Tag Archives: Norman Saunders

The Covers of Prison Life Stories

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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

The Covers Of Mystery Tales

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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.

The Smashing Covers Of Smashing Detective Stories

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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

The Covers of Space Busters

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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

The Wild Covers of Weird Thrillers

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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