The Big Four

I'm not gonna turn this post into a knock-off Wiki page about pulp magazines. I just want to feature some of the covers of these mostly-forgotten periodicals.

Here's four covers per member of the "Big Four" - Argosy, Adventure, Blue Book and Short Stories. Why the "Big Four"? The most prominent keeper of the pulp flame, Ed Hulse, says so, that's why.

Pulps have far more influence than you might realize, and featured some of the finest writers of the 20th century: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Louis L’Amour, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler to name but a few. If you were looking for jungle adventures, zombie stories, spy thrillers, and steamy romance, the pulps had it all and more. While most of the titles and writers have been forgotten, the themes and story telling devices live on to this day in comics, TV and movies.

And the covers...wow!

ARGOSY

ADVENTURE

BLUE BOOK

SHORT STORIES

Watch for these amazing covers and much more at the Pulpwear shop!