Raypunk Wonders

City of 1950 for Popular Science Monthly (August 1925) by Frank R. Paul; via Retrofuturism.

Spike Spiegel, from Cowboy Bebop episode 10: “Ganymede Elegy” [spoiler-free]

It’s not spoiling much to say that this is Spike, asking around the Ganymede natives for information on this episode’s bounty. Amusingly he manages to park the Swordfish II in all manner of unlikely and ignorant locations while on this sortie - holding up traffic and blocking paths, as most of Ganymede favour boats over air and spacecraft.

A city on Ganymede, from Cowboy Bebop episode 10: “Ganymede Elegy” [spoiler-free]

There’s a Jacque Fresco vibe about the design of these city ports, but a Venetian calm in the way Ganymede’s fishermen go about their lives.

Ganymede, from Cowboy Bebop episode 10: “Ganymede Elegy” [spoiler-free]

Jupiter is described in many books as being a madness to behold - its sickly colour scheme and violent surface storms have often made me queasy just in photographic form. Seen in the reflected, terraformed sea of Ganymede like this though, it takes on a new majesty. So too do the floating habitats, each functioning as independent cities.

Venus, from Cowboy Bebop episode 8: “Waltz for Venus” [spoiler-free]

Kaanann, City of the Daleks, as seen in Doctor Who: the Adventure Games episode 1: City of the Daleks. The Doctor’s warning to Amy, and an in-game fact file on pollution, tell us that Skaro’s capital is subject to a highly sulphuric atmosphere and that acid rains down constantly. It’s a good think dalekanium is so resistant, then!

This shot is a composite from panoramic screenshots.