Pulp International

vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news

SHOOT ON SIGHT

If a detective doesn't have eyes in the back of his head he might end up with holes there instead.

Cleve F. Adams’ The Private Eye was originally published in 1942 with this Signet edition fronted by a Lu Kimmel action scene appearing in 1951. Adams sets a story in fictional Las Cruces, Arizona featuring two rival mining concerns, a current mayor and a former, a sheriff and a former, a femme fatale who the hero desires but whose husband’s suicide he’s investigating as a possible murder, which he does by first inventing a fake investigation as cover, but is sought for hire by three rival parties, accepts an offer, but with the understanding he’ll pretend to be working for his employer’s enemy, and somehow does all this while supervising a less than brilliant partner, and navigating the surprise appearance in town of his longtime flirtation who uses his cases as inspiration for her popular crime novels.

That’s just a mini summary. There’s plenty more we could add to that run-on sentence. Excellent writing is useful in helping readers keep complex mystery novels straight. Read this passage where the main character John Shannon muses on his next move and see if you think it’s excellent: Also there was the matter of a certain hunk of dynamite thrown at a man named John J. Shannon. He decided that whatever Giles MacLeish chose to tell him, and regardless of the motivation behind the telling, he, Shannon, could not lose by listening.

That’s tortured. It’s almost as if Adams had trouble keeping things straight himself. We can envision his agent and Signet editors suggesting that his plot would lose many readers, and we can imagine him assuring them that people would follow it fine. He’d have been correct if he’d been better at his job, but his style and approach aren’t what you’d call riveting, so the complexity of the story will be a problem for some. Still, we can’t knock him for treating his readers like attentive adults. We can knock him for straining credulity in numerous instances. Can someone really snap-draw a pistol and shoot someone else’s gun out of their hand? We seriously doubt it, but maybe Adams figured if it’s a good enough gimmick for Old West gunslingers it’s good enough for modern detectives. Despite its problems, though, The Private Eye is probably worth a try for hardcore vintage mystery fans.

Arizona, Signet Books, Cleve F. Adams, John Spain, Lu Kimmel, cover art, literature

BENNY TIME, BENNY PLACE

So that whole brains over brawn thing? I gather you're not a big believer.


Above you see a cover for Peter Rabe’s 1955 thriller Benny Muscles In. Rabe had previously debuted with Stop This Man! and would go on to write thirty novels, but he’s still green here, and it shows. In the story, Benny Tapkow, a collector for the mob, decides to kidnap his boss’s daughter Pat for a rival mobster. Everything goes ridiculously wrong, starting with the rival’s henchmen making off with the wrong woman, and continuing with Pat getting hooked on heroin. Overall the book felt like Rabe, early in his authorial career, didn’t know quite where to go with these ideas. There’s plenty of grit, but not enough precision. We did like the bit, though, where Benny got all quantum: [She] isn’t dead. And she isn’t alive. She’s right between, and the more Pendleton stalls, the worse it’ll be for her. Well, maybe that isn’t exactly quantum, but it’s close, if unintentional. But Rabe would make legit quantum leaps with later works. The art on this Gold Medal edition is by Lu Kimmel.

Fawcett Publications, Gold Medal Books, Peter Rabe, Lu Kimmel, cover art, literature

SO NERA, YET SO FAR

The beasts of the jungle are dangerous, savage, and human.

You’d never guess, but this cover for U.S. writer Jonathan Latimer’s L’avventura nera is the 1956 Italian translation of his 1940 African safari novel Dark Memory. It was painted by Lu Kimmel, possibly borrowed from something he originally painted for a U.S. novel or magazine. We recently talked about this book in detail—a lot of detail—but long story short, it’s about Yanks in Africa, and a difficult, dangerous safari that brings out the beast in its participants. It was great. Learn more? Click here.

Italy, Longanesi & Co., Jonathan Latimer, Lu Kimmel, cover art, literature

A MAN OF MEANNESS

Owning a whorehouse has been fun, ladies, but a man of my wickedness has a destiny. I'm running for Congress.

Above is a cover by Lu Kimmel, an artist we’ve featured only once before, but who painted many paperback fronts, and delved as well into advertising, portraiture, and fine art. We’ll see him again later. Joseph Millard’s The Wickedest Man was originally published as The Gentleman from Hell and was based on real-life figure Ben Hogan—not the golfer. So what did the evil Hogan do? He was a con man, a murderer, a spy for both the Union and Confederate armies during the U.S. Civil War, a brawler, a jury tamperer, a whorehouse proprietor, and worst of all—as indicated by our subhead—a politician. There are several books about the guy, but Millard’s is probably the best known. This Gold Medal edition came in 1954. 

Fawcett Publications, U.S. Civil War, Joseph Millard, Ben Hogan, Lu Kimmel, cover art, literature

JURY RIGGED

Spillane solves a tough case in more ways than one.

If you’re on this site you almost certainly know already about Mickey Spillane’s I, the Jury, so instead of talking about how it’s a trailblazing hard boiled detective novel with a sledgehammer ending that’s one of the most famous in pulp history, we’ll share a true story with you. You know one of us went to the U.S. recently. Well, the one of us who went—PSGP—has had lots of problems getting into the country. We’re talking baggage searches, being conducted to the special room for questioning, the whole deal.

Customs agents always say these stops are random but when it happens three times in five trips that’s an obvious lie. Probably—and this is a guess, because we have no idea what customs agents see when they scan a passport—these stops have to do with PSGP’s travel history, which includes visits to such dubious countries as Russia, Honduras, and various nations and islands in the vicinity of Cuba. One time an agent even asked him casually, “So how did that trip to Cuba work out for you?” even though there was no visa—obviously—to that effect in PSGP’s passport. Columbo these agents are not.

Anyway, during one of these searches the agent in charge saw a giant pulp anthology in PSGP’s luggage and immediately got all friendly, like, “Oh, you dig this kind of stuff, do you?” PSGP: “Of course.” Agent: “What do you like about it?” PSGP: “Cops, crooks, corruption, violence, you know.” Agent: “Well, you can close your bag up. I think we’re done here.” Ever since then whenever PSGP goes Stateside he carries a pulp novel prominently placed on his person. And there have been no problems in customs since. Coincidence? Maybe.

But it’s best to be equipped anyway, so this time he carried the above edition of I, the Jury sticking out of the breast pocket of his jacket, and customs was even smoother than usual. Also a beautiful Lufthansa flight attendant on one of the planes was even like, “Oh, passion, crime, and suspense, eh? Sounds like fun.” Yes, customs agents are soothed and even the most jaded of stews gets flirtatious when those words are sticking out of your breast pocket. So consider this a piece of advice: if you’re concerned with customs carry a pulp novel, and if you carry a pulp novel, carry Spillane. 

Signet Books, Mickey Spillane, Lu Kimmel, cover art, literature
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1980—John Lennon Killed

Ex-Beatle John Lennon is shot four times in the back and killed by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman had been stalking Lennon since October, and earlier that evening Lennon had autographed a copy of his album Double Fantasy for him.

1941—Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor

The Imperial Japanese Navy sends aircraft to attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet and its defending air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While the U.S. lost battleships and other vessels, its aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor and survived intact, robbing the Japanese of the total destruction of the Pacific Fleet they had hoped to achieve.

1989—Anti-Feminist Gunman Kills 14

In Montreal, Canada, at the École Polytechnique, a gunman shoots twenty-eight young women with a semi-automatic rifle, killing fourteen. The gunman claimed to be fighting feminism, which he believed had ruined his life. After the killings he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide.

1933—Prohibition Ends in United States

Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to overturn the 18th Amendment which had made the sale of alcohol illegal. But the criminal gangs that had gained power during Prohibition are now firmly established, and maintain an influence that continues unabated for decades.

1945—Flight 19 Vanishes without a Trace

During an overwater navigation training flight from Fort Lauderdale, five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo-bombers lose radio contact with their base and vanish. The disappearance takes place in what is popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle.

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WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT

Cover art by the great Sandro Symeoni for Peter Cheyney's mystery He Walked in her Sleep, from Ace Books in 1949.

PARIS BLEUS

The mysterious artist who signed his or her work as F. Harf produced this beautiful cover in 1956 for the French publisher S.E.P.I.A.

RAISE EM UP

Aslan art was borrowed for many covers by Dutch publisher Uitgeverij A.B.C. for its Collection Vamp. The piece used on Mike Splane's Nachtkatje is a good example.

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