Cover Stories
Abstract: One of the most famous aspects of early pulps such as Amazing, Astounding, and Wonder Stories was their visually arresting covers, drawn by popular artists like Frank R. Paul, Howard V. Brown, and Hans Wesso. This chapter examines how those covers, as well as the magazines’ interior illustrations, drew on a kind of cinematic logic, with their style recalling that of movie posters, their images evoking the practices of movie-viewing, their subjects often including elements of film technology, and, late in the period, their designs even imitating specific films or film images. Like the movies, these illustrations drew readers out of their everyday experience, while starkly visualizing the ability of both the SF and cinematic imaginations to let us see other worlds, other beings, and other technologies.