Yet another example of what should have been a friendly poker game interrupted by gunplay on this issue of BIG-BOOK WESTERN MAGAZINE. Those "2 Big Novels" are actually novellas, of course, but I can't disagree with the "2 Top-Hand Authors" part of that blurb. Given Ed Earl Repp's tendency to use ghostwriters, there's no telling who actually wrote "Boothill Guns Save Satan's Range", but here's the thing: Repp helped plot the ghosted stories and often revised them as well (according to Frank Bonham's famous essay "Tarzana Nights", and as bitter as Bonham was toward Repp, I don't see any reason for him to lie about that), and the ones I've read have all been pretty good no matter who the actual author was. And William L. Hopson, author of "Iron Man of Vengeance Valley" is a long-time favorite of mine. Also on hand in this issue are Tom W. Blackburn, Dee Linford, Jim Kjelgaard, Cliff M. Bisbee, and Le Roy Boyd.
Well, there's a cover that's coming right at you. I don't know the artist. I thought that little squiggle by the left stirrup might be a signature, but if it is, I can't make it out. Whoever painted it did a good job. .44 WESTERN MAGAZINE, like all the Popular Publications Western pulps, had good covers, good authors, and great story titles. Authors in this issue include Ed Earl Repp, Lee Floren, John G. Pearsol, Jay Karth, Le Roy Boyd, Jack Sterrett, and Eugene R. Dutcher. Maybe not an all-star lineup but probably worth reading.
I always think of Sam Cherry as doing covers for the various Thrilling Group Western pulps, but he did quite a few for Popular Publications as well, including this one on the September 1944 issue of .44 WESTERN MAGAZINE featuring a dynamic action scene. This particular issue doesn't have an abundance of familiar names inside. Barry Cord (Peter Germano), Frank C. Robertson, and John A. Saxon are the best known. The other authors, who had decent careers but are pretty much forgotten, are James Shaffer, Le Roy Boyd, Stuart Friedman, and Melvin W. Holt.
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