by Hugh Joseph Ward
This is from 1938. People really liked monkeys in the 30s.
This cover was done by the prolific Hugh Joseph Ward, whose work has been featured on this site many times in the past and will be featured many times in the future.
Artist Unknown
Though the cover brings to mind Christmas, this issue is actually from November of 1936. I just don’t know if I would want two monkeys starting at me while I was getting dressed. One of them especially appears to be a little too amused.
When I first saw this, I assumed that Enoch Bolles was the cover artist but I can’t find any confirmation of that. For now, the artist of this cover is unknown.
by Alex Schomburg
This is from 1954. There’s nothing more awkward than an alien showing up right when you’re getting out of the shower. Don’t get me started.
This cover was done by Alex Schomburg, who has been featured on this site in the past and who will be featured many more times in the future.
This painting, from 1945, was done by Captain Orville Norman Fisher, who was actually present on that day, 77 years ago, when the Allied troops landed at Normandy. In honor of their sacrifice and their legacy, I’m proud to share that painting today.
This book, which was one of the many lesbian-themed paperbacks of the pulp era, was originally published in 1963. The cover is a photo. Unfortunately, the artist was unknown.
That is probably the worst possible way to try to deliver someone a gun. By the time the gun does arrive at the D.A.’s office, there’s going to be so many tags and fingerprints on it that it’s going to be worthless as evidence.
This issues from 1949. The cover was done by the prolific illustrator, Norman Saunders.
I guess we really got lucky!
This was originally published in 1962, when 1999 was 37 years away and many people probably thought it would be doomsday. Today, it’s been 22 years since doomsday and the world’s still here. This cover was done by Ed Valigursky, whose work has been featured on this site in the past and will be featured again in the future.
That’s one way to pay for college, I guess. The combination of the frat boy smoking a cigarette and that dangerously tight corset combine to make this cover a classic. The artist responsible was Tom Miller.
This book was originally published in 1961. Edwin West was a penname that was used, at the time, by the author Donald Westlake. Using the name Richard Stark, Westlake wrote a series of highly regarded crime novels about a ruthless crook named Parker.
This little fellow, or maybe his relatives since I took this picture two years ago, shows up in our backyard a lot, usually in the middle of the night. On this day, I happened to catch him out in the afternoon and he was so surprised to see me and my camera that he almost fell off of his branch. I’m not going to say that this is a great work of art or that it’s even the best picture that I’ve ever taken but I’ve still always liked it and I felt our neighborhood devourer of tics deserved a chance to welcome all of you to the month of June.
Possums may look fierce and they may hiss but they’re actually harmless and good to have around. They eat tics, do not get rabies, and are not aggressive. Everything you’ve heard about possums playing dead to get out of confrontation is totally true. Don’t try to make a possum into a pet, though. Just let them do their thing.
Hanging Around is probably not the most original name that I could have come up with for this picture but I don’t think the possum would mind.
Not all scene that we love come from the movies. Some of them come from real life!
Behold, from a Cubs/Pirates game, the worst play in the history of baseball!
It’s the top of the third. There’s a runner on second base. There are already two outs. All the Pirates have to do is get one more out and the inning ends. So, what happens? When Javy Baez gets a hit, the shortstop scoops up the ball and throws it to first baseman Will Craig. Instead of simply going back a few steps and stepping on first, Craig runs after Baez, trying to tag him with the ball. This gives the baserunner time to run from second base all the way to home., which he crosses safely because Craig is so busy chases Baez that he doesn’t throw the ball to the catcher in time. The catcher then makes a bad throw of his own that gives Baez time to then make it to the first base and then all the way around to second. (At first, it looked like he might even have been able make it to third.) That’s a run and a double on what should have been an easy out! At the end of the clip, you can see that not even Baez can believe that he’s actually safe on second.
It’s all so amazing that it is easy to overlook that Will Craig is not the only person who made a mistake. If second baseman Adam Frazier had gone over to cover first while Craig inexplicable took off after Baez, he would have been in a position to make the play when the catch threw the ball back to first.
It’s wild moments like this that make me love baseball!
