WW2 - Pulp (1920s - 1950s)

Key Characteristics

• Printed on low-quality high wood pulp paper

• Mass production of genres like Westerns, Detective Stories, and Horror

• Vibrant cover art

• Sensational imagery, often with women in distress

• Formulaic stories with over-the-top villains and larger-than-life heroes.

Normand Saunders

iconic pulp - cover works, trading cards and paperbacks

Virgil Finlay

Known for black & white work with distinct shading techniques and patterns
Lowkey I’m inspired to do an artwork similar to that

Key Concerns

• Racial stereotypes abound due to visual "shorthand"

• Problematic portrayals of women both as sexual objects and as "damsels"

• Graphic violence and impact on juveniles

• Propoganda tool for injecting governmental messages

• These were littered on grocery store shelves, leading to some claims from folks like Ted Bundy that they inspired his path towards evil.

• Objectifying women