Top 20 Outrageous Pulp Covers

Number 1. This image may remind modern viewers of Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate while Zippy the Pinhead calls the shots.

>> Amazing Stories

Number 2. I'm not sure what Daisy Mae is doing here, but I hope she has some insect repellent with which to supplement that stick.

>> Amazing Stories

Number 3. It's hard to find a good woman. They don't grow on trees, you know. No, wait... yes, they do.

>> Amazing Stories

Number 4. "Hey, sister, don't you try to tell ME how to roast a marshmallow."

>> Black Mask

Number 5. Death to the giant Pillsbury Doughboy!

>> Captain Future

Number 6. Don't you just hate it when you're playing chess and a chessman turns into a squinty mook with a bandage on his head? I know I do.

>> Detective Fiction

Number 7. If he didn't have that gun, this would be the least-scary-looking bad guy ever.

>> Doc Savage

Number 8. This is a very peculiar image. A prim-looking naked man (carefully cropped so that his naughty bits are out of the frame) is apparently walking away from a nuclear disaster. It's gonna be OK, though, because he's walking into a future in which Mondrian designed the buildings, and there will be lots of ivy to eat.

>> New Worlds Fiction

Number 9. What a day. First my blimp sank. Then I'm stuck in a boat full of dead bodies. Then my woman passes out. Fortunately, things can't get much worse, because the cover is full now and there's no room for more problems.

>> Planet Stories

Number 10. Gimli had always fancied Galadriel, and by golly, he was not going to give her up without a fight.

>> Planet Stories

Number 11. The Queen of the Martian Catacombs sure chose a funny-looking beastie to ride on. Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, is that you?

>> Planet Stories

Number 12. A large tiger/crocodile monster bashes a spaceship, using an uprooted tree as a weapon. But what worries me is that in the foreground there's a woman wearing a pillbox hat that looks suspiciously like a helicopter landing pad. When the tiny helicopter arrives, I'll know that I've had enough to drink.

>> Science Fiction

Number 13. I don't know whether or not this illustration is for "Planet of the Knob Heads," which is a featured story. But I love the robo-chicken or whatever it is that is sprinting away from the motorcycle cops. The captive woman looks surprised, but not entirely displeased, even though she is dangerously close to stubbing her toe.

>> Science Fiction

Number 14. "If you breathe a word of this to Fritz Lang, I will poke you with this letter opener."

>> Science Fiction

Number 15. I can't help thinking that this would make a wonderful political ad.

>> Secret Agent X

Number 16. When you're being threatened by thugs, it's wonderful when they are distracted by a walrus waving electric ping-pong balls on strings.

>> Secret Agent X

Number 17. In the newspaper business, it is said that "DOG BITES MAN" is not news, but "MAN BITES DOG" is news. Hmmm... how about "HUGE FLEA CHASES DOG"?

>> Weird Tales

Number 18. Okay, we have a fop holding his own severed head in one hand. An eyeball the size of a volleyball. A skeleton who has assembled a keyring strung with body parts. What's weird about this cover? THERE IS NO HALF-NAKED WOMAN. Tsk, tsk.

>> Weird Tales

Number 19. Talk about your bug-eyed monsters. This is what we'd get if Nosferatu were mixed with Yoda, and Tex Avery drew a portrait of the result.

>> Weird Tales

Number 20. It's the 1930s calling, they want their racist stereotypes back.

>> Spicy Adventure Stories

[Original selection & comments by Pinkfreud at Uclue.com]