Here’s The Poster For Black Widow!

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Usually, I only share trailers but I simply had to share the first official movie poster for the MCU’s Black Widow, which will be coming out in May of 2020.

Seriously, this is so kickass!

Now, before you read any further, I guess I should say that I’m about share a spoiler from Avengers: Endgame. I think everyone in the world has seen that movie by now and, if you haven’t, you probably don’t care about the MCU or any of that other stuff. But still, just in case, consider this to be your SPOILER WARNING:

I really liked Avengers: Endgame but I do have to admit that it really pissed me off that they killed off Natasha. Storywise, there was no reason to kill off Natasha. If anyone in that scene needed to redeem themselves by sacrificing their life for the greater good, it was Clint! After all, Clint’s the one who spent the past few years going around the world and killing anyone who he felt didn’t deserve to still be alive. (And yes, Clint killed a drug lord at the start of the film and drug lords are evil but he also killed everyone who worked for the drug lord and some of those people were probably decent people who were doing what they had to do to survive or provide for their families.) The whole movie felt like it was set up for Clint to finally prove he deserved to be an Avenger by sacrificing his life. Instead, they killed off Natasha and it just felt totally wrong.

(It also felt rather cynical. Of course, they couldn’t kill Clint. They needed Jeremy Renner around to appear in the show about Hawkeye’s daughter that’s going to be on the new Disney streaming service.)

As the first woman to be prominently featured in multiple MCU films, Natasha was always my favorite Avenger and killing her off before she even got to star in her own movie just felt totally wrong to me. (The fact that Brie Larson’s dull Captain Marvel got her own showcase before the Black Widow will always bug me.) Still, I did take some solace from the fact that, even after Natasha’s death, there was still a Black Widow movie scheduled to come out and Scarlett Johansson would be starring in it.

Of course, then I found out that the Black Widow film is a prequel and it also sounds like the film’s ultimate goal might be to introduce Florence Pugh as the new Black Widow. Don’t get me wrong. Florence Pugh is one of the best actresses around but still, Scarlett Johansson will always be the Black Widow to me and the character’s pointless death will always bother me. So, up until a few minutes ago, I was not quite as enthusiastic about seeing the Black Widow film as you might normally expect me to be.

But, seriously, this poster is freaking perfect. It’s everything you would want a poster for a Black Widow stand alone film to be. I hope the movie itself lives up to fierceness in Natasha’s eyes.

I guess I’ll find out in May!

Get Ready For Independence Day With The Adventures Of Operator #5

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

by John Newton Howitt

With Independence Day approaching, it’s time to honor Jimmy Christopher. Jimmy was an agent for United States Intelligence, cod-named Operator #5. From 1934 to 1939, Jimmy kept America safe from its enemies as the star of the 10-cent pulp magazine, Secret Service Operator #5. Today, Secret Service Operator #5 is best-remembered for two things: a 13 issue arc in which Jimmy became a freedom fighter after America was conquered by the Purple Empire (a thinly-veiled stand-in for Nazi Germany) and a series of exciting, patriotic covers.

Unless otherwise noted, the covers below are all credited to John Newton Howitt:

by Rafael De Soto

Unknown Artist

The Many Adventures of Johnny Dekker

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

Johnny Dekker was a private investigator who starred in 13 pulp paperbacks in the late 40s. Though the paperbacks were published in Britain, they were written in the “American style” and one thing that is obvious from looking at the covers is that Johnny was good with a gun and always had a femme fatale nearby.

Though he wasn’t credited on the covers, the Johnny Dekker novels were written by British comic book artist, Mick Anglo. Anglo was unique in that he not only wrote the paperbacks but he also drew the covers as well. Here, courtesy of the imagination of Mick Anglo, are some of the many adventures of Johnny Dekker. My personal favorite is Nuts To Nylon:

In Honor of Memorial Day 2019

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

by Cliff Wilson

Never forget.

by Chris Hopkins

The Covers of Gun Molls Magazine

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

Prepare to take a trip back to the roaring twenties and the days of prohibition with 8 dangerous covers of Gun Molls Magaine!

For 19 months, from 1930 to 1931, Gun Molls Magazine gave its readers stories about crime and gangster romance. Most of the covers were done (and, in a rarity for the pulp era, signed) by illustrator Chris Scharre and featured women either in danger or making trouble on their own. Though most of the issues of Gun Molls Magazine have been lost, a few have survived.

Here are 8 of the surviving covers of Gun Molls Magazine:

The Covers of Two-Fisted Detective Stories

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

Two-Fisted Detective Stories was a “true crime” magazine that was published for only two years, from 1959 to 1960. There were a total of ten issues, which all featured the usual violent and sex-filled material that these magazines were famous for. Though Two-Fisted Detective may not have lasted long, it is still remembered for its memorably lurid covers. As you can see below, almost all of these covers had a few elements — cleavage, betrayal, money, and weapons — in common. Unfortunately, I have not been able to discover any of the artists who did these covers. Maybe someone who can answer that question will come across this post.

Here are eight covers from Two-Fisted Detective Stories:

July 1959

January 1960

June 1960

August 1960

September 1960

October 1960

November 1960

December 1960

My personal favorites are the girl power covers of July 1959, June 1960, September 1960, and November 1960.

Take A Break With The Pulps

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

For some, this week is the start of Spring Break! For those wondering how to spend their break, the pulps have a few suggestions. As the covers below show, a week on the beach doesn’t just mean binge drinking and partying. It also means excitement, mystery, romance, and maybe even a hurricane!

Unknown Artist

by Bernard Safran

by Bill Edwards

Artist Unknown

by Robert McGinnis

Artist Unknown

by Zoe Mozert

by Barye Philips

This 4th Of July, Make The World Safe For Democracy With These Patriotic Super Heroes!

Posted on July 2, 2018 by Dazzling Erin

This 4th of July, while celebrating America’s birthday, don’t forget that there was a time when superheroes not only starred in movies but also made the world safe for democracy! From World War II, here is a gallery of patriotic super heroes fighting for the freedoms that we enjoy today!

Not even the most powerful of heroes could do it alone. For that reason, when they weren’t beating the enemy in their own backyard, they were encouraging their readers to support the armed forces by buying war bonds.

Over the course of World War II, 85 million Americans purchased war bonds totaling an estimated $185 billion.

Finally, what other way to end this patriotic post than with a musical tribute to the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan?

And to all the real, flesh-and-blood heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the world from tyranny, thank you.

Happy International Dinosaur Day!

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Dazzling Erin

Today, we observe International Dinosaur Day!

The first recorded discover of dinosaur fossils occurred in 1820 and, since then, dinosaur remains have been found on all seven continents. According to CheckiDay: “Richard Owen, an English anatomist, came up with the word “Dinosauria” in 1842. The word comes from the Greek word “deinos,” meaning terrible or fearfully great, and “sauros,” meaning reptile or lizard. He applied the term to three animals that fossilized bones had been found of over the previous few decades.”

The best way to observe today is to go down to a museum and take a look at the fantastic creatures who inhabited this planet before human beings came along. But if you can’t get to a museum today, check out these magazine and paperback covers below. Not surprisingly, dinosaurs were very popular with the pulps. Here’s just a few of them:

by Alex Schomburg

by CC Senf

by Earle Bergey

by Hans Wessolowski

by Thomas Beecham

by Earle Bergey

by Ed Emshwiller

4 Shots From 4 Films: Savage Messiah, All The Vermeers in New York, The Stendhal Syndrome, Mr. Turner

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots from 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots from 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

In honor of Slow Art Day, here are…

4 Shots From 4 Films