Pulp Sci Fi Art Pulp Sci Fi Art Stargate

Midcentury Sci-Fi pulp was brimming with fantastic embrace art.  Illustrated by some of the well-nigh talented pop artists of the twenty-four hours, they depicted thrilling space adventures with a special kind of pizzazz that just begs you lot to read what'due south between the covers.  The brilliantly colored covers featured lots of lasers, spaceships, musclebound heroes, evil aliens, and exotic infinite babes.   Here are 20 of my personal favorites…

Planet Stories v04 n11 1951

Is this Blackness Martian Amazon not the coolest sexiest thing y'all have always seen? I don't hateful that as hyperbole – I am completely serious when I ask that. Fifty-fifty the virile male monarch of space shagging, James Tiberius Kirk, may observe this middle-popping sexual conquest out of reach.

Other Worlds 04 1950

In the 1950s, aliens were either to be destroyed or shagged; the idea that they might be caring creatures was a verboten concept. The Eastward.T. with a heart of golden has become a cliche over the years; however, this painting captures that trope perfectly.

If v01 n06 1953

A very real fear, that may accept prodigal some over the past few decades, was that robots would inherit the earth, enslaving their fleshy creators. Information technology seemed only a matter of time before we'd all be bowing to our mechanical overlords. This picture show looks to exist painted past a sort of Industrial Age Hieronymus Bosch. Instead of Medieval fears of the Reaper and various citizenry of the underworld, nosotros take the twentieth century depiction of our communal fears of what the future may concur.

Out of this Globe Adventures v01 n02 1950

There'southward an obvious problem here – the artist has no ability whatsoever to convey action. The mode the alien arachnid poses stiffly next to the maiden with a dagger awkwardly stuck in her belly equally the potential culprit appears to yawn in the foreground…. really bad. Yet there'due south a sort of imagination-run-amok Alice In Wonderland quality here. Jack Kirby would frown on the poor delineation of action, but the sheer spectacle of this scene lures me in with a artless creative flourish…. and that's something chiliad'man Kirby would capeesh.

Astonishing Stories v30 n05 1956

The unconscious lady beingness carried by either the hardhearted monster or the sweaty hero is a motif repeated countless times in the sci-fi and horror genres (look no farther than another article on the affair). Information technology would simply be incorrect not to include an example in this listing.

Thrilling Wonder Stories v09 n01 1937

Oh, hell yep. There'south a behemothic glowing brain in the sky turning the masses into zombies – that lonely warrants inclusion on this list. Add together to that, the hideous contortions and expressions of the possessed, and I'thousand handing over a few shekels without hesitation and taking this son of a gun home.

Imagination v06 n01 1955

I'm non sure what sort of accident would outcome in the commuter sitting the route all the same clutching the steering wheel; however, I get the point. Information technology's that Jetsons Utopia that'southward being evoked, and I love it. In the future, everything will exist cool daddy-o only like the 50s, except there'll exist nifty gadgets to make our lives fifty-fifty more swanky. Can you dig information technology?

Galaxy v17 n04 1959

The Cantina scene in Star Wars captured the imagination of thousands upon thousands of youngsters. George Lucas' aliens, with only a few seconds of screen fourth dimension (i.e. Walrus Man and Hammerhead), got their own action figures. There's something nigh seeing a conglomeration of alien races all going about their business in the same location. Perhaps it makes us feel not so alone and isolated in the universe. Whatever the reason, this cover elicits that aforementioned feeling, nearly xx years prior.

Startling Stories v28 n01 1952

It's a adequately generic concept, but one that deserves inclusion on this list: stepping off the proverbial flying machine onto an unknown world. Exploration never looked so skillful.

Thrilling Wonder Stories v13 n03 1939

The aliens look absolutely ridiculous. I go it. Even so, the whole role reversal matter where nosotros humans are the captive creatures has always struck a chord with me. The thought that we, who plunder the globe making it our bowwow, could one day find ourselves no longer numero uno is a timeless and tantalizing concept.

Planet Stories v04 n09 1950

At that place'southward so much going on in this cover (explosions, scantily clad damsel in distress, conflicting hero), yet I find myself transfixed by this badass space sled. I want ane.

Fantastic Universe v01 n02 1953

The Planet of the Apes novel came out ten years after this mag. I'thousand but sayin'.

Other Worlds 026 1953

This is the real incentive for infinite exploration – the off chance that our solar system is populated past cute moon maidens and martian queens. They wouldn't be bound by the Puritanical conventions of Earth – they would exist scantily clad, uninhibited space vixens, unencumbered by our primitive earthbound etiquette. And fifty-fifty improve if they prowl around on cool Galactic Senate floaty things.

Weird Tales v35 n05 1940

With the earth embroiled in yet another world war, it's not hard to guess the inspiration for this piece. I merely love the behemothic boot-ass light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-shooting skulls on these spaceships. Granted, the rest of the ship is fairly lame (propellers on their wings and goofy weaponry at their top); yet, these demonships are wicked-evil looking – the stuff nightmares are made of.

Thrilling Wonder Stories v35 n03 1950

Yeah, this one is only odd. However, the idea of being overcome by tiny gremlin is sort of a collective Jungian nightmare, isn't it? You may be big and powerful, but you will be overpowered by the synergy of the smaller weaker numbers. This cover I think depicts the age old Gulliverian horror perfectly…. but with boobs and lasers.

Infinity v03 n05 1958

All that seems to be going on in the foreground are boobs, simply beyond that is a truly engaging cover. There'south something about the wait in her optics and the imposing aliens that reels in my interest.

Imagination v02 n05 1951

People forget that these science fiction stories could exist equally equally scary as the horror pulps. The glowing tentacled orb, the frightening eyes, all cast in a pallet that perfectly elicits terror. This is an Invasion of the Body Snatchers styled fear that humankind will be undone, not past spaceships bringing Martian conquerors, only by sinister forces operating under the radar.

Amazing Stories v35 n02 1961

The desolation and hopelessness that we feel for the chimp is intense. I dearest this theme in science fiction – someone trapped lone in space.

Thrilling Wonder Stories v32 n02 1948

This embrace has cast me in its hypno-erotic grip and won't let go. The transcendental combination of assurance, breasts, and spheres is as well much for my minor mind to handle. They say the psychedelic movement began in the sixties – I say it began with pulp science fiction.

Infinity v01 n01 1955

Shhhh. If you scoot up close and put your ear up next to this paradigm, y'all tin hear the distant sound of my mind being blown. The Arthur C. Clarke story, which I've read, doesn't shed calorie-free on this enigmatic work. Although, the underlying theme of the title story is a reckoning of man's place in the creation, whether information technology be insignificant sentient beings or as some part of some divine plane. Similar the end of 2001:A Space Odyssey, I know in that location'due south something deep going on, simply I'm non quite certain what it is. But its fun to permit your mind wander to try and figure it out.

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Source: https://flashbak.com/20-outstanding-mid-century-sci-fi-pulp-covers-21109/

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