Pulp International

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

DR. OCTOPUS

The man with the drag of a tattoo.

Once you’ve read enough H.P Lovecraft you begin to see his mindbending interstellar/transdimensional beings everywhere, and we see one on this cover for L’homme à l’étrange tatouage by Belgian author Michel Dahin, aka Michel de Roisin. It’s basically a pamphlet—sixteen pages—written for the S.O.S. Police! collection published by Éditions Paul Dupont. The art is signed by Dunbar, who is as yet unknown to us, but considering he put Cthulhu or some other octopoid monstrosity on the chest of his cover figure, maybe we don’t want to know him. The book doesn’t actually deal with Lovecraftian cultists, though. Just some really creepy sailors. 1945 on this. 

Belgium, Éditions Paul Dupont, Michel Dahin, Michel de Roisin, cover art, literature

ARTISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Whether it’s good depends on how you look at it.

In pulp and post-pulp literature, it’s a given that what we read isn’t up to the quality of serious fiction. Some might argue the point, but it’s probably true. While pulp writers have been important in creating new stylistic methods, even the best pulp novel doesn’t stand on the same level as, say, The Grapes of Wrath or Babbitt. That truth doesn’t diminish our enjoyment of pulp—it’s a literary form that leads us to places we’d never be taken in more serious writing. We tend to feel the same way about pulp art. A lot of it is quite nice when viewed from the perspective of what it accomplishes, rather than whether it is technically good. We hinted at that in yesterday’s post. So today, we chose three examples of that idea.

These mid-1940s covers are from Editions Nicéa’s Collection Rose Noire. The books are On a tue Madame Rose (Madame Rose was Killed) written by Maurice Lambert, aka Géo Duvic; La double vie de Lord Morton (The Double Life of Lord Morton) written by Michel Dahin, aka Michel de Roisin; and Le chaland du mystère (Mystery of the Barge) penned by an author who published only as Dominique. All three covers are anonymous, though are doubtless by the same person. While they aren’t up to the technical quality of Robert McGinnis or Alain Gourdon perhaps, we think the artist achieved exactly what he or she set out to do, not just in color and mood, but particularly in the confident use of perspective on the last cover. In our opinion, these are good. But maybe we’re wrong. Artist friends? Drop us a line. 

France, Editions Nicéa, Maurice Lambert, Michel Dahin, Dominique, cover art, literature
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1927—Mae West Sentenced to Jail

American actress and playwright Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for the content of her play Sex. The trial occurred even though the play had run for a year and had been seen by 325,000 people. However West’s considerable popularity, already based on her risque image, only increased due to the controversy.

1971—Manson Sentenced to Death

In the U.S, cult leader Charles Manson is sentenced to death for inciting the murders of Sharon Tate and several other people. Three accomplices, who had actually done the killing, were also sentenced to death, but the state of California abolished capital punishment in 1972 and neither they nor Manson were ever actually executed.

1923—Yankee Stadium Opens

In New York City, Yankee Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, opens with the Yankees beating their eternal rivals the Boston Red Sox 4 to 1. The stadium, which is nicknamed The House that Ruth Built, sees the Yankees become the most successful franchise in baseball history. It is eventually replaced by a new Yankee Stadium and closes in September 2008.

1961—Bay of Pigs Invasion Is Launched

A group of CIA financed and trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. However, the invasion fails badly and the result is embarrassment for U.S. president John F. Kennedy and a major boost in popularity for Fidel Castro, and also has the effect of pushing him toward the Soviet Union for protection.

1943—First LSD Trip Takes Place

Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann, while working at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, accidentally absorbs lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, and thus discovers its psychedelic properties. He had first synthesized the substance five years earlier but hadn’t been aware of its effects. He goes on to write scores of articles and books about his creation.

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BRAZIL UNDERGROUND

Edições de Ouro and Editora Tecnoprint published U.S. crime novels for the Brazilian market, with excellent reworked cover art to appeal to local sensibilities. We have a small collection worth seeing.

FLUENT IN VIOLENCE

Walter Popp cover art for Richard Powell's 1954 crime novel Say It with Bullets.

IN HOT WATER

There have been some serious injuries on pulp covers. This one is probably the most severe—at least in our imagination. It was painted for Stanley Morton's 1952 novel Yankee Trader.

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