John Polgreen (1910 – 1970) was a prolific illustrator, whose science-fiction illustrations for numerous children’s books and education books still resonate today and clearly influenced other artists in the field of SF art that followed him.
Self-taught, Polgreen, who lived in Dobbs Ferry, New York, studied at Syracuse University going on to illustrate some one hundred books, often working with his wife, Cathleen, an amateur astronomer, for top US publishers, including Little, Brown & Co, Random House, and Doubleday. Also a cartoonist, he favoured subjects such as astronomy and space exploration.
Adventure in Space: Man-Made Satellites by Willy Ley, art by John Polgreen (1957)
Adventure in Space: Space Pilots by Willy Ley, art by John Polgreen (1957)
Adventure in Space: Space Stations, by Willy Ley, art by John Polgreen (1958)
Adventure in Space: Space Travel, by Willy Ley, art by John Polgreen (1958)
John Polgreen’s cover art for Adventure in Space: Space Travel, by Willy Ley, published by Guild Press in 1958
Space Flight: The Coming Exploration of the Universe by Lester del Rey (1959)
Art from Planets and Space Flight (1959 Golden Press Inc.), by John Polgreen
A spread from The Question and Answer Book of Space by Ruth Sonneborn, art by John Polgreen
Two pencil images of a very original contra-rotating VTOL concept (contractor unknown), art by John Polgreen
“Wherever G-E Equipment Goes into Battle, G-E Service Engineers Are on Duty”, promotional art for General Electric Company by John Polgreen, date unknown
He also worked in aerospace design, commercial illustration, and illustrated numerous newspaper and magazine features, including Joseph Hergesheimer’s “White Armor” (Saturday Evening Post, November 1936) and “The Great Wall” (also for the Saturday Evening Post, December 1936).
Other illustrations appeared in Collier’s (1934, 1941), The Country Gentleman (1935), Harper’s and Red Book (1939, 1940 and 1941), Liberty (1940).
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.