Happy Dinosaur Day!


by Alex Schomburg

Today, we observe Dinosaur Day!

The first recorded discover of dinosaur fossils occurred in 1820 and, since then, dinosaur remains have been found on all seven continents.  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 Edmund Emshwiller

by CC Senf

by Earle Bergey

by Hans Wessolowski

 

by Thomas Beecham

Artist Unknown

by Jerome Podwil

 

The Pulps Go To The Moon


by John Melo

56 years ago today, the first manned spaceflight to the Moon touched down on the lunar surface.  Let’s celebrate this wonderful anniversary with a little help from the pulps!  Not only were these covers illustrated by some of the finest artists working in the business but they also show how people imagined life on the Moon before Neil Armstrong took his one small step.

by Joe Orlando
by Roger Kastel
by Frank Frazetta
by Edmund Emshwiller
by Albert Drake
by Lawrence Sterne Stevens
by Robert Graef
by Howard V. Brown
by Walter Popp
by Enoch Bolles

 

The Covers of Science Fiction Adventures


In the 1950s, there was actually two magazines called Science Fiction Adventures.  Neither one of them ran for very long.  The first Science Fiction Adventures lasted for two years, from 1952 to 1954 and it was canceled due to low sales.  The name was then used for another magazine, that ran from 1956 to 1958 and which was also canceled for low sales.  After the second cancellation, publishers got the hint and didn’t use the name again.

Below is a handful of covers from both versions of Science Fiction Adventures.

November, 1952, by H.R. Van Dongen

March, 1954. By Mel Hunter

December, 1956. By Edmumd Emshwiller

August, 1957. By Robert V. Engle

September, 1957. By Edmund Emshwiller

December, 1957. By Edmund Emshwiller

January, 1958. By John Schoenherr

April, 1958. By Edmund Emshwiller

The Futuristic Covers of Future Science Fiction


January, 1954. Artwork by Alex Schomburg

Future Science Fiction was a magazine that started in 1939 and was initially published until 1943.  The World War II paper shortage brought the magazine to a temporary end but, in 1950, the magazine was relaunched and ran for another ten years.  Future featured stories about aliens, different worlds, and future wars.  Writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, and Philip K. Dick appeared in the magazine.  Today, though, the magazine is best remembered for covers that brought a distinct pulp sensibility to the science fiction genre.

Here are just a few of the covers of Future Science Fiction.

March, 1939. Artwork by Frank R. Paul

August, 1942. Artwork by John Forte, Jr.

October, 1942. Cover by Hannes Bok

August, 1950. Artwork by Earle Bergey

October, 1950. Artwork by Leo Morey

March, 1951. Artwork by Milton Luros

1952, September. Artwork by Peter Poulton

1954, March. Artwork by Alex Schomburg

Summer, 1957. Artwork by Frank Kelly Freas

February, 1959. Artwork by Edmund Emshwiller

June, 1959. Artwork by Virgil Finlay

February, 1960. Artwork by Paul Orban

The Out Of This World Covers Of The Pulps


by Leo Morey

Years before any whistleblowers testified at any Congressional hearings about crashed UFOS and “non-human remains,” the pulps told the world all that it needed to know about spaceships, aliens, and what lies beyond the Milky Way.  Here’s a small sampling of the out of this world covers of the pulps (and one comic book that I included because I liked the cover)!

by Albert Drake

by Carmine Infantino

by Edmund Emshwiller

by Frank R. Paul

by Fred Kirberger

by Leo Morey

by Leo Morey

by Lou Morales

by Mel Hunter

by Peter Poulton

by Robert Gibson Jones

by Virgil Finlay