TOP-NOTCH DETECTIVE lasted for only three issues, of which this is the first one. That cover has enough going on that I thought at first it might be by Norman Saunders, but it's actually by J.W. Scott. The fact that this pulp didn't last long couldn't be due to the quality of the authors in its pages. This issue features stories by Cleve F. Adams, Arthur J. Burks, G.T. Fleming-Roberts, Edward Ronns (Edward S. Aarons), Norman A. Daniels, Henry Treat Sperry, and Orlando Rigoni, as well as a number of other, lesser-known authors. That's a pretty strong lineup and an indication of a pulp worth reading.
3 comments:
Edward S. Aarons, Norman Daniels, and Orlando Rigoni were all over the spinner racks in the 1960s and early '70s, when I started buying paperbacks. I had no idea then, that their careers dated back to the pulps. Of course, the pulp era seemed eons back to me as a teen.
The disheveled lady in a dangerous situation, with a look of annoyance rather than fear on her face, is something of a J.W. Scott trademark :)
b.t.
Fred, I didn't know anything about their pulp origins back in those days, either. I read quite a few books by Aarons and Daniels during the Sixties with especially fond memories of some of the Sam Durrell novels and Daniels' Rat Patrol novels. Never read Rigoni back then and still haven't, but I have several of his books on my shelves. One of these days.
b.t., this cover certainly fits that description. I'll try to remember that for cover artist IDs in the future. I've learned a lot about various artists' styles by doing these pulp posts.
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