 Got the coronavirus blues? We've got just the medicine. 
How are you doing out there? We realize some of you aren't quarantined—yet—but give it time. Here at the Pulp Intl. metroplex we've been on lockdown for a while, and we've been spending most of that time in our cavernous wine cellar. Which reminded us we had this old French postcard sitting around that depicts almost exactly what daily life looks like for us now. We don't have a copyright on this item, but we can look at it and guess it's from the mid-1970s. We can't identify the model, but who cares? The point is that big-ass cask of vin de Bordeaux behind her. What we wouldn't give for one of those right now. Not that we're likely to run out of wine. That's the first thing we stocked up on. But it never hurts to have more.
This would be an excellent moment in time for Muddy Waters or maybe even Johnny Cash to rush release a single called the Coronavirus Blues, but alas they're not around. Second choice? Maybe Pulp Intl. We find ourselves with extra time, so we'll be ramping up the frequency of our posts, to make it an even better time eater. Also, we've prided ourselves on always coming up with new content and never reusing what we wrote before, but for a limited time only we're going to repost some of our favorite entries from Pulp history. If you've visited the site often but never wanted to dig through our more than five-thousand individual entries, here's your shot to see some of that old material. Our Pulp Intl. retrospective starts today. We'll position the reused entries beneath our new posts.
 Speaking of jumping me, what are you doing later? 
It had been two years since we found any cover art from Louis Carrière, but Bordeaux solved that problem. Above you see his front for L’amour se joue aux dames, written by Christiane Leleu-Mazeron and published in 1950 by Éditions S.T.A.E.L. for their Collection Ciboulette. Regarding the title, “dames” means ladies of course, but “jeu de dames” actually refers to the game of checkers, or what Brits call draughts, so the complete title means “love is playing checkers.” You see that Carrière went literal with his art. If you’re interested in more of his work, just click his keywords below.
 The widow is about to join her husband. 
Above is another treasure from Saturday—Une tombe pour la veuve, which means “a grave for the widow,” 1961, from publishers Éditions de Lutèce for their L’Agence Héléna series. The book is billed as an unpublished novel from Francis Fortunas, a pseudonym of Jean Denis, and it cost us two little euros at the Place de Quinconces. Art is uncredited, but signed GB, which is probably Georges Boland.
 It’s sometimes called Petit Paris but it’s a unique city all its own. 
Despite the nickname people from Bordeaux aren’t Petit Parisiennes. Instead, they’re Bordelais, and one thing Bordelais (and Bordelaises, who are female) really appreciate is old books. We found some nice items we’ll begin posting soon, but for today all we have time to show you is a couple of interesting Bordelais snapshots. We took the top photo next to a bookstore, which was closed, but which had mounted a free book crate on an adjacent door. We found nothing there, but in the center of the city in a seasonal market on the Place de Quinconces we dug through stacks of printed matter and uncovered a few choice nuggets. There was also a flea market—a bit more of a bohemian, Arab, and African undertaking—on the Place Maynard in the shadow of the amazing Basilique and Clocher Saint-Michel, and there we came across a few interesting magazines, some pretty cool vendors, and a whole row of nice cafes. Next mission—find a scanner.  
 Yep, it's caught in your zipper alright. 
French artist Michel Gourdon was an accomplished illustrator, but if he could be said to have produced an unsuccessful effort, this would be it. Looking at the image, we understand this is supposed to be a head butt to the gut, but it looks more like an impending lip lock to the cock. Can you imagine Gourdon unveiling this for his colleagues at Fleuve Noir? Michel goes, “Et, voila!” And a roomful of people all give the same wtf reaction, except for one editor who just hangs his head, and the publisher, who finally goes, “Michel, mon dieu, est c’un blowjob!” Anyway, we picked this up in Bordeaux last week while pulp digging, and as you might imagine, it sort of leapt out of the bin at us. Our pleasure was orgasmic, and we hope you like it too. We have yet more Bordeaux stuff upcoming, so stay tuned. 
 Like wine, pulp gets better with age.   
We just returned from a trip to France where, in the southern city of Bordeaux during a long walk around town, we stumbled across a street market. The vendors had a decent selection of pulp, and the prices, we immediately noticed, were about one third those in larger European cities like Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, et. al. So even though we were a bit hung over from a wine and bonfire party the night before and were, frankly, intent upon finding a place to soothe our ailing heads with a little hair of the dog, we adjusted our priorities and made time to dig through pretty much every box of dusty old books and magazines on hand. Later we found a nice bookstore called Quai de Livre that also had some pulp. So it seems Bordeaux has more than just wine. Who knew? Anyway, we bought a few items, but we’re pretty tired after the whirlwind trip, which means we haven’t scanned anything yet. We’ll get to that at first opportunity, and you’ll be seeing our finds in the next day or three.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1939—Batman Debuts
In Detective Comics #27, DC Comics publishes its second major superhero, Batman, who becomes one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, and then a popular camp television series starring Adam West, and lastly a multi-million dollar movie franchise starring Michael Keaton, then George Clooney, and finally Christian Bale. 1953—Crick and Watson Publish DNA Results
British scientists James D Watson and Francis Crick publish an article detailing their discovery of the existence and structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, in Nature magazine. Their findings answer one of the oldest and most fundamental questions of biology, that of how living things reproduce themselves. 1967—First Space Program Casualty Occurs
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when, during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere after more than ten successful orbits, the capsule's main parachute fails to deploy properly, and the backup chute becomes entangled in the first. The capsule's descent is slowed, but it still hits the ground at about 90 mph, at which point it bursts into flames. Komarov is the first human to die during a space mission. 1986—Otto Preminger Dies
Austro–Hungarian film director Otto Preminger, who directed such eternal classics as Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Carmen Jones, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Stalag 17, and for his efforts earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, dies in New York City, aged 80, from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. 1998—James Earl Ray Dies
The convicted assassin of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., petty criminal James Earl Ray, dies in prison of hepatitis aged 70, protesting his innocence as he had for decades. Members of the King family who supported Ray's fight to clear his name believed the U.S. Government had been involved in Dr. King's killing, but with Ray's death such questions became moot.
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