An early issue of the slightly toned-down and tamer successor to SPICY WESTERN, this one features the evocatively titled "3 Gals Make a Murder" by Laurence Donovan. Donovan may well have contributed even more, since every other author's by-line in this issue is a house name and he was one of Trojan's most prolific writers. I've read a few issues of SPEED WESTERN (not this one), and while they're not great stuff, I've found them to be pretty entertaining.
4 comments:
You are right about the toned down covers. SPICY WESTERN would have shown alot more cleavage and leg. They were more violent also with more images of cowboy cretins threatening the girls.
I always liked Donovan's Doc Savage stories. They were very hard boiled and usually more violent than Lester Dent's. I'd like to read a Western by Donovan.
Is that a HJ Ward cover?
He did the finest covers the Spicies ever had, but seemed to work in two modes-- a swift, effective style with broad stokes, and a lush detailed style that popped with a romantic realism that reminds me of Gil Elvgren's latter day pin-up work.
I think this is one of his in that first style, but I can't tell for sure. Anybody know?
John Hocking
I would guess that's a Ward, he was inducted into WWII in the next year and died the year after that 1945. The guy who followed Ward as cover artist is Joe Szokoli who copied Wards style but used an airbrush to do his, while Ward used oils. I think I blogged about Joe last year, interesting fellow. Jonathan
Post a Comment