A dramatic cover by Walter Baumhofer graces this issue of STAR WESTERN, my favorite Western pulp published by Popular Publications. A look at the authors inside will tell you why I feel that way: T.T. Flynn, Ray Nafziger, Luke Short, W. Ryerson Johnson, Robert E. Mahaffey (twice, with a short story and a novelette), William F. Bragg, and Foster-Harris. I also like STAR WESTERN because it ran more novellas and novelettes than short stories. I like short stories just fine, but I think the novella is just about the perfect length for all types of genre fiction.
This issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY may not have a patriotic cover, but it is dated July 4, 1931. The art is by H.W. Reusswig, and I think it's a pretty good cover. As usual for WILD WEST WEEKLY, the contents lean heavily toward series stories and house names. Lee Bond, William F. Bragg, Clee Woods, and Samuel H. Nickels have stories under the own names. There's a Circle J story by Norman Hay writing as Cleve Endicott, a Whistlin' Kid story by Guy L. Maynard writing as Emery Jackson, and entries in other series I'm not familiar with by Galen C. Colin, Reginald C. Barker, and Houston Irvine. (I'm not familiar with Barker and Irvine, either.) But overall, it looks like an entertaining issue and a good way to pass the time in the summer of 1931, if you had an extra dime and nickel in your pocket. Which a lot of people didn't in those days. But I'm glad the pulps were able to survive.
The April 1, 1939 issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY sports a very atmospheric, excellent cover by the great H.W. Scott that features a skull. I like this one a lot. There's a fine bunch of writers in this issue, too: T.W. Ford (with a Silver Kid story), J. Allan Dunn (with a Bud Jones story), Walker A. Tompkins (with a Firebrand story), William F. Bragg (with a Smoky Joe story), and Dean Owen (with a non-series story). Now, I'll admit I haven't heard of Firebrand or Smoky Joe, but I'm sure I'd enjoy reading about them.
STAR WESTERN nearly always had good covers, and this one is no exception. I'm not familiar with the artist, Don Hewitt, but I like his work on this cover. Inside is the usual great bunch of authors to be found in a Popular Publications Western pulp: Walt Coburn, Cliff Farrell, Oliver King (Thomas Mount), John G. Pearsol, Robert E. Mahaffey, and William F. Bragg.
That's an action-packed cover by Walter Baumhofer on this issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY, and the line-up of authors and stories inside is great: a Johnny Forty-Five story by Paul S. Powers writing as Andrew A. Griffin, a Border Eagle story by Walker A. Tompkins writing as Philip F. Deere, a Hungry and Rusty story by Samuel H. Nickels, a Shorty Master story by Allan R. Bosworth, and non-series yarns by William F. Bragg, Arthur Hawthorne Carhart, and Cliff Farrell writing as Nelse Anderson. Pretty entertaining from cover to cover, I expect.
Many of the Street & Smith pulps had Christmas-themed issues. Here's one from the long-running WILD WEST WEEKLY. There are three Christmas stories in this issue: "A Holiday fer Dry Gulch", a Billy West/Circle J novelette by Lee Bond writing as Cleve Endicott, "The Whistlin' Kid Sees a Star in the East" by Emery Jackson (really J. Allan Dunn), and "Two Bags of Christmas Grub", a Lum Yates story by Galen C. Colin writing as Collins Hafford. I have to admit I don't know anything about the Lum Yates character, although I've read Circle J stories by Lee Bond and Whistlin' Kid stories by J. Allan Dunn (and of course many other stories by those authors, who are both top-notch). Other authors in this issue are Stephen Payne, William F. Bragg, Reginald C. Barker (writing as Lee Harrington), and Houston Irvine (writing as Philip H. Deere). I've never read an issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY that I didn't enjoy, and I'm sure I'd like this one, too.