Prison Life Stories was a magazine that ran for three issues in 1935. Edited by the warden of a federal prison, Prison Life Stories featured articles written by actual law enforcement personnel and actual convicts. J. Edgar Hoover contributed an article to the first issue. The third issue was written by prisoners.
Here are the three covers of Prison Life Stories:
by Monroe Eisenberg
by Hugh Joseph Ward
by Norman Saunders
Mystery Tales was one of the many pulp magazines from West Fiction Publishing Company. From 1938 to 1940, over the course of 9 issues, Mystery Tales brought readers stories of cults, criminals, demons, femme fatales, and damsels in distress. Though I’m sure the stories were fine, the magazine is today mostly remembered and sought after by collectors for its extremely lurid covers. Below are 7 of the covers of Mystery Tales!
June, 1938. Cover by Norman Saunders
November, 1938. Cover by John Walter Scott
May, 1939. Cover by John Walter Scott
September, 1939. Cover by John Walter Scott
December, 1939. Cover by John Walter Scott
March, 1940. Cover by John Walter Scott.
May, 1940. Cover by John Walter Scott.
by Norman Saunders
This is from 1950. How can you ride a horse and shoot two guns at the same time? You can’t.
Today is International Kissing Day! To get everyone in the mood, here is some help from the pulps!
by Al Rossi
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
by Norman Saunders
by Raymond Johnson
by Robert Maguire
by Sergio Leone
by Tom Dunn
by Walter Popp
Artist Unknown
by Norman Saunders
This is from 1939.
by Norman Saunders
This cover is by Norman Saunders, whose work has been featured on the site many times in the past and which will continue to be featured in the future.
Smashing Detective Stories was a pulp detective magazine that ran from 1951 to 1956. It featured the the usual crime-smashing stories of detectives and criminals but what was really smashing about Smashing Detective Stories were the covers. The covers were about as pulpy as you can get!
Below is a sampling of the covers of Smashing Detective Stories. For all but one of them, the artist is unknown. The cover for the September, 1954 issue has been attributed to Norman Saunders and it would not surprise me if he was responsible for at least some of the others as well.
March, 1951
June, 1951
December, 1951
September, 1952
March, 1953
June, 1953
1954, March
September, 1954, by Norman Saunders
December, 1954
November, 1955
January, 1956
May, 1956
July, 1956
In the far future, with Earth under constant threat from extraterrestrial invasion, it was up to Captain Crockett to fight invaders from outer space!
That was the idea behind Space Busters, a pulp comic/magazine that was briefly published in 1952. Each issue featured the adventures of Captain Crockett, along with some other sci-fi tales that were not related to the captain and some non-fiction science articles. Unfortunately, it appears that there were only two issues of Space Busters. The first issue was dated March of 1952 and the second was dated August of 1952. Readers decided not to follow the adventures of Captain Crockett, despite his hard work protecting the planet.
Today, both issues are eagerly sought by collectors, due to the fantastic covers that were done by Allen Anderson and Norman Saunders. Captain Crockett may be gone but his legacy lives on.
by Norman Saunders
by Allen Gustav Anderson
Weird Thrillers was one of the many horror comics to be published in the early 50s. Though there were only five issues and the content was largely made up of true crime stories and sci-fi stories instead of straight horror, Weird Thrillers is still remembered for its awesome covers.
Here are the five covers for Weird Thrillers. The first four issues were published in 1951. The fifth and apparently final issue was published in 1952.
Artist Unknown
by Allen Gustav Anderson
by Allen Gustav Anderson
by Norman Saunders
Artist Unknown
by Norman Saunders
This exciting cover is credited to Norman Saunders, who has been featured many times on this site.
Through the Shattered Lens 