Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Bull's-Eye Western Stories, February 1935

This is the first and possibly only issue of this pulp, which appears to have existed only to burn off the fifth and final Mavericks novel. The Mavericks were a group of five good-guy outlaws who starred in a pulp of the same name. There were four issues in the fall of 1934 before the magazine was cancelled. The fifth novel probably had been written already and wound up here. Why Popular Publications didn't just do one more issue of MAVERICKS and then cancel that title, I have no idea. The Mavericks novels (this one is called a Longrider novel on the cover, but it's the same group of characters) were published in the pulps as by Kent Thorn. The first novel in the series was reprinted in hardback under the same title, FIVE AGAINST THE LAW, but with the author's name as Stone Cody. Both Thorn and Cody are pseudonyms. The author's real name was Thomas Ernest Mount, who also wrote at least one Western pulp novel as Oliver King. Mount at one time was romantically involved with Laura Z. Hobson, who wrote the bestseller GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT. Hobson was married to Thayer Hobson, an executive at William Morrow, who is credited as being the first author to use the house-name Peter Field. It's possible that Laura Z. Hobson may have collaborated with her husband Thayer Hobson on the first several Peter Field books. For those of you who are members of the WesternPulps group, there are a number of messages in the archives about these matters. Just search "Thomas Mount" or "Stone Cody". I've actually read the first Mavericks novel, FIVE AGAINST THE LAW, but I have no memory of it except that I found it fairly enjoyable.


Back to the issue at hand, this one issue of BULL'S-EYE WESTERN STORIES also includes stories by Popular Publications stalwarts Walt Coburn, Harry F. Olmsted, and Ray Nafziger. I'll bet they're pretty good, too.