Vintage Pulp

July 19 2024

KILLER IN A CATSUIT

In all Modesty, she was one of the best fictional spies of her era.

his nice off-center watercolor shows the iconic comic strip spy Modesty Blaise, and was painted by Jim Holdaway, possibly as he was finalizing the look of the character in collaboration with author Peter O’Donnell before premiering her in the London Evening Standard in May 1963. He illustrated Modesty’s adventures for seven years, until felled by a heart attack. O’Donnell wrote a series of Modesty Blaise novels, expanding them in a slightly more adult direction, which made them about as much fun as lightweight, espionage oriented boner bait could be. We’ve talked about the movie and several of the books, so if you’re curious just click the keywords “Modesty Blaise” below and scroll.

London Evening Standard, Modesty Blaise, Jim Holdaway, Peter O'Donnell, comic art

Modern Pulp

April 23 2024

IN HER DEFENSE

Well, looks like them bandits is gone, miss. And now, I'm powerful curious about several aspects of your predicament.

Above you see a piece of modern Mexican comic book art painted by Rafael Gallur for the cover of issue #771 of La Ley del Revolver, published in 2010. Many questions could be asked here, but none can be answered without buying the comic book. Perhaps we’ll do that down the line. We’ve shared other work from Gallur before and, like this one, it’s extremely lurid. Check it out here.

Mexico, Rafael Gallur, comic art

Intl. Notebook

January 19 2024

PET SPIDER-MAN

Collectors drive price of comic book sky high.

Have you ever seen a million dollar comic book? Now you have. A copy of the Marvel’s Spider-Man #1, originally published in 1963, sold at auction a couple of days ago for $1.38 million. The comic was considered to be in near-perfect condition, and shattered the previous record for a Spider-Man #1, which had sold for $520,000. You know our rule. Never pay exorbitantly for something that you can use to swat a fly. But see, that’s exactly why we aren’t rich. Inability to see the big picture. We’re starting to see it now, though. We have a lot of rare and unusual publications, and there could be value in them one day. How sweet would it be if our copy of A Visual History of Lovemaking Toys eventually became worth a million dollars? It isn’t in near-perfect condition anymore though, because we left it out and the Pulp Intl. girlfriends got hold of it. But still.

Marvel Comics, comic art

Vintage Pulp

August 27 2022

THAT MASKED MAN

Before Superman, Batman, and Spiderman there was the Phantom.

We picked up a copy of El Hombre Enmascarado late last year when we were passing through Granada, and in typical fashion, it’s taken us almost a year to scan anything from it. But never let the early become the enemy of the late, or something to that nonsensical effect, so above you see the cover of issue thirty-four, written and illustrated by Lee Falk and published in 1960 by Editorial Dolar as part of its Héroes Modernos series. However, Dolar was merely translating a U.S. serial. There the main character was known as the Phantom, originating as a daily syndicated comic strip. This episode is titled “Balas,” or “Bullets.” The only credit inside is for Falk, but we’re actually unsure whether he was the sole hand behind this. Although Falk was an artist, Phantom strips are generally credited to three cartoonists—Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy and Seymond Barry.

Falk invented the character of the Phantom in 1936, which makes him a precursor to modern superheroes. He even predates Superman, who came in 1936, and Batman, who arrived in 1940. His background is fun. During the age of piracy, Sir Christopher Standish was killed in an attack that his son survived. That son swore to fight evil in his father’s name, and pledged that his descendants would too. So each new Standish generation inherits a costume and fights crime, perpetuating the idea among the public that the masked vigilante is immortal—a phantom. In addition to the costume he carries two pistols and two rings: one bears the image of a skull, which he uses to mark foes by slugging them in the jaw. The other ring is a peace symbol. His sidekick is a wolf and he also sometimes rides a white stallion. We’ve scanned a few interior pages plus the slightly defaced rear cover for your enjoyment. And perhaps—who knows?—we’ll have more from the masked man later.

Spain, Madrid, Granada, Editorial Dolar, Lee Falk, Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy, Seymond Barry, comic art

Modern Pulp

November 11 2019

YUNO WHO

What's a crime? Being unable to identify the artist.

Has the Mexican crime art revival passed? Maybe, but not on Pulp Intl. We’ve talked about this niche quite a bit, and today we’re veering back in that direction to share this piece entitled “Crimen Perfecto,” painted during the early 1980s by someone who signed as Yuno. Yuno who? We dunno. Do you? You do? Let us know. Actually, we don’t expect you to know, because these artists were rarely properly credited, nor properly compensated, we suspect.

For that reason they never could have expected interest in their work to rekindle, but it did, and for a while auctions in these were pretty active, both online and in brick-and-mortar. The technical execution on display isn’t what you’d usually find in classic paperback art, but as critic Ken Johnson wrote in the New York Times in 2015, “The value of [Mexican crime] paintings isn’t to be found in their aesthetic sophistication or refinement. This is truly art for the masses, as kitschy as it is amusing.”

He forgot to mention horrifying and violent. A smart person once said that violent societies have violent amusements, and Mexico, like the U.S., has certain strains in its culture that persistently glorify mayhem. Art such as this gives you a glimpse of that, put to pasteboard via brush and paint. While the artists remain mostly unknown, what they produced resonates all these decades later. See more wild Mexican crime art here, here, here, and here.

Mexico, Yuno, comic art

Vintage Pulp

July 2 2019

COUNTING JACULA

Vampires never get old, in legend or in publishing.

Above you see a cover from the long running Elvifrance bande dessinée Jacula, with uncredited art. We picked this up from a Paris bouquiniste a few weeks ago. The backstory here is that a woman named Jacula Velenska is bitten by a vampire and, once turned, roams far and wide quenching her thirst for blood. She’s accompanied by her vampire husband Charles Verdier, and his dog servant Wolf. This is in French but the series originated in Italy as a fumetti, or adult comic book, and ran from 1969 to 1982 for a total of 327 issues, which strikes us as quite a lot.

Our French reprint is from 1971 and is 14 in the series. We were anticipating some foundational Jacula vamp action, but were surprised to discover that it deals almost entirely with a loup garou, or werewolf, named Charles, and how he ends up eating his own child and wife. At the end of the tale he encounters Jacula, who he captures and plans to kill before thinking better of it, for reasons that are unclear. It could be this is the same Charles that later becomes her companion. We’ll figure it out. One of the reasons we bought this was to practice French, which comes in handy where we live.

We said the cover art was uncredited, but generally they were painted by three guys—Leandro Biffi, Fernando Tacconi, and Carlo Jacono. Thanks to the powers of the internet we were able to determine that this one is by Biffi. The interior art by Alberto Giolitti is a bit more basic, which is usually true of comic books, but you’re buying these for the story, 112 pages of it in this case, written by Giuseppe Pederiali. We have a few scans below, and if you want to see more from Elvifrance, start here.

France, Italy, Elvifrance, Jacula, Giuseppe Pederiali, Leandro Biffi, Alberto Giolitto, Fernando Tacconi, Carlo Jacono, comic art

Modern Pulp

June 11 2019

IMPECCABLE MANARAS

They're actually a little rude but the French don't seem to mind

Here you see the cover and few scans from Les femmes de Manara, which is a compendium from 1995 featuring published as well as previously unseen women created by the agile hand of Milo Manara, one of the great illustrators of graphic novels. He was born in Italy and was copiously published both there and in France, and remains extremely popular all over Europe.

His niche is explicit erotica, and he’s done it better than just about anyone, populating his books with lithe, beautiful women who manage to get into the weirdest scrapes. In Il Gioco, aka Click or Le Déclic, for example, the character Claudia Cristiani has an implant placed in her brain to help her with sexual arousal, which is all well and good until the remote control that operates it breaks and she’s left in an ongoing nymphomaniacal state. It was made into a movie which we may discuss later, by the way.

In Gulliveriana Manara’s heroine survives a storm at sea only to find herself stranded naked on an island of tiny people. No movie of that, though we’d love to see one made. Anyway, these panels will certainly give you an idea why Manara became an icon in his field. He’s still active, and maintains a nice website, frequently updated. So for more info on this master illustrator look there.

France, Italy, Paris, Milo Manara, comic art

Modern Pulp

February 18 2019

SHINOHARA VISIONS

Creator of collectible pinku posters shows his comic skills.

We’ve shared two great Toei Company promo posters, here and here, painted by Japanese manga artist Toru Shinohara. Today we’re checking out some of his manga covers. Below are fifteen. We’ll have more from him later.

Japan, Toru Shinohara, comic art

Vintage Pulp

October 18 2018

FRIGHT READING

Definitely not made for kids.

More Halloween themed goodness today, with twenty covers from creepy short story magazines and graphic novels, some in English and some Italian. These are all supposed to be for adults, but it’s easy to suspect that the real audience was kids. We imagine putting ratings on the covers simply served the same purpose as warning labels on rap albums today—as a guarantee that your parents will freak out if they find out you own one. Well, whether for adults or kids, we love these.

Italy, comic art

Modern Pulp

June 10 2018

CRIME HEADS

Mexican comic book artists left no wickedness unexplored.

In Mexican comic book art of the 1980s and after, which is a subset of modern pulp we’ve documented before, a motif that recurred was the looming head. Multiple artists used this idea, which can only mean it was encouraged or sought by the publishers of series such as Micro-Misterio, Frank Kein, and Sesacional de Maistros. We have a mini-collection today of art pieces with floating heads. The creators include Beton, Dagoberto Dinorin, Rafael Gallur, and others. Also, we’ve learned that Dinorin often worked as a colorist, filling in the pencil drawings of other artists, particularly Gallur. So it’s possible Dinorin had a hand in the piece signed by Gallur. We’ll get into that subject more at a later date. We have nine more scans below, and since the Mexican comic book market thrived on transgressive violence, a few of them are a bit disturbing. You’ve been warned.

Mexico, Micro-Misterio, Frank Kein, Sesacional de Maistros, Dagoberto Dinorin, Rafael Gallur, Beton, comic art

ABOUT

EMAIL

LEGAL

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 8

1918—Sgt. York Becomes a Hero

During World War I, in the Argonne Forest in France, America Corporal Alvin C. York leads an attack on a German machine gun nest that kills 25 and captures 132. He is a corporal during the event, but is promoted to sergeant as a result. He also earns Medal of Honor from the U.S., the Croix de Guerre from the French Republic, and the Croce di Guerra from Italy and Montenegro. Stateside, he is celebrated as a hero, and Hollywood even makes a movie entitled Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper.

October 8

1956—Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series against hated rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is the only perfect game in World Series history, as well as the only no-hitter.

October 7

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

October 6

1966—LSD Declared Illegal in U.S.

LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.