Pictures of Embarrassment

     I was going through and counting illustrations in the book to make a point, when I realized something. I'm playing through this book on a PDF scan that only displays one page at a time. As a result, I can't see the opposite page as I would while holding the physical book. So... long story short, I missed two illustrations already in Henrietta's adventure.

     ... and in both cases I made visual jokes on those sections...

     My face covered in egg, let's go take a look at what I missed.

I close the lid and keep my new pet!

     Yup. Literally the time I said the book didn't have an illustration it did. I don't know how I missed this one. I really thought I checked before making that crack.

     This image contains what I consider to be a cardinal sin in Fighting Fantasy Gamebook art, or any Choose your own Adventure art. It shows the protagonist. Admittedly, only the hands, but it gives substance to the nebulous non-character that is "you". This wouldn't be an issue in a gamebook with predefined protagonist, but that isn't this game.

     Credit where it's due, the hands are pretty bland and undefining. With the black and white art we might even be generous and say they don't assume race, though I do think that's generous. There is something about the proportions and scale that reads as male to me, but within the bounds of the artistic style and unclear references to size, that may just be me. Certainly they could be hands of a rough woman like Henrietta. Though, the perfectly round nails seem too well kept.

     I do love the detail of the box having a scaly exterior, like it was covered in snakeskin. Might just be leather, but it creates a nice visual connection to the snake. It is a much nicer box than I imagined being there.

     Real palpable effort has also gone into making that tiny, defenseless snake look evil. Just look at those black eyes staring into your soul!

"I'ma bite you so hard!"

     As to the other illustration...

I think someone forgot the safe word.

   

     Yup. While I was off dropping reference to Bakshi's orcs, this gem was right there. Where to even start?

     First thing that jumps out at me is the expression on the orc's face. Just the way he's turned back at 'me' with the big curious eye that just says, "Yeeees?" I love it.

     Meanwhile, the servant is twisted at a crazy uncomfortable angle, so we can see both their piteous face, and the open wounds from the whipping. Yeah, I almost lost them in the detail, but those are actual bleeding wounds on the servant's back. The illustration is pretty brutal.

     The orcs look a lot like goblins. Only... skinnier? Much narrower feet, certainly. Maybe this is like Tolkein describing orcs as bigger goblins. I think the servant is might be a goblin. They're a lot smaller than the chieftain. At first I just thought that was a perspective thing, with the servant being further away, but after looking more closely I'm pretty sure that the Chieftain's left hand is actually on the servant's back. So they're pretty close... or the perspective is wonkier than a teeter-totter in an earthquake.

     I probably would have described the fight differently if I had seen this. I focused a lot on the whip, because it was the one clear weapon from the text, but that orc has at least one sword and two daggers on him! As well as a snazzy uniform, which contrasts sharply with the cobbled together armor and rags of the goblins.

     Oh, and did you notice the weirdest part of the image? I didn't at first, but take a look at the arm holding the whip.

See it yet?

     Yup. That's a left hand at the end of a right arm. Holding the fist in a way that faces the audience, should keep the thumb towards the chieftain. So, either orcs have some kind of Rakshasa thing going on, or someone gave Russ Nicholson insane deadlines.