Covering the Blog Bases

• Last July, Killer Covers celebrated Bastille Day by posting a handsome collection of book fronts with French connections. I wish I had been aware at the time of this gallery, in Pulp International, of paperback covers featuring Paris’ renowned Eiffel Tower. But now we can add to that assortment this provocative 1960 specimen.

• I know I refer often—probably too often—to Pulp International. But it’s only because that cheeky, art-oriented blog manages to find such cool stuff. Such as this somewhat racy selection of half a dozen covers illustrated by New Yorker George Gross (1909-2003). Or these fine façades “featuring characters getting more from their daily [showers] than just a squeaky clean feeling.” Or how about a couple of remarkably similar Gold Medal Books fronts from the 1950s? Careful—these links might not be safe to open at work.

• Speaking of look-alikes … I came across this other entry from Pulp International, which recalls a 1972 German film originally titled Die Klosterschülerinnen, but subsequently brought to English-speaking audiences as Sex Life in a Convent. If you can’t already guess what the plot involves, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) explains, “the problems girls face in the unisex environment of a convent school are revealed in a series of vignettes.” Pulp International offers some still shots from the flick (which are definitely NSFW), but what’s as interesting as anything else here is the appealing yet suggestive poster created to promote the Italian release of this picture as Educande fuori … femmine dentro. Am I imagining things, or does the lithe young woman in that illustration bear a striking similarity to the mischievous miss in Robert McGinnis’ painting for the 1967 Signet edition of The Deadly Kitten, by Carter Brown? Click on the images embedded below to compare them for yourself.



• This 1981 sleaze paperback, issued in accordance with Hustler magazine, gives new meaning to Jack the Ripper’s less often employed nickname, “Saucy Jack.”

• There’s some beautiful cross-hatched artwork here.

• “Bullets in the Bedroom”? That doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for conjugal bliss or a good night’s slumber …

• I’ve written before on this page about mid-20th-century “sexpionage fiction.” But now Los Angeles cop-turned-author Paul Bishop addresses the matter further (or should I say “undresses the matter further”?) in his latest Venture Galleries column.

• Have I previously seen this 1958 Panther cover for Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest? Maybe not. But it’s only one of many different editions of Hammett’s fiction that have appeared since he began publishing novels in the 1920s. Bear Gallery offers a selection of fronts that might be unfamiliar to American readers.

• Good news from Spy Vibe: “Beginning this August [publisher Hermes Press] will be re-printing the original Phantom novels from Avon (first published 1972-1975). Hermes will release the entire series of fifteen paperback books with their original painted covers by artist George Wilson!” Wow, those are some beautiful books.

• Robert Deis has posted, in Men’s Pulp Mags, an interesting and well-illustrated interview with Basil Gogos, “the most widely known and revered painter of movie monster paintings in the world.” In addition to his creepier creations, Gogos produced other illustrations for books and men’s adventure publications, including this outstanding attraction.

• Finally, Down the Tubes reports that Scottish-born artist Ken Barr, who “is perhaps best known … for his Commando covers, but was [also] an innovative artist whose covers for publishers such as Marvel and a wide variety of book publishers are highly regarded,” has died at age 83. Enjoy more of Barr’s artwork here.