This is a great cover, full of attitude and menace. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of the artist responsible for it. Startling Detective was a true crime pulp. It started in the 30s and ran for 6 decades. The cover is for the May, 1952 issue.
This cover is from 1951. I like Nyoka’s boots but I don’t know if I would use a spear for self-defense when I’ve got a gun right there. I haven’t spent that much time in the jungle, though.
Nyoka first appeared in a short story written by the creator of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs. She then starred in several movie serials in the 40s but eventually, she migrated to comic books like this one.
Unfortunately, we do not know the name of the artist responsible for this cover.
This book was originally published in 1959. I wish I knew who to credit for this cover because it’s one of my favorites. Why is she on the stairs and who is looking up at her?
This is from 1938. Crime Busters was a pulp magazine that featured stories about several different recurring characters. It lasted for two years before it was renamed Street & Smith Mystery Magazine. Like a lot of pulp magazines, Street & Smith Mystery Magazine eventually fell victim to the World War II paper shortage. While Americas were fighting overseas, the resources for printing up salacious magazines were often hard to come by.
I don’t know who did this cover but I do like that the photo is apparently illustrating a story called The Hand of Glory.
That robot’s in love! Never take your date to a swamp. A human would have understood that.
This is from 1949. The cover was done by Alex Schomburg. This issue had become very popular with collectors both because of Schomburg’s artwork but also because some people think that the robot on the cover was the inspiration for Futurama‘s Bender.
It’s not easy being a Rangers fan.
I start every season feeling so optimistic and hopeful that this will be the season that the team will finally get itself together and return to the World Series. Every season, that feeling lasts for a game or two and then it’s back to just taking my victories where I can get them. This season, we’re already in last place in the AL West and my favorite Ranger, Elvis Andrus, is now playing for Oakland. However, as bad as things are here at the start, we’ve still won more games than the Yankees, The Twins, and the Tigers. That’s my little victory. The great thing about baseball is that if you get enough of those little victories, there’s a chance that they’ll eventually turn into a big victory.
Earlier today, I watched an old, black-and-white movie called It Happened In Flatbush. It’s about a baseball team that no one is giving much of a chance. Even though the team isn’t given a name in the film, the film takes place in Brooklyn and, in the 1942, the Dodgers were Brooklyn’s team. The owner of the team, Mrs. McAcvoy (Sara Allgood), has promised all of the team’s fans that the team is going to reward their loyalty by eventually making it to the World Series. Looking for a new manager, she sets her eyes on Frank Maguire (Lloyd Nolan). Maguire used to play for the team until he committed an error that led to a crucial defeat. Now, Frank is managing a minor league team in Texas and everyone thinks that he’s washed up. Mrs. McAvoy knows that Frank has something to prove and she hires him to be her new manager.
Just like the team, no one gives Frank much of a chance but he proves them wrong. He wins over the people of Brooklyn when he stands up for a fan who lived out every baseball lover’s dream of punching an umpire. When Mrs. McAcoy dies and the team is inherited by her daughter (Carole Landis), Frank teaches her all about baseball and Brooklyn and the two of them fall in love. With his team sometimes grumbling about his tough coaching style, Frank tries to lead both the team and an untried pitcher into the race for the pennant.
It Happened in Flatbush is an old movie but I liked it. Of course, I also love baseball so that probably helped because the move loves baseball too. I especially liked the courtroom scene where Frank stood up for every fan who has ever gone overboard supporting their team. He talks about what the team means to the people of Brooklyn and how a victory for the team is a victory for the entire borough. Even today, any baseball fan will be able to relate to what Frank’s saying. I also liked that the movie included a lot of footage of actual baseball games from the 40s.
Mostly, I appreciated the movie because it was a classic underdog story. No one gives the team much of a chance but they prove them wrong. It reminded me that, in baseball, anything can happen and just because your team is struggling now, that doesn’t mean that they can’t make a comeback. Watching It Happened in Flatbush made me realize that there’s hope for my team yet!
It Happened in Flatbush is a movie for those of us who love baseball. It isn’t available on any streaming services but it does sometimes air on the Fox Movie Channel.
Today is Patriot’s Day so let’s celebrate with The Fighting Yank!
Who was the Fighting Yank? He was Bruce Carter III, a proud patriot who was given super powers by the ghost of his ancestor, the original Bruce Carter. The Carters had a long history of fighting for their country. The first Bruce Carter fought in the Revolutionary War. The third Bruce Carter, as the Fighting Yank, went on to fight the Nazis in World War II! After the war ended, the Fighting Yank continued the fight to his fellow citizens safe from enemies both domestic and abroad.
The Fighting Yank had his comic book series, which ran from 1942 to 1948. Here, to celebrate Patriots Day, is The Fighting Yank!
Thank you for your service, Fighting Yank!
Someone’s in trouble! The man on the boat seems to be enjoy it, though.
This book was published in 1957. The cover is by Rudolph Belarski, whose work has appeared many times on this site.
This book was first published in 1963. Dallas Mayo was a pseudonym for Gilbert Fox, who was the founder of Midwood Books. Midwood Books published “adult” reading.
On many sites, this cover is credited to Paul Rader, who did do quite a few covers for Midwood Books. However, I’ve also seen a lot of comments from people saying that Rader didn’t actually do this cover. It looks like Rader’s work to me but I’ve seen enough differing opinions that I’m not confident crediting this to anyone. If you know who did this cover, let us know in the comments!
I think this cover speaks for itself. The artwork was done by Malcolm H. Smith, whose work appeared on the covers of several pulp magazines. Eventually, he left the pulps and was hired to work as an illustrator for NASA, where he helped engineers turn science fiction into reality.
The story highlighted on the cover, The Fall of Lemuria, was written by Richard Shaver, an author who claimed that all of his stories were based in fact. He wrote that there was a sinister civilization living underneath the Earth’s surface and that it had developed advanced technology. Shaver said that he had first discovered the civilization when, while working on an assembly line, he picked up a welding gun that allowed him to hear the thoughts of others and eventually to hear the conversations of people living underground. Shaver said that he had visited “the cavern world” many times. He wrote many stories about these people living underground, the majority of which were published in Amazing Stories.
There were many people who believed Shaver and who wrote letters to his publishers saying that they also heard voices coming from underground. Others thought that Shaver was suffering from schizophrenia and claimed that he was being exploited by the editors who published his stories and promoted them as being fact. When the pulp era ended, Shaver faded into obscurity, though he and his wife continued to publish a magazine about his theories, Shaver Mystery Magazine.
Through the Shattered Lens 