At first glance, tackling the cover art for the reissue of an an old-fashioned SF novel would seem like a boring job for a new illustrator hot to conquer the field, but Michael looked on reissues as a challenge. He had to outdo whatever was on the original cover so that a new generation of readers would buy it. By tilting the horizon line and showing the action from above, he created a real sense of flight. The alien stares the viewer right in the eye and Michael shows us the title character in his curious outfit getting a ride. Who wouldn't be intrigued enough to buy the book?