Saturday, February 22, 2014

Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Lariat Story, January 1947


Ah, those great Fiction House covers! And with stories by Les Savage Jr., Giff Cheshire, and D.B. Newton, among others, this must have been a fine issue to read, too.

8 comments:

Peter Brandvold said...

BRAND OF THE MUSTANG QUEEN--now, there's a title!

James Reasoner said...

Almost sounds like it could be a Mean Pete book, doesn't it?

Peter Brandvold said...

Yeah, I wanna steal it!

Neil A. Waring said...

Great cover, great title, and the best the authors name - Les Savage Jr. Doesn't get any better.

Unknown said...

It IS a great title, isn't it? I remember using it in the June 2010 Black Horse Extra as one of my examples when commenting on the lack of color in more recent Western titles. I wrote:

"No copyright exists in titles, of course, and nothing is inherently wrong in re-using an old title if it's apt and appealing. But do we need yet again the familiar like of The Vengeance Trail, Gun Law, Rangeland Justice, Rough Justice, Two-Gun Marshal and Gun Fury? Regardless of the contents of the books behind them, all these tend to confirm the general public's mistaken view that the genre offers nothing fresh or imaginative.

"Old pulp magazine story titles from the 1940s, like The Devil Sent His Gun Angels! or Brand of the Mustang Queen or Mortgaged to the Dark Trail, might be over-the-top, melodramatic and invite dismissal as "garish" trash. But like the alluring cover paintings they graced, they do catch the eye and suggest excitement and colorful characters. Escapism!"

James Reasoner said...

I love titles like that. I try to sneak one by my editor now and then, but it never works. I can put 'em on my self-published stuff, though, when I get around to writing some again.

Peter Brandvold said...

I'm just now finishing BLOOD TRAIL OF THE HORSETOOTH WIDOW. I know Signet would have nixed that the minute they saw it. They'd have wanted it changed to BLOOD TRAIL. I'm sooo tired of that. They never would allowed BULLET FOR A VIRGIN, either. The book I just sent into them I wanted to title FORT HELL but they nixed that because they said it would offend Walmart readers. So pulling my hair out and grinding my teeth to powder I switched it to AMBUSH AT APACHE PASS. Very staid. I'm using FORT HELL on one of my own self-pubbed books. I do love going solo.

Jonathan G. Jensen said...

Hey James, nice cover, my guess is Allan Anderson as the artist, he's good at those women hey? I like the reads in Lariat, and have a few in the to be read pile.