Art Profile: The True Detective Covers

Long before it lent its name to HBO, True Detective was one of the most popular of all the pulp magazines. Founded in 1924, the American version of True Detective was published for 71 years, while the British version is still going! True Detective started out publishing a mix of crime fiction and nonfiction. Eventually, fiction was phased out and True Detective became the first “true crime” magazine.

Over 71 years, there were many covers that were painted by many different artists, some well-known and others forgotten. Below is a small sampling of the True Detective covers: