Allan Anderson illustrates questionable rescues

Allan Anderson (1908-1995) was another pulp great who did his share of Planet Stories covers. I sometimes wonder whether he was entirely happy with the commissions. Take this cover for the Fall 1947 issue, for example.

That’s a pretty classic damsel in a filmy, torn dress (but perfect hair) being carried out of danger by a manly ray-gun-wielding spaceman. The position of the lady’s right hand though, in its almost claw-like arrangement of fingers against the rescuer’s face, makes me wonder whether she really wants to be rescued. Maybe she was happier back with the creepy-crawlies? It takes all kinds to make a galaxy.

Then there’s this from May 1951.

A version at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database is less beaten-up and washed out but still small.

Why is space dude all blue? Has the hard work of damsel rescue done something to his oxygen supply?

Both the 1947 and 1951 issues are available to read and download at the Internet Archive.

A cocktail dress might be the least plausible space costume yet

Another uncredited illustration from Planet Stories, in this instance the Spring 1944 number, illustrating a story “Wanderers of the Wolf Moon” by Nelson S. Bond. The cover, by Graham Ingles (1915-1991) appears to illustrate the same story and does not disappoint:

This issue — ads for War Bonds and all — is available to be read at and downloaded from the Internet Archive.

There are stories by Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) and Ray Bradbury.

When Sex Met Space

Hat tip on this illustration to Not Pulp Covers and that site’s associated Twitter feed. The illustration is presented without attribution there, but a search of the Internet Speculative Fiction Database turns up that this is a page from the September 1953 edition of Planet Stories. The illustration is uncredited.

Planet Stories had a tendency to sexy covers. Galactic Central gives us one for this edition:

Gotta love those form-fitting spacesuits! This cover is also uncredited, although a number of sources believe that it is work by Frank Kelly Freas. Unfortunately the Internet Archive does not appear to have this particular edition in its holdings at this time.

Ray-gun girl versus tentacular monster

This image is a reblog from this 21 June 2015 post at Infernal Wonders. It’s a crop from the January 1958 cover of Science Fiction Adventures.

According to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database the cover is the work of American illustrator John Schoenherr (1935-2010), who is famous for, among other things, providing the original cover illustration to Frank Herbert’s Dune.

This doesn’t look good for our heroine

This image is reblogged from a 23 January 2014 post at Infernal Wonders. Bacchus at Erosblog has provenance:

As is evident, this is the cover from Fantasy Illustrated #6. According to this blog post, Fantasy Illustrated was an early comics fanzine published by Bill Spicer in the 1960s. Issue #6 was published in 1966 and features cover art by D. Bruce Perry according to this site, which also lists more contents of the ‘zine.