Category: original art

cover art by William F. Soare

oil on canvas, 17″ X 23″

pulp illustration unused until 2010 Mystery House release

story originally appeared in October 1941 issue of Super-Detective

better image than previously posted

cover art by H.J. Ward

unused Black Mask cover art by James Lunnon

“From the estate of the American artist James Lunnon, this is an unsigned proposed Black Mask pulp cover painting which was slated for publication in May of 1940. The yellow left side field is a telling trait and was unique to the title – this format was used between January 1937 to April of 1940, with many of these covers painted by James Lunnon. There was no May, 1940 issue, as the title was sold to Popular Publications right after the April 1940 issue and when the magazine appeared again in June of 1940, it had a completely redesigned look. Our guess is that this painting was intended as the cover for the 5/40 issue, but with the change of publishers causing that issue to be skipped, and the then resulting change in cover design, it was never used.”

oil on canvas, 18″x24″

October 1939 issue ~ cover art by Norman Saunders

cover art by Norman Saunders

oil on canvas, 30 x 21 in

October 1939 issue

better image than previously posted

then used on August 1949 10-Story Detective Magazine

[updated 6/7/24]