Art books featuring classic illustrations from pulp magazines, comic strips, comic books, men's magazines, and even toy catalogs from the golden age of American pop culture 1930-1960 were almost as prevalent as graphic novels at this year's Book Expo America (see 'Give and Take at the BEA' for an analysis of over-all trends and links to all of our BEA articles).  Most, but not all, of these volumes will be deluxe 'coffee table' type books that should have a strong appeal to the visually oriented customers who shop at pop culture stores.  Unless otherwise noted, these books are all scheduled for Fall, 2001 release.  There was too much to cover in one article, so we're presenting this coverage in two parts (see link at the end of this article to Part II of our coverage).

 

Collectors Press

Collectors Press specializes in retro art books.  Retailers who haven't carried their collections of pin-ups or books like Horror of the 20th Century are missing some major opportunities.   The latest installment in Collectors Press's Art Fiction Series is The History of Mystery written by Max Allan Collins, whose depression-era graphic novel, The Road to Perdition, is being made into a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks. The History of Mystery is a large format (11'x12') hardcover with 375 full color illustrations spread over its 196 pages.  The mystery-related images come from crime comics, pulp magazines, paperback covers, magazines, and a host of other sources.  This book will appeal to mystery buffs and pulp art aficionados, who will find it well worth its $45.00 cover price.

 

History of Fantasy
Even more elaborate is Fantasy of the 20th Century, an illustrated history of fantasy art by Randy Broecker, which includes some 450 color images in its 256 pages.  The author, an accomplished artist in his own right, provides an incisive text covering the development of the fantasy genre as well as a discerning eye which yields a cornucopia of fabulous images, many culled from the classic science fiction pulp magazines. This large format hardcover (10'x13') sports an embossed dust jacket and an upscale cover price of $60.00.  Like all the books described in this article, Fantasy of the 20th Century will make an incredible holiday gift.

 

Pulp Culture from
Collectors Press
Back in the 1930s there were pulp magazines in all the major genres from westerns to science fiction, and Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines (hardcover, $39.95) by Frank M. Robinson covers them all.  Authors as diverse as Dashiell Hammett, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Rice Burroughs all found a home in the pulps, and Collectors Press is touting this volume, which won the 'Pop Culture Book of the Year' award from the Independent Publisher's Association, as the most comprehensive collection ever.

 

See also 'Bumper Crop of Retro Art Books, Part II'.