The Adventurous Covers of Action Stories


Artist Unknown

Action Stories was published from 1921 to 1950.  It specialized in action-packed stories about men doing manly things and women who knew how to handle a rifle.  Despite the dinosaur featured in the cover above, Action Stories was known for usually turning down horror and fantasy-themed stories and instead specializing in westerns, war stories, and sports fiction.  Among the writers that were published by Action Stories: Robert E. Howard, Walt Coburn, Morgan Robertson, Horace McCoy, Theodore Roscoe, Greye La Spina, Anthony M. Rud, Thomas Thursday and Les Savage, Jr.

Below are a sampling of adventurous covers from Action Stories!

by Allen Gustav Anderson

by Allen Gustav Anderson

by Allen Gustav Anderson

by Allen Gustav Anderson

by Emery Clarke

by H.C. Murphy

by Harry Lemon Parkhurst

by Norman Saunders

Unknown Artist

Unknown Artist

The Covers of Fight Stories


Can you guess what Fight Stories was about?

Fight Stories made its debut in 1928 and it was the first all-fiction magazine to be devoted to an entire sport.  Every issue was full of boxing stories from some of the most well-regarded of the pulp authors.  Robert E. Howard, who is best-remembered for creating Conan the Barbarian, was one of the writers who was regularly featured in Fight Stories.

Published at the height of boxing’s popularity, Fight Stories was an unqualified success and ended up running, off-and-on, until 1952.  In all, there were a 106 issues of Fight Stories.  Below are just a few of the covers of Fight Stories.  Not surprisingly, they all follow the same basic theme:

Author Unknown

Author Unknown

Author Unknown

by Earle Bergey

by Earle Bergey

by George Gross

by George Gross

by George Gross

by George Gross