Pulp Art

The following art is from an old western pulp published by Martin Goodman, the same fellow who published Marvel Comics. He was publishing comics when this pulp came out, but I've always been struck at the difference in pure quality of art in pulps as opposed to art in comics.

I have my favorite comic book artists, but few of them went to the trouble to create individual scenes with the skill shown here in this single illustration. I won't even go into the pure superiority of most pulp covers over comic book covers. It could be that pulp artists were paid a lot more money than comic book artists and thus were able to devote more time to each piece of art. I can't say, as I've never delved into the details of the history of each art type in opposition.

At any rate, this illustration was for a Max Brand novella published at some point by Martin Goodman's outfit. I'm amazed at the skill the artist shows, despite the fact that he was toiling in an art form produced for a publication only held in slightly higher esteem than comics.

From the signature, I assume this was done by Boris Bjorklund, known for illustrating western pulps. He died in 1978.