Pages

Monday 25 December 2017

Pulp Proverbs #1 - Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Merry Christmas everyone, be sure to appreciate gift-givers. Message brought to you by Street and Smith's Western Story Magazine, September 21, 1935. Cover by Sidney Riesenberg

Cover for Western Story magazine. September 21, 1935 by Sidney Riesenberg
Cover for Western Story magazine. September 21, 1935 by Sidney Riesenberg




Sunday 24 December 2017

Pulp News Roundup - Pulp Art Exhibitions, Santa Claus , Book recommendations from Michael Dirda

Pulp Art Exhibitions

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA is exhibiting some of the work of pulp artist Gloria Stoll Karn on February 10, 2018 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

More information here: https://www.nrm.org/event/gloria-stoll-karn-pulp-romance/

Santa Claus in Science Fiction

Tor.com has an article about Santa Claus in the comics and science fiction digests:

Book recommendations from Michael Dirda (for the last minute gift givers among us)

Full review:



Saturday 16 December 2017

George Bronson-Howard - Author, Playwright, Movie Director, Scriptwriter

I came across George Bronson-Howard in some early issues of The Popular Magazine. I read a couple of stories about the diplomatic agent, Norroy. They’re well-written stories. The pace is best described as genteel, and the evil-doers much more gentlemanly than you’d expect, but they’re redeemed by the characterization and settings. A partial description of Norroy in his first adventure should give you the flavor of the writing: His clothes were just a little too much the mode of the day, and one indefinably regretted that a man of his intelligence should spend the thought necessary for such ultra-fashionable attire.

Looking for more information about him, I didn’t find anything online except the dates of his birth in 1884 and death in 1922. A little digging unearthed a few interesting facts, I got sucked in and before I knew it I had accumulated a few pages of material on him. To do his life justice would need a book, this article is a start.

George (Fitzalan) Bronson-Howard (c. 1916)
George (Fitzalan) Bronson-Howard (c. 1916)

Friday 24 November 2017

Black Friday ebook deals from Amazon

I know that many readers of this blog don't take to ebooks, but they're a great complement to my physical book library - I can read them anywhere, no additional space needed in my house for them. Disable your adblockers to see the full links, or click the inline links.

Here are a few ebooks that I think you'd be interested in, and Amazon has good deals going on today:

The first 2 books in Joe Gore's excellent DKA series for 2 and 3 dollars respectively. What a deal! The DKA series has a great detective agency in charge of repossessing cars whose drivers have missed their payments. A great cast of characters in the agency, and always interesting plots.






The best writing about the worst books - it's hard to stop laughing, so maybe this isn't the best recommendation on a full stomach. But laughter is supposed to be the best medicine, so here you go with Bill Pronzini's Gun in Cheek



Pronzini takes aim at the worst western fiction in this one, and what a roundup it is! Six-Gun in Cheek



Probably more bargains there, but i haven't found them ... yet! Let you know when i do. Happy shopping.

Thursday 23 November 2017

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

Hope you had an easier time getting your turkey than this guy. Happy Thanksgiving

Western Story Magazine, November 29 1930 cover by Sidney Riesenberg
Western Story Magazine, November 29 1930 cover by Sidney Riesenberg

Saturday 18 November 2017

Swipe or inspiration - you decide



I saw a post on a Facebook group about an artist copying (swiping) a cover from a previous issue of another magazine, and i also heard that it was done many times. I decided to take a deeper look into this, you decide if it's swipe or inspiration. Leave comments with your thoughts.

Shadows at the waterhole (1907) by Frederic Remington vs. Adventure May 15, 1931 by L.F. Wilford
Shadows at the waterhole (1907) by Frederic Remington vs. Adventure May 15, 1931 by L.F. Wilford

Adventure 1936 May cover  by Walter Baumhofer vs Short Stories Feb 25 1938 by A.R.Tilburne
Adventure 1936 May cover  by Walter Baumhofer vs Short Stories Feb 25 1938 by A.R.Tilburne

Adventure March 1 1932 cover by G.C. Delano vs Short Stories 19361225 by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure March 1 1932 cover by G.C. Delano vs Short Stories December 25 1936 by A. R. Tilburne

Adventure July 1934 cover by Walter Baumhofer vs Short Stories January 10 1937 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure July 1934 cover by Walter Baumhofer vs Short Stories January 10 1937 cover by A. R. Tilburne

Adventure June 1 1931 cover by Remington Schuyler vs Short Stories March 25 1937  cover by A.R. Tilburne

Adventure May 1931 cover by Remington Schuyler vs Short Stories April 25 1937 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure May 1931 cover by Remington Schuyler vs Short Stories April 25 1937 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure June 1934 cover by Walter Baumhofer vs Short Stories September 25 1937 cover by A. R. Tilburne

Adventure March 1936 cover by Hubert Rogers vs Short Stories April 10 1938 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure March 1936 cover by Hubert Rogers vs Short Stories April 10 1938 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure November 10 1929 cover by Hubert Rogers vs Short Stories July 25 1938 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure November 10 1929 cover by Hubert Rogers vs Short Stories July 25 1938 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure December 15 1930 cover by G.C. Delano vs Short Stories May 10 1939 cover by A.R. Tilburne

Adventure December 1939 cover by Wesley Neff vs Short Stories December 10 1943 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure December 1939 cover by Wesley Neff vs Short Stories December 10 1943 cover by A. R. Tilburne

Adventure March 15 1928 cover by Dominic Cammerota vs Short Stories February 10 1946 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Adventure March 15 1928 cover by Dominic Cammerota vs Short Stories February 10 1946 cover by A. R. Tilburne
Interior illustration for Dusky by Jim Kjelgaard from Short Stories February 10 1946


And this last one has to be unique, the same artist on both sides

Adventure September 1941 cover by A. R. Tilburne vs Short Stories September 10 1944 cover by A. R. Tilburne

Tuesday 14 November 2017

Pulp AdventureCon 2018 - photos



The door to paper treasures
The door to paper treasures

The dealer's room
The dealer's room

Dealer with his collection
Dealer with his collection
Some more magazines
Some more magazines



Adventure House's wall of pulp
Adventure House's wall of pulp
Some detective and mystery pulps
Some detective and mystery pulps



Art from science fiction digests
Art from science fiction digests

Stag magazine cover
Stag magazine cover

Ken for Men magazine cover
Ken for Men magazine cover


More art
More art

Frank R. Paul interior illustrations for Famous Fantastic Mysteries
Frank R. Paul interior illustrations for Famous Fantastic Mysteries


Cover for Talbot Mundy paperback "The Devil's Guard"
Cover for Talbot Mundy paperback "The Devil's Guard"

Virgil Finlay interior illustration
Virgil Finlay interior illustration


Roy Krenkel print of Red Sonja
Roy Krenkel print of Red Sonja

Couple of pulp collectors having a "friendly" discussion
Couple of pulp collectors having a "friendly" discussion

My find - Adventure #1, November 1910. Not in great shape, very hard to find in any condition.
My find - Adventure #1, November 1910. Not in great shape, very hard to find in any condition.

Monday 13 November 2017

Review: Art of the pulps


Beautiful art - a retro blast from the past



This book takes readers back to an era without television or radio, when magazine covers featured original art designed to lure readers into picking up and buying them. From the early 1900s to the early 1950s, pulp magazines were the popular entertainment media of choice for millions of readers across the English speaking world.They were published in America and to a lesser extent, in Canada and the United Kingdom and read across the world, reaching as far as Australia and South Africa. Some were even translated into French and Spanish.

The pulp magazines were the medium through which a variety of genres established themselves - science fiction, fantasy and hardboiled detective among them. They brought a range of authors and memorable characters from Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan), Johnston McCulley (Zorro), Lester Dent (Doc Savage), H. P. Lovecraft (Cthulu), Robert E. Howard (Conan, Solomon Kane, Kull) and Dashiell Hammett (The Continental Op, Sam Spade) to readers. And they sold this with covers that made you want to pick them up, and interior illustrations that drew the reader deeper into the stories, till you bought and took them home.

This book surveys the pulp magazine field, taking us on a journey from the early days of the field in the 1900s when there a few general fiction magazines, to the end in the 1950s, when paperbacks and television replaced the pulps. All the major genres - adventure, detective/mystery, westerns, aviation, sports, love/romance, horror, science fiction, hero pulps (predecessors of the comics) and spicys - are covered. It's rounded off with a couple of essays on two great artists and authors. Each section's essay comes from an expert in the field, and all are published writers, so they know how to tell the tale. 

But you're not buying this book for the essays - excellent though they are - the art is the reason to buy this book.The book is printed on glossy paper, and the scans are from original issues in the personal collections of the authors. Each chapter is about 20% text and 80% art; with 12 chapters and about 240 pages it's almost 200 pages of gorgeous art for your money. A few sample pages below (some pages are cropped because my scanner isn't big enough):

Adventure

Aviation

Mystery/Detective

Hero

Horror

Romance

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Spicy

Sports

Weird Menace
Western


If you like illustration art, you have to pick this up. Link here: http://amzn.to/2iSHMjy 


Saturday 30 September 2017

Adventures in Editing - Donald A. Kennicott, article on editing Blue Book magazine for 42 years

On the occasion of the 136th birthday of Donald A. Kennicott, the long-time editor of Blue Book magazine, I'm happy to present to you this article written by him in the November 1954 issue of Blue  Book magazine, 2 years after he had stopped editing the magazine. It's a great companion to Mike Ashley's article about Blue Book which covers the magazine during Kennicott's tenure.



ADVENTURES IN EDITING
DONALD A. KENNICOTT

The gentleman and scholar who was a Bluebook editor during 42 of this magazine's 50 years looks back on an exciting and distinguished career.



First issue of the magazine that became Blue Book
First issue of the magazine that became Blue Book


After a long experience in magazine editing, Burgess Johnson wrote an autobiography which he called “As Much as I Dare, ” taking his title from Montaigne: “I speak the truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little more as I grow older. ” Ellery Sedgwick, recalling his 30 years of “adventuring in human nature” as editor of the Atlantic, chose “The Happy Profession” as the title for a memoir of those years. After my 42 years with Bluebook, I am inclined to think that Burgess Johnson chose the better title.

Saturday 9 September 2017

Jay Paul Jackson - Artist (1905-1954)

Jay Jackson was the name he gave as an artist for the pulp magazines in Chicago. I came across his work when i was reading an issue of Golden Fleece magazine which had illustrations by him. Not finding much about him on the web, I did a little research and found this article on him which I thought was worth sharing for the picture it painted of a struggling African American artist in the days of the Great Depression.

Cover for Golden Fleece, December 1938 jointly credited to Jay Jackson and Harold S. DeLay
Cover for Golden Fleece, December 1938 jointly credited to Jay Jackson and Harold S. DeLay
(Image courtesy the FictionMags Index)

This autobiographical article appeared in the October 1941 issue of Fantastic Adventures. The only other article about him that i could find on the web was this one: https://www.artslant.com/la/articles/show/40444

Jay Paul Jackson aka Jay Jackson (1905-1954)
Jay Paul Jackson aka Jay Jackson (1905-1954)

Saturday 26 August 2017

Charles Richard Beeler aka Caddo Cameron - Cowboy, Railroader, Author

Charles Richard Beeler wrote under the pen name Caddo Cameron. He had many novels starring a pair of Texas Rangers – Blizzard Wilson and Badger Coe - in Short Stories, all of which were later issued in hardcovers. This was in addition to a series of stories about a pair of troublesome Texas twins – Paint and Pinto Hawkins. All worth reading, for he was one of those men who had witnessed the settlement of the American West, and could write with earthy humor about it.

Charles Richard Beeler aka Caddo Cameron (1881-19??)
Charles Richard Beeler aka Caddo Cameron (1881-19??)

Tuesday 1 August 2017

Pulpfest 2017 - photos

Attended Pulpfest this year and took a few photos which I thought were worth sharing. All thanks to the wonderful work by the organizing committee - Jack Cullers, Barry Traylor, Mike Chomko, Chuck Welch, Sally Cullers and William Lampkin and a supporting cast of thousands :-). This was a tough year, with a changed venue and first time setup to deal with, but they pulled off a magic trick and got us a better location than last year, with better lighting and facilities.

Convention hospitality room was through the door to the left of the elevator banks


View of the DoubleTree Cranberry hotel lobby late at night (taken from the elevator)
View of the DoubleTree Cranberry hotel lobby late at night (taken from the elevator)

I arrived late, left my luggage in the car and went straight to the registration desk - hoping to beat my fellow collectors to the early bird shopping spree.

The registration desk; dealers room is in the background.

Entered the dealers' room - a veritable Alladin's cave of dusty paper treasure, piled up in boxes all over the place.

Dealers room entrance
Dealers room entrance

Dealer's room - view from the entrance
Dealer's room - view from the entrance

View of the dealer's room at the furthest point from the entrance
View of the dealer's room at the furthest point from the entrance

Some of the great dealers and deals I found there:

Chris and David Kalb from Age of Aces Books
Chris and David Kalb from Age of Aces Books

Curt Phillips had a few tables
Curt Phillips had a few tables


A new dealer - Frank N. Stein
A new dealer - Frank N. Stein


Walker Martin wondering if he missed out collecting any pulp in the Fictionmags Index
Mark Hickman had a couple of boxes of pulps and some artwork
Mark Hickman had a couple of boxes of pulps and some artwork 
Laurie Powers and Sheila Vanderbeek
Laurie Powers and Sheila Vanderbeek
George A. Vanderburgh of Battered Silicon Dispatch Box with his new
collection of Seabury Quinn's Jules De Grandin short stories 

Volume 1 is available now, 2 and 3 are available for pre-order.



Pulp artist John Fleming Gould's son was there exhibiting and selling his father's work
(Bethlehem Art Gallery)

Many treasures on display:

Final issue of Speakeasy Stories October-November 1931, cover by Walter Baumhofer
Final issue of Speakeasy Stories October-November 1931, cover by Walter Baumhofer

Submarine Stories, March 1930, cover by Sidney Riesenberg
Submarine Stories, March 1930 cover by Sidney Riesenberg

Scott Hartshorn holding an original manuscript of a Clark Ashton Smith poem
Scott Hartshorn holding an original manuscript of a Clark Ashton Smith poem

David Lee Smith showing off a Argosy magazine newsstand advertising display
David Lee Smith showing off a Argosy magazine newsstand advertising display
Pulps on the tables in the dealers' room:





I missed getting a photo of myself holding Action Comics issue #1, the first appearance of Superman.
That's probably as close as i'm ever getting to one.

Action Comics first issue (first appearance of Superman) was on display
Action Comics first issue (first appearance of Superman) was on display







Artwork on sale:

 Imaginative Tales, May 1955, cover by Harold W. McCauley
 Imaginative Tales, May 1955, cover by Harold W. McCauley

Frank Kelly Freas illustration for story "Computer War" in Analog, June 1967
Frank Kelly Freas illustration for story "Computer War" in Analog, June 1967

Frank R. Paul illustrations for story "Wild Wullie, the waster" in Famous Fantastic Mysteries, September 1942
Peter Sterne Stevens illustration from American Weekly
Peter Sterne Stevens illustration from American Weekly

Dick Tracy premiums
Dick Tracy premiums

Finally, a few photos from Pulpfest programming:



Talk on Dime Detective magazine



The photo on the left is of Matt Moring, who gave a great talk on Dime Detective magazine's publishing history. Or is that the one on the right? I forget :-)


Gloria Stoll Karn, pulp artist, was interviewed by David Saunders
Gloria Stoll Karn, pulp artist, was interviewed by art expert David Saunders

She even autographed a couple of my copies of her covers
She even autographed a couple of my copies of her covers

All in all, an excellent show.