For years I felt like this one was done by a well known artist whose name was escaping me, and I still do, but I was too busy putting together too many other checklists and never had the time to dig into it. Nice one though!

I always loved this cover, the textures and colors in particular. It also always frustrated me that I could never put an artist's name on it. Having said that, I always strongly suspected that whoever it was , also likely painted the cover to Swamp Kill and possibly also Married To Murder. All I'd need is one of these originals to have the artiust's name on back and I'd be able to start putting a bunch of puzzle pieces together.

I was the underbidder on this one way back when. So fun!

Wow! I'm so thrilled to see, just as I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that this is, one of Raymond Johnson's earlier period covers. Fantastic!

Isn't it odd how few Rader paperback covers have ever surfaced, yet despite how little magazine work he did, here comes one of them? Great to see anything from Rader that survived!

Oh no! I always hoped I might track this one down someday! Ah well, it's great to see it at least, and in such a great collection. Tell me you've owned it for 20 or 30 years and I'll feel much better! 😀

Wow, an Emshwiller original that ISN'T from the Science Fiction genre? Talk about a rarity!

Oh wow, over the bed? That's pretty cool if you want to risk nightmares!

Great stuff. I love Kimmel's work and it sure seems to be as rare as hen's teeth. Gotta appreciate how the sillhouette and headdress were painted so loosely, yet he really blended the paints for the front of her torso and face in order to get that photorealistic look to stand out more.

Nice Abbett girl. If you'd like to add an image of the painting before Jusko restored it and one of the 1967 paperback printing, let me know and I'll send them to you!

Wow, could this really be an example of Gross using watercolor instead of oils?  Really great!

Such a great title to have attached to this piece!

Ah, cool! Those are the types of stories that makes the hobby so much fun. Great memories!

Very cool set of covers, Brian. Did you buy Kastel out or something?

Always fun to see original Horror cover art, especially this early, as the genre didn't explode in the paperback business until the 1980's. Looks good on the wall, too, Brian!

A sexy Kastel cover! His work sometimes had a Bob Abbett feel to it, and that's a high compliment to him!

Wow, another fantastic and classic Schulz cover. The Paint looks as fresh as if it were painted today. So great!

A classic Schulz Science Fiction cover!

It DOES look like Johnny Carson interviewing a Hollywood babe! One of the the greatest mid 20th century artists!

I love Abbett's blocky brush strokes, particularly in his prelims, which this does appear to be. Colors are great as well!

It's a gorgeous pencil illustration, George. No idea about its publication, but my gut tells me it might be from much later than the pulps era, if for no other reason that the art seems to be at too high a quality level to be from those days. Either way, it's a beauty.

A fun little McGinnis piece. A not so fun statement on you and your wife's relationship. 😁

It's cool to see that he was pretty satisfied with all the elements after he drew this and stuck to it faithfully in the final painting. Glad to know you're enjoying the prelims. It's certainly a great way to collect nice art at affordable prices!

What a great job he did with the lighting. Not only is this a historic piece of Shadow art, but it's done by by Tom Lovell, who went on to have a fabulous career as a painter. Amazing!

I get it. I was just kidding you because Maguire is my favourite vintage paperbacks artist. But as for find any crime/noir stuff, you'd be fortunate enough already. Also at a "good price" though? Good luck! Of course if you're referring to prelims and comps, then the toughest thing is finding it. The fact that they would be preliminary in nature would still keep them in the 3 figure range, and that's about as affordable as mid 20th century work by big name artists gets.

Congrats on acquiring another great color comp. But hey, I wouldn't fault you if you DID only collect Maguire art! 

Another lovely color comp by Maguire. Always neat to see the changes from prelim, to comp, to finished art.

Oh yes, George is a friend of mine. I figured it was Fred because Fred happens to have quite a few Maguire prelims for sale.

Thanks, I appreciate it and am always glad to find out other people enjoy seeing the art. Yes, I've long been a huge fan of the Gothic genre. I look forward to seeingyour future posts. Would I be correct in assuming you acquired the prelims from Fred?

It's impossible to say for certain, but I do think it's possible that the second prelim was one he did for potential use on Briar Rose. It could very well be that the art director simply wanted more of a "romantic" cover than a "sexy" one, so decided to go with the one he did. Just like his finished paintings, Maguire's prelims are absolutely beautiful. Congrats!

Definitely George Ziel. I'm made artist checklists for several vintage paperback artists, Ziel being one of them as he's one of my favorites, but until this painting first popped up online in 2018, I'd never seen this image before. I have to wonder if it might've been a magazine story ilustration, even though the orientation appears to make it look more like a paperback cover.

Always a thrill to see another original Bama Doc Savage cover!

It's a very odd piece in that the central figures featuring a man carrying an unconscious woman is not out of the ordinary for the time period, yet the fact that the man is calm and the scne is occurring in the middle of a restaurant is what is somewhat confusing. Either way, it's always nice to see originals by Loomis!

Congrats on getting your first pulp cover art! 

A killer piece of two killers!

Feels nice to be bitten, right Bert? It's a nice Thurston Gothic cover.

Something you're very familiar with yourself, eh Duke? 😆  A simple, yet lovely Ren Wicks piece!

As always with unsigned illustration, it's a shame not to know who to give credit to. Really nice painting!

I love this one. A scene right out of a 50's film noir. You can really feel the tension!

A lovely Prezio She-Wolf cover. But tell me, as a rugged man yourself, can you confirm whether this piece has really provided you with true adventure?

Wow, such a cool piece by the great Macario!

Yup, in real life her feet would be firmly planted 2 steps higher. But she's on stilts! Actually, elongated women was something of a hallmark of Podwil's Gothic covers. It's a technique even the great Hugo Pratt utilized, often drawing Corto Maltese and supporting characters 8 to 12 feet tall!

What do you mean it's amazingly ugly? My crappy digital photo of it is ugly, but the painting itself is fabulous!

This is hilarious. You know, I've often wondered in cases like this one, what the hell was the editor or art director thinking when they selected this artist to hand in a cover for a Horror magazine. I understand they were on a small budget and hiring someone willing to work cheaply was paramount, but it's like they didn't even try. There were countless artists looking for work back then, plenty of them willing to work for cheap or even for free just to get their foot in the door. Are we supposed to believe there wasn't ANYONE they could get in touch with who could actually draw horror characters in a scary style? I mean, this guy was clearly only suited for Hanna Barbera type monsters!

Wow, how cool is this? Schulz is another one of my absolute favourite paperback artists, and I wasn't aware that he had done some work on movie posters! Check out the male lead, Robert Loggia. Classic!

Well you certainly are on an Abbett kick this week, aren't you? But it's a good thing! Anytime I can see multiple originals from the best illustrators in quick succession, I'm all in! This is a very disturbing image. When you actually stop and take the time to put yourself in the woman's place and think what it must feel like to be in that position, desperately trying to find a way out, all the while knowing your last few seconds of life are ticking away and that it will end in agonizing panic and torture, it's really quite sobering.

A lovely example of what makes mid 20th century American magazine illustration so great. Ludlow was right up there with the best of them, like Whitmore, Bowler, DeMers, Whitcomb, etc.

Cool! One of Abbett's simpler, yet rare covers in which he took a more graphic approach, then being more commonly done in magazine illustration. This is a classic Abbett cover for those reasons, and I'm very impressed. You never cease to amaze me with the paperback covers you pull out, Brian, and I love that!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Awesome!

Very nice Abbett by one of the all-time greats! The only question is: Is she a dame, a doll, or a gun moll?