If you love vintage paperbacks and digest magazines as much as I do, you’ll really enjoy the latest issues of Justin Marriott’s Paperback Fanatic and Richard Krauss’s The Digest Enthusiast!
Paperback Fanatic arrives in a new larger format. If you love paperback cover artwork, Paperback Fanatic features over a 100 covers that accompany the articles delving into the history of paperbacks and paperback writers. There’s also a broad range of information for just about every paperback collector’s interest. Here’s just an abbreviated list of the articles in this new issue:
- Black Samurai
- Conan
- Mickey Spillane
- Shudder Pulps
- Prices on eBay
- Running a Used Bookstore
- Spaghetti Western Tie-Ins
- Satan Sleuth
- Cult Publisher Horwitz
- Paperback Cover Artists
- Masters of Horror
- Gothic Romances
- New Wave SF
Paperback news, reviews, columns, interviews, and articles on vintage paperbacks makes Paperback Fanatic an invaluable resource. I particularly enjoyed Justin Marriott’s “The Unforgotten: British Writer Andrew Garve.” I’ve read several of Garve’s crime and thriller novels, but after reading Justin’s informative article, I want to read more!
The Digest Enthusiast emulates the digest magazine format it celebrates. Here’s a sample of what you’ll find inside this latest issue:
Steve Carper uncovers the history of the highly collectable Handi-Books and their indie publisher James Louis Quinn.
Anthony Perconti tackles DC’s Blue Ribbon Digests—1981’s Best Comics Stories and Jonah Hex.
Howard Browne’s baby, Fantastic, graduates from quarterly to bi-monthly status in our close examination of a foundational year: 1953 part one.
Tom Brinkmann peels off a visual survey of pin-up sensation Jeanne Carmen’s digest and magazine résumé in a Bad Mags Extra!
Peter Enfantino cracks open 1956 (part one) with an inside look at Manhunt, the gold-standard of detective fiction digests.
Robert A.W. Lowndes proves himself a giant of the digests in a behind-the-scenes overview of his decade with Health Knowledge, along with our exclusive, contextual publication grid.
Reviews of RAWL’s gateway digest into Health Knowledge, Exploring the Unknown No. 1 and Startling Mystery Stories No. 3.
A jam-packed edition featuring over a 100 magazine covers; new fiction by John M. Kuharik and Robert Snashall, illustrated by Brad W. Foster and Michael Neno; cartoons by Bob Vojtko; and more.
164 pages, published in color and b&w print editions, and Kindle, by Larque Press LLC.
Both of these wonderful publications deserve our support! I bought both The Paperback Fanatic and The Digest Enthusiast on AMAZON. GRADE: A (for both)
How about those Lions? Fifty years of watching them lose and now this.
Patti, the Lions are on the rise!
Back in the day I worked for Richard Katz (Mystery One Bookshop) here in Milwaukee on Saturdays and for author events.
The first time I walked into his store, I was appalled to see lots of great old vintage paperback covers under the glass of his sales counter. He assured me that the books couldn’t have been salvaged for reading but …
I did notice that some of the old covers, if looked at carefully, gave away whodunit. And many had absolutely nothing to do with the book itself.
Beth, you were witness to the Golden Age of paperbacks. By the 1970s, many publishers moved away from having real artists produce paperback cover artwork and went with generic abstract covers. These two journals feature over 100 great covers each and some of them are eye-popping!
Cool. For a minute you scared me there – I was wondered if Robert Lowndes had risen from the dead to write that article.
Jeff, Justin Marriott and Richard Krauss channel the Great Ones!
I have een denying myself the pleasure for too long…
I have been denying myself the pleasure for too long…
Paperback maven Lance Casebeer collected keyhole covers and would have loved that Digest Enthusiast edition!
Bob, I miss Lance Casebeer. Whenever Diane would suggest I had too many books, I’d say, “But Lance Casebeer has a lot more!”