tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:42:47 +0000James MeeseTom MillerWilliam TeasonSam PefferClark HulingsGeorge GrossMitchell HooksHarvey KidderJames HillRon LesserHorizontal CoversVictor KalinFrank McCarthyRobert McGinnisRoss MacdonaldFred FixlerRobert MaguireWil HulseyRobert K. AbbettThemesRay JohnsonMike LudlowMort EngelFrank KaneInterviewsRobert E. SchulzKiller Covers AnniversariesRafael de SotoThomas AllenEllery QueenLu KimmelAl BruleObitsAl RossiDavid DrummondRudolph BelarskiErle Stanley GardnerGlen OrbikGil CohenJames AvatiRudy NappiBarye PhillipsRob KellyHarry BennettJames BondMort KünstlerLou MarchettiErnest ChiriackaHarry SchaareNorman SaundersUnknown ArtistsBecause It’s What’s Up Front That Countshttp://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)Blogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-1214382163949664037Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:02:00 +00002012-01-19T12:02:00.724-08:00Tom MillerLu KimmelSam PefferIt seems as if only a couple of months have passed since I proclaimed that Killer Covers was two years old. Yet the calendar has clicked over to a whole new January. In the interim, I think I’ve found a better pace for this blog, posting short items as well as long ones, rather than concentrating solely on thorough backgrounders about paperback cover artists. I still don’t have the time I would http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-count-of-three.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-8313527222113629380Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:17:00 +00002012-01-19T09:17:00.550-08:00In Men’s Pulp Mags, blogger Subtropic Bob looks back at the unfortunate cover design shift made by men’s adventure magazines in the 1960s. Publications that had once attracted masculine audiences with their beautifully painted fronts followed the trend of other mags (as well as paperback books) to photographic covers.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2012/01/splitting-images.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-2358455019145221596Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:45:00 +00002012-01-19T06:45:00.034-08:00Is this the cheesiest-looking Mike Shayne paperback mystery, or what? Sometimes you have to wonder what the hell was going through the heads of book cover designers back in the 1970s.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2012/01/so-cheap-so-ugly.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-6202132062379685595Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:38:00 +00002012-01-18T12:40:12.714-08:00James Hill The 1959 Dell edition of Murder in Venice Thomas Sterling (sometimes credited as Thomas L. Sterling) appears to have made his initial impression on the crime-fiction world in 1951, when his book The House Without a Door (1950) received an Edgar Award nomination in the category of Best First Mystery Novel by an American Author. He didn’t wind up winning; the honor that year went instead to http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2012/01/murder-in-venice-by-thomas-sterling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-4038320099197585981Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:54:00 +00002012-01-11T14:16:38.248-08:00My goodness, some of the 1960s and ’70s espionage-action paperback covers showcased this week in Retrospace are truly hideous. Could they be any more blatantly prurient? (The male audience for such works must have been hard up, indeed.) On the other hand, I confess to liking the fronts of Skin Game Dame and The Dolly Dolly Spy, and I purchased a copy of Edward S. Aaron’s Assignment Nuclear Nude http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2012/01/acceptable-risque.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-8206804098179882408Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:20:00 +00002012-01-09T13:39:49.629-08:00Have you voted yet in the Best Crime Novel Cover of 2011 contest being hosted by our partner blog, The Rap Sheet? So far, the top four contenders appear to be Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman, John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Alan Glynn’s Winterland, and Scott Phillips’ The Assignment. But it’s still early days yet, and already there have been some surprising upsets in this rivalry. You have http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2012/01/jacket-required.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-2202894578827898459Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:48:00 +00002011-12-13T17:15:08.512-08:00Robert McGinnisI’m pretty sure I own only one of Walter Wager’s three paperback thrillers featuring A.B. “Alison” Gordon, “the sexiest private eye who ever packed a .357 Magnum.” And in all likelihood, I didn’t buy it just for the story. The covers of Blue Leader (1979), Blue Moon (1981), and Blue Murder (1982)--illustrated by the great Robert McGinnis--are certainly worth showcasing.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/12/ab-sees.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-4241737944989986697Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:27:00 +00002011-12-01T13:27:10.228-08:00Speaking of Pulp International, it has just posted an excellent selection of 13 “good girl” covers from 20th-century crime mags, all of which feature a woman standing over a man. Whether those femmes were fatal to the gents in question, or were merely bystanders, is not obvious from the artwork.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/12/cant-live-with-em.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-8413429135931465716Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:47:00 +00002011-11-03T14:56:22.986-07:00I somehow missed acknowledging--on November 1--the third anniversary of the launch of Pulp International, a wonderfully eclectic blog. But let me make that up today by highlighting its collection of 25 top paperback covers. Justly represented are such artists as Robert Abbett, Robert McGinnis, Sam Peffer, and William Teodecki.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/11/top-shelf-treats.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-3849168757555822511Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:25:00 +00002011-11-01T19:25:00.289-07:00David DrummondMany readers are familiar with the work of David Drummond, the Canadian designer behind the elegant covers of the University of Chicago Press’ recent reissues of Donald E. Westlake’s Parker novels--books he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Stark. However, The Casual Optimist’s Dan Wagstaff points out that Drummond has now created fronts for another series of UCP books, the four novels Westlake/http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/11/knock-outs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-5940566408299348121Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:11:00 +00002011-11-30T10:54:57.502-08:00Men’s Pulp Mags features Part I of a well-illustrated new interview with Bruce Minney, who blogger Subtropic Bob describes as “one of the most talented and prolific of the many great artists who created cover paintings and interior illustrations for men’s adventure magazines from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.” Part II of this Minney interview is here, and Part II is here.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/11/minney-mart.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-4276324783195435170Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:45:00 +00002011-10-22T11:45:40.562-07:00Norman SaundersCongratulations to Pulp Covers, which after just 10 months of operation today put up its 4,000th posting--the Norman Saunders-painted front from the April 1936 edition of Black Book Detective. The administrator of that excellent blog writes, “I hope someone is actually looking at these.” Really, I don’t think there should be any doubt that this site deserves, and is receiving, enthusiastic http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/10/up-front-about-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-8938609334201734160Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:07:00 +00002011-10-17T14:07:00.051-07:00Fred Fixler Being interested, as I obviously am, in book-cover art, I’ve long been aware of illustrator Fred Fixler (who died in January 2010 at age 86). However, it was only recently that I came to associate some of my favorite sexy novel fronts with his name, thanks to a post in the blog Pulp International. As that site explains: Hungarian-born Fred Fixler’s first career was as a diamond cutter, but by http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/10/fixler-is-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-1263227749413145186Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:36:00 +00002012-01-19T12:07:11.970-08:00James BondSam PefferOf all the James Bond novel editions published, the early 1960s versions from Britain’s Pan Books rank among the finest.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/10/bonding-experience.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-558157910369226483Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:27:00 +00002011-10-12T16:36:28.377-07:00George GrossThe Web site Amusing Planet has posted an impressive selection of work by George Gross (1909-2003), a Brooklyn-born artist who produced hundreds of covers for pulp magazines as well as paperback thriller series such as Nick Carter and The Avenger.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/10/en-grossing-indeed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-5386050533541242445Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:19:00 +00002011-11-01T15:13:30.216-07:00James Meese As I’m putting my collection of book fronts back together once more, I have had the chance to revisit some of those that I’ve not seen in a long while. This one is among them, the 1953 cover of Murder Leaves a Ring, by Fay Grissom Stanley (1925-1990). A fabulous title. But sadly, opines Michael E. Grost wrote in a short biographical sketch, the story Stanley tells isn’t equally clever: The http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/10/murder-leaves-ring-by-fay-grissom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-7170133779105125073Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:55:00 +00002011-10-08T17:55:31.395-07:00For readers who’ve wondered at my unexplained absence from this page for the last two months, I should tell you that a corrupted computer memory stick caused me to lose thousands--yes, I said thousands--of cover illustrations from vintage crime novels. I still don’t know what happened, but the data seem unrecoverable. Therefore, I’ve had to go about the frustrating business of rebuilding my http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/10/apology-of-sorts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-2426888506665136661Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:33:00 +00002011-07-11T13:40:44.342-07:00Ross MacdonaldRobert MaguireHarry BennettMitchell HooksHarvey Kidder It was 28 years ago today that detective novelist Ross Macdonald (real name: Kenneth Millar) died at age 68. I’d first been introduced to his work in high school, and had gone on to read all of his books. I took the opportunity in 1980 to interview Macdonald--an experience I shall never forget. And in the years since, I’ve written often in The Rap Sheet about this Southern California author’s http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/07/fronting-for-macdonald.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-311508841594142796Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:31:00 +00002011-07-06T10:31:23.649-07:00As paperback publisher Hard Case Crime gears up for a welcome relaunch in September, Life magazine has put together a gallery of 37 of HCC’s most eye-catching illustrated covers from the last several years. Go ahead and admire them right here.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/07/soft-spot-for-hard-case.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-5363442401746852566Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:26:00 +00002011-06-20T11:10:32.721-07:00During my trip last week to visit an old college friend in Minneapolis, I happened across these new John le Carré editions, with covers by artist Matt Taylor. I wasn’t really in the market for more of Le Carré’s work, but these editions are pretty darn irresistible. The type design is by Paul Buckley and Gregg Kulick.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/06/spying-new-treasures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-4810056210455842238Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:23:00 +00002011-06-19T19:23:38.293-07:00It seems we can go weeks without spotting any interesting new author-specific cover galleries, and then suddenly there are plenty popping up all over the Web. Four new ones worth checking out are this one featuring works by author William Ard; this one focusing on covers from Leslie Charteris’ Saint novels; a third showcasing Agatha Christie books; and this last collection of James Bond fronts.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/06/lookee-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-1308106874803985650Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:07:00 +00002011-06-19T19:22:18.270-07:00When you get a chance (and after you’ve read all you can on this page, of course), hop on over to Pulp Curry, where you’ll find two well-illustrated posts about the heyday of Australian pulp fiction. Click here to read about Down Under private-eye novelists of the 1940s and ’50s, and click here for the follow-up piece about their ’60s brethren.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/06/lurid-and-loving-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-3584963638260197134Sun, 15 May 2011 23:41:00 +00002011-07-27T22:09:12.760-07:00James MeeseEllery Queen Much of my time lately has been spent on a crime-fiction encyclopedia project, writing about the two Brooklyn-born cousins--Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay--who penned dozens of 20th-century American mystery novels under their joint pseudonym, Ellery Queen. So it seems appropriate that my latest gallery of covers should concentrate on their published efforts. Ellery Queen was once a famous http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/05/long-live-queens.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-8220588098508558328Sun, 15 May 2011 22:57:00 +00002011-05-15T15:57:00.192-07:00Who knew that Nazi torture art used to be such a big seller?http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/05/fiends-and-frauleins.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6916093510949419233.post-7126693844074634168Sun, 15 May 2011 22:22:00 +00002011-05-15T15:22:00.431-07:00Steve Holland offers an excellent gallery of fronts from the novels of British hard-boiled writer Peter Cheyney, the creator of gun-wielding FBI agent Lemmy Caution. See the full lot by clicking here.http://killercoversoftheweek.blogspot.com/2011/05/lemmy-at-em.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce)0