There's a lot going on in this cover by Sam Cherry, more than you might realize at first glance. We have our stalwart hero in a red shirt . . . or is he a hero? He's clearly been wearing the mask that just fell down around his neck, and there's a bag of stolen bank loot lying beside him. He's been lassoed, his horse is running away in the background, and there's a guy on the porch behind him probably shooting at him. He must have been trying to make his getaway after robbing the bank when somebody dabbed a loop on him. But that's a Lone Ranger/Masked Rider type of mask, not a bank robber mask. So I don't really know what's going on, but it's a good cover anyway, as you'd expect from Sam Cherry. Inside this issue of FIFTEEN WESTERN TALES are stories by Wayne D. Overholser, Clifton Adams, Barry Cord (Peter Germano), Talmage Powell, Joe Archibald, Thomas Calvert McClary, Kenneth Fowler, Wallace Umphrey, and the obscure Ruland Waltner. FIFTEEN WESTERN TALES included features and articles in that count, so there are actually only nine pieces of fiction in this issue, but they look like pretty good stories.
5 comments:
I actually have this issue, plus a few others of this title. A good solid western pulp, not the best fiction but far from the worst. What would you pick as the best Western pulp, James? I might go with Street & Smith's WESTERY STORY.
I think the best Western pulp varies from decade to decade. WESTERN STORY could be a little stodgy at times, but it had the best Western fiction overall in the Twenties and the first half of the Thirties. From the mid-Thirties through the Forties, I'd probably give the nod to STAR WESTERN, although DIME WESTERN was awfully good during this era, too. Best Western pulp of the Fifties is RANCH ROMANCES. Since a lot of the other markets had dried up by then, the Thrilling Group got submissions from all the top authors, and RANCH ROMANCES lasted longer than the others, so I'd pick it over TEXAS RANGERS, although TEXAS RANGERS will always be my sentimental favorite because it was the first Western pulp I collected. Best of all time? Based on the number of classic stories and novels that first appeared there, I agree, it's hard to pick against WESTERN STORY.
Often overlooked are Doubleday's West, Dell's All Western and Clayton's Ace-High. Very hard to find, though.
Certainly Western Story, Star Western and Dime Western were often good to VG but as Sai points out, Doubleday's West, All Western and Ace High were good also. I collect all six titles. If I had to pick one it would be West during the Doubleday years of 1926 to 1935.
But the general fiction pulps often had VG westerns: Adventure, Short Stories, Argosy, Bluebook, and The Popular Magazine.
Ruland Waltner is the joint pseudonym of two sisters: Erma and Vera Waltner.
Best,
Tiziano Agnelli
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