I find the cover on this issue of WEST interesting for a couple of reasons. First of all, the guy reminds me of Alfred E. Neuman of MAD MAGAZINE fame. Secondly, compare this cover to the cover from the January 1951 issue of MAMMOTH WESTERN painted by Robert Gibson Jones (below). It's not a direct swipe, but when I saw this WEST cover, I was reminded immediately of the MAMMOTH WESTERN cover. Had Jones seen the earlier cover and remembered it? Pure coincidence? I have no way of knowing, of course, but I find the similarity interesting. I'm sure the stories in this issue of WEST are pretty interesting, too. The authors on hand are all prolific pulpsters: Larry Harris, Dean Owen, Bill Gulick, Kenneth Fowler, and John A. Thompson. I met Gulick a couple of times. He continued writing and publishing into the 1990s, far past the end of the pulp era.
4 comments:
There is a resemblance to Alfred, James! Those old magazines were a lot of fun to read. Thank you for sharing.
No man wants to face the blazing smoke wagons of the What Me Worry Kid…
John
Blast it! I knew there had to be a joke in there somewhere, but I just couldn't come up with it. Good one, John.
Despite a certain similarity in the poses, but there are enough differences between them to make me the think the Gibson isn’t a true swipe. But it’s definitely possible that Gibson saw the Alfred The Kid cover and years later his Subconscious swiped it.
Funny thing is, the big blonde goon looks even goofier than the original, with that dopey crooked grin. Kinda Will Elder-ish, in fact — but maybe I’ve just got MAD on the brain…
b.t.
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