Pulp International - Alec+Baldwin

Oct 31 2012

Long before all those other tortured anti-heroes there was The Shadow.

And as long as we’re on the subject of the macabre, above and below are some covers of the classic Street & Smith pulp magazine The Shadow. This particular haunter of the dark came into being in a radio show in 1930, made the leap to print in 1931, and then to film starting with a series of short features that same year. He is one of the earliest—and certainly the best—of many New York City anti-heroes, and there are rumors he’ll appear on the screen again one day. That isn’t necessarily good news. The last version flopped with the talented Alec Baldwin in the lead role, and we doubt Hollywood has any new ideas how to handle the character except to wrap him in computer graphics and release him in 3D. But you never know. Six more covers below.

New York City, Street & Smith, The Shadow, Alec Baldwin, magazine art, radio

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1930—Amy Johnson Flies from England to Australia

English aviatrix Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia. She had departed from Croydon on May 5 and flown 11,000 miles to complete the feat. Her storied career ends in January 1941 when, while flying a secret mission for Britain, she either bails out into the Thames estuary and drowns, or is mistakenly shot down by British fighter planes. The facts of her death remain clouded today.

1934—Bonnie and Clyde Are Shot To Death

Outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression robbing banks, stores and gas stations, are ambushed and shot to death in Louisiana by a posse of six law officers. Officially, the autopsy report lists seventeen separate entrance wounds on Barrow and twenty-six on Parker, including several head shots on each. So numerous are the bullet holes that an undertaker claims to have difficulty embalming the bodies because they won't hold the embalming fluid.

1942—Ted Williams Enlists

Baseball player Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps, where he undergoes flight training and eventually serves as a flight instructor in Pensacola, Florida. The years he lost to World War II (and later another year to the Korean War) considerably diminished his career baseball statistics, but even so, he is indisputably one of greatest players in the history of the sport.

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