Vintage Pulp

July 20 2017

HOMICIDE BLONDE

She's not bad. She's just painted that way.

Peter Driben illustrated relatively few book covers compared to his magazine output. We showed you a rare paperback from him a few years ago, and above you see another—his work on W. T. Ballard’s 1943 thriller Say Yes to Murder, for publisher Martin Goodman. The book is part of a series starring Ballard’s character William Lennox, who was a detective-like troubleshooter for fictitious General Consolidated Studios.

In this one he investigates the murder of an actor found stabbed and lying under the bed of actress Jean Jeffries, who is the granddaughter of one of Lennox’s close friends. As a troubleshooter, Lennox’s first duty is to move the body to avoid scandal for the studio (that’s the difference between a detective and a troubleshooter) and only then does he try to unravel the mystery.

Lennox appeared in three other Ballard novels—1946’s Murder Can’t Stop, 1948’s Dealing Out Death, and 1960’s Lights, Camera, Murder, which he wrote as John Shepherd. Martin Goodman, you probably know already, later went on to create Marvel Comics. You can see that other nice Driben cover we mentioned here, and three brilliant Dutch covers here. We’ll keep an eye out for more.

Marvel Comics, Martin Goodman, Peter Driben, W.T. Ballard, Willis T. Ballard, John Sheppard, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

January 11 2017

RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME

That's great. Very sexy. Now why don't we—just for context, you understand—see where the legs actually attach.

Originally published in hardback in 1942, with this Red Circle paperback appearing in 1949, Leg Artist is the story of a model named Lee Martin who rises to the top of her profession only to be targeted by a con man and felled by the tabloid press. The title refers to the photographic arts but is also a double entendre, as a “leg artist” is mid-century slang for a man adept at picking up women. Harvey revisited this theme later with 1950’s Leg-Art Virgin. Red Circle was part of a publishing group put together by U.S. publisher Martin Goodman, and some of these companies evolved into Timely Comics, which in turn morphed into Marvel Comics. The art for this cover is by unknown.

Red Circle Books, Marvel Comics, Martin Goodman, Gene Harvey, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

September 19 2015

THE ONLY WAY

The magazine that cried wolf.

For Men Only was launched in New York City by Canam Publishers Sales Corp., but changed ownership several times over the years, and was even acquired at one point by pulp kingpin Martin Goodman. This particular issue is from September 1956 and contains art from Rudolph Belarski, Frank Cozzarrelli, Elliot Means, Ben Thomas, Victor Olson, and Ken Crook. Actually, it’s a miracle all the art is credited. It doesn’t happen as often as it should in these magazines. The stories accompanying those art pieces range from espionage to wilderness adventure, including non-fiction from Jim Thompson about “America’s first murderer,” a man named John Billington who came to the New World on the Mayflower. After making trouble for years in Plymouth Colony, he was finally hanged for the slaying of John Newcomen. We checked, and Billington did in fact exist. His execution in September 1630 was the first of a colonist—but certainly not the last.

And another story caught our eye. It discusses an incident on the set of an Italian movie in which a wolf got loose and tried to attack actress Silvana Mangano. According to For Men Only, co-star Guido Celano rushed the wolf, grabbed it and threw it into the air, whereupon a rifle-toting crew member nailed it like he was skeet shooting. We’re calling bullshit on that one. A while back we wrote an article about guaranteed hunt farms and were able to see some rescued gray wolves up close. They’re big—about three feet high. European wolves are even bigger. No movie production would use one. Also, we don’t picture fifty-two-year-old, five foot three Guido Celano heaving a wolf into the air like a sack of laundry. No, it was just a dog—a German Shepherd, looks like. But it’s a good story, appropriate publicity for a movie—Uomini e lupi, aka Men and Wolves—that was still months from its premiere. We have about twenty scans below and an inexhaustible supply of magazines still to share.

New York City, Canam Publishers Sales Corp., For Men Only, Uomini e lupi, Men and Wolves, Martin Goodman, Rudolph Belarski, Frank Cozzarrelli, Elliot Means, Ben Thomas, Victor Olson, Ken Crook, Jim Thompson, John Newcomen, John Billington, Guido Celano, Silvana Mangano, cinema, magazine art

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

February 18

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

February 17

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

February 17

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

February 16

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanideâ€”not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juiceâ€”resulting in his death in late 1937.

February 15

1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt

In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.