THERE GOES THAT MAN AGAIN

Just when you think you’ve seen the last of this guy, he turns up yet again.

Well, here we go again with The National Police Gazette and der Führer. This July 1953 issue brings us to eleven covers we’ve shared of one of history’s biggest monsters. We have seven more in our archive, and there are certainly others out there in the world to be unearthed. It makes a sort of sense, we suppose, that a person who irreparably warped the course of the twentieth century also warped the Gazette’s editorial content.

In this case, Gazette purports to have located his secret hideout. Where is it? Would you believe Antarctica? No, seriously. They claim that, as of 1953, Hitler was chilling with penguins on an ice shelf. Oooo—march-off! Penguins win! Anyway, this from the Gazette’s text: “Hitler is alive! Hitler is plotting to return! These are facts Police Gazette has investigated and fearlessly revealed during recent months. [snip] Why doesn’t the United States government take immediate action on our information—track down Hitler, arrest him, and bring him to trial? The answer is this. Our government’s hands are tied. We are a democratic nation and we cannot trespass upon, invade, or interfere with the territorial integrity of another country.”

Is it not revealing that the Gazette—a rightwing scandal sheet—informs its readers that a murderer of millions must be captured and brought to trial? And that bit about the United States being a democratic nation that cannot simply invade another country? That’s really something, isn’t it? Oh, how times change. But we digress. We’re wondering if Hitler possibly appeared on more Police Gazette covers than any other person. No way to research that, so we’ll just speculate—yes, he did. But in Gazette’s defense, it never presented him as anything other than an object of fear or ridicule. At least, not that we’ve seen. We’ll have more Gazette later, and you can get Antarctic scoop below. 

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1935—Huey Long Assassinated

Governor of Louisiana Huey Long, one of the few truly leftist politicians in American history, is shot by Carl Austin Weiss in Baton Rouge. Long dies after two days in the hospital.

1956—Elvis Shakes Up Ed Sullivan

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, performing his hit song “Don’t Be Cruel.” Ironically, a car accident prevented Sullivan from being present that night, and the show was guest-hosted by British actor Charles Laughton.

1966—Star Trek Airs for First Time

Star Trek, an American television series set in the twenty-third century and promoting socialist utopian ideals, premieres on NBC. The series is cancelled after three seasons without much fanfare, but in syndication becomes one of the most beloved television shows of all time.

1974—Ford Pardons Nixon

U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office, which coincidentally happen to include all those associated with the Watergate scandal.

1978—Giorgi Markov Assassinated

Bulgarian dissident Giorgi Markov is assassinated in a scene right out of a spy novel. As he’s waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge in London, he’s jabbed in the calf with an umbrella. The man holding the umbrella apologizes and walks away, but he is in reality a Bulgarian hired killer who has just injected a ricin pellet into Markov, who develops a high fever and dies three days later.

This awesome cover art is by Tommy Shoemaker, a new talent to us, but not to more experienced paperback illustration aficionados.
Ten covers from the popular French thriller series Les aventures de Zodiaque.
Sam Peffer cover art for Jonathan Latimer's Solomon's Vineyard, originally published in 1941.

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