. Following his 1936 graduation from Pratt, he and fellow graduate Earl Mayan opened an art studio on the Upper West Side. Cartier's first science fiction cover art was for the December 1939 issue of Unknown. The original oil painting later sold in 1998 for $35,000.

His artwork was published in Street and Smith publications and the John W. Campbell, Jr.-edited magazines Astounding Science Fiction, Doc Savage Magazine and Unknown. He provided more than 300 illustrations for Astounding and over 200 for Unknown. His work later appeared in other magazines, including Planet Stories, Fantastic Adventures and other pulps.

When drawing for The Shadow, Cartier employed dramatic thick swaths of black using the blank spaces as shafts of light. His illustrations evoked the world of the night-time vigilante. He used a different style when illustrating science fiction, employing action and crowded panels. He also injected humor into his drawings. Writers of the Future credited Cartier with a style of "not just very expressive people, but expressive creatures like fairies, gnomes, and gods". His art accompanied the writings of science fiction icons such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Theodore Sturgeon.