Pulprack

Each Issue a Feast for the Eyes

The art of the pulp magazine is a many-splendored thing. Early pulp covers were in most cases merely decorative, and only occasionally depicted a scene described on the pages within. As the 20th century wore on, painting styles similar to those of the great book illustrators -- Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth, among others -- gave way to more flamboyant styles with garish colors: the point of the cover was to SELL the magazine it wrapped. As the hero pulps became popular, action-oriented covers became very common. The sometimes metaphoric depictions illustrating an issue of The Shadow gave way to the sort of strictly action scenes one would find for Doc Savage Magazine, until the pictures of frantic violence that sold issues of The Spider became an accepted norm. [The cover leading off this paragraph is from the Nov. 3, 1919, issue of Adventure.]

Illustrators such as Walter Baumhofer (who painted covers for S&S Western Story Magazine, Adventure, Pete Rice -- shown at the right -- Gangster Stories, and the first great series of covers for Doc Savage) and Tom Lovell (who painted covers for Top-Notch, Racketeer & Gangland Stories, and provided interior illustrations for The Shadow) eventually moved to illustrating the slick magazines and, in some cases, executing fine art works, while other pulp painters -- such as Rudolph Belarski, Norman Saunders, and George Gross -- moved on to the paperback book market.

The interior art of the pulp magazines also offers delights. Artists had to deal with short deadlines and the knowledge that their black-and-white work would be reproduced on rough and absorbent pulp paper -- not necessarily the best medium for presenting fine-detailed work. How they met these challenges often resulted in entertaining and wonderful illustrations.

Today, there are a number of dealers who specialize in illustration art. Some collectors dedicate their efforts to pulp art alone. What once was viewed as throw-away hackwork is now considered by many a true art form deserving of conservation and study.