Showdown

As I've commented before, Polyhedron would, after its first few issues, mostly use recycled illustrations for its interiors (covers were another matter). Issue #1 (Summer 1981), however, contains a few examples of original illustrations, such as the one above by Darlene. It's possible that this artwork was re-used in a later Boot Hill product – indeed, quite possible, since I'm prone to overlooking the obvious – but, if so, I can't recall (feel free to correct my misapprehension in the comments). Regardless, I don't think I've ever seen her depict a scene from a Western, so it's fascinating simply on that basis.

On the other hand, one piece I know I've never seen before is this one.

If you look at the signature at the bottom right, you'll see it's by Bell. Bell – or Greg Bell, as he is more commonly credited – provided a lot of the art in the original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, as well as Greyhawk and Blackmoor (where he is mistakenly credited as "Mike Bell") and Warriors of Mars. Bell is somewhat infamous for having based many of his OD&D illustrations on pages from Marvel comics, but he was apparently a teenager at the time, not a professional artist, so one can hardly blame him. Jon Peterson has a blog post about him and his other contributions to early TSR products.