This is the second and final issue of a very short-lived adventure pulp from Columbia Publications, edited by Abner J. Sundell who edited most of Columbia's pulps that weren't edited by Robert W. Lowndes. The cover on this issue of ADVENTURE YARNS is by A. Leslie Ross, and a quite adventurous one it is. There's a strong lineup of authors in this issue, as well: Eugene Cunningham, Will F. Jenkins (twice, once under his name and another story as by his famous pseudonym Murray Leinster), Armand Brigaud, L. Ron Hubbard (controversial now but a popular and prolific pulpster then), house-names Cliff Campbell (Sundell, in this case, according to the Fictionmags Index) and James Rourke, along with lesser-known writers Stephen Cumberland, Frank Couch, and Kenneth P. Wood. When a pulp runs for only a very few issues like this, I always wonder if it was never intended to last but was just a way of burning off inventory. I don't know if that's true in this case, but it certainly seems possible.
This is the first issue of MYSTERY NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES, a short-lived Weird Menace pulp that managed six issues total in 1939, '40, and '41. I have no idea who painted that cover, but it's a wild one. [Update: The cover art is by William Soare. Thanks to b.t. for the ID!] The presence of house-name Mat Rand in the Table of Contents, as well as Abner Sundell being the editor, tells us that this is a Columbia pulp, undoubtedly a very low-budget affair, but it certainly looks intriguing. The other authors on hand, other than Rand, all seem to be real guys: Arthur J. Burks, Harold Ward, Vernon James, Dugal McDougal, and Lazar Levi. I recognize Burks and Ward, the other guys not so much. But I'd be interested in checking it out if I had a copy, which I don't, and it doesn't appear to be available on-line. I'm trying to remember if I've ever read anything by Arthur J. Burks. He wrote almost everything for the pulps except Westerns. I ought to try some of his stories.
This issue of FAMOUS WESTERN has a good cover, but I'm afraid I don't know the artist. The only guess I can venture is A. Leslie Ross, and I'm not convinced of that at all. There are some good writers inside this issue, with the best-known being Harry Sinclair Drago with a novella called, "The Gun Notch That Didn't Count", a great title. There's also a story by Abner J. Sundell under his "Cliff Campbell" pseudonym that later became a house name when other authors besides Sundell began using it. Another house name, James Rourke, also has a story in this issue, plus yarns by some apparently real but completely forgotten writers: Wilcey Earle, Brian Loomis, Gratton Boone, and Thomas Tyler Jackson. I don't know anything about Gratton Boone, but it would be a great name for an evil gunman character. I don't own this issue of FAMOUS WESTERN. The scan and the author information come from the Fictionmags Index.
All right, who's the artist on this SMASHING WESTERN cover? There's a big letter "R" down in the lower left corner, but is that the artist's initial, or just something written on there by somebody who owned that copy at some time in the past? My first thought was A. Leslie Ross because of that hat brim, but Ross often signed his covers and his signature doesn't look like the letter on this one. The man's face reminds me a little of Walter Baumhofer or Tom Lovell without convincing me it's either of them. Many of you are better at artist IDs than I am, so I'm hoping someone knows. As far as what's inside this pulp, there are stories by three excellent Western authors--E.B. Mann, Wayne D. Overholser, and C. William Harrison--and two house names, James Rourke and Cliff Campbell. According to the Fictionmags Index, Abner J. Sundell wrote the Cliff Campbell story. I believe Campbell started out as a personal pseudonym for Sundell before becoming a house name later on. I like the cover and that's a good bunch of authors, making me think this is probably a pretty good issue.
UPDATE: This cover is definitely by A. Leslie Ross. See the comments for more info.
Here's an odd pulp cover for you, on the first issue of DOUBLE-ACTION GANG MAGAZINE, a short-lived gangster pulp. I have a feeling that they took a Western cover they had in their files (I'd swear I've seen that cowboy somewhere else) and added the guy with the Tommy gun to it. "Killer Lightnin'" by Andor de Soos sounds like a story I'd like to read. "Gangdom Invades the West" has a nice ring to it. Luckily, Adventure House has reprinted this issue, so I can read it. Also on hand in this issue are Margie Harris, a regular contributor to the gang pulps, and Abner J. Sundell, writing under his pseudonym Cliff Campbell, which later on became a house-name, as well as Harold Ward, probably best remembered for writing the Dr. Death stories under the name Zorro.
Thanks to David Lee Smith for this scan of one of the most unusual Western pulp covers I've seen. The artist is George Gross, and he came up with a striking way to illustrate Forrest Brown's novella "Range Hog". In the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies, Brown wrote numerous Western novels under the name Ford Bowne. I've read one of them, MASTER OF THE LASH, and while it wasn't very good, it was eccentric enough to be interesting. Judging by this cover, "Range Hog" probably falls into the same category. I may have to read more of Brown's work. Also in this issue are stories by Andor de Soos (not a typical Western author name), Cliff Campbell (in this case, really Abner J. Sundell, originator of the Campbell pseudonym which later became a house-name), and an author I'm not familiar with, Russell Hays.
