Vintage Pulp

June 26 2012

CELESTIAL BRILLIANCE

Strange adventures on other worlds.

Above and below are ten covers of Planet Stories that appeared between 1948 and 1952, with beautiful, lurid, pulp art from Allen Anderson. The magazine published only interplanetary adventures, and its mix of rocket ships, swashbuckling heroes, space princesses, and hideous aliens proved extremely popular. Some of the many writers whose work graced its pages include Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Leigh Brackett, John D. McDonald, Philip K. Dick, and Clifford D. Simak. Planet Stories ran seventy-one glorious issues, from 1939 to 1955. How could you not be excited to read when this is what awaited you on the newsstands?

Planet Stories, Allen Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Leigh Brackett, John D. McDonald, Philip K. Dick, Clifford D. Simak, magazine art, literature

Vintage Pulp

October 27 2011

MOODY ALLEN

Devil in a red dress.

The above cover of Private Detective Stories from October 1943 features art from Allen Anderson illustrating Roger Torrey’s short story “Marriage Means Murder.” Anderson worked most actively during the 1940s for a long list of pulp magazines, including Spicy Mystery, Planet Stories, and others. His saturated colors, heavy shadows, and crowded visuals have a strong visceral impact, and, overall, his work is exactly what we always imagine when we think of pulp. This particular cover appears elsewhere on the internet, but our scan is a different one. In any case, we’ll have more from Anderson later, and in the meantime you can see a brilliant selection of fourteen of his pieces here.

Private Detective Stories, Allen Anderson, Roger Torrey, magazine art, literature

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

September 9

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.

September 8

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.

September 8

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.

September 7

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.

September 6

1901—McKinley Fatally Shot

Polish-born anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies September 12, and Czolgosz is later executed.