Pulp magazine

:"Pulp fiction" redirects here. For the film, see Pulp Fiction.

Terminology and history

The name "pulp" comes from the cheap wood pulp paper on which such magazines were printed. Magazines printed on better paper and usually offering family-oriented content were often called "glossies" or "slicks". Pulps were the successor to the "penny dreadfuls" and "dime novels" of the nineteenth century. Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines are perhaps best remembered for their fast-paced, lurid, sensational and exploitative stories. Parallels between comic books and pulp magazines can be drawn; for example, magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters such as The Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Phantom Detective. Pulp covers were famous for their half-dressed damsels in distress, usually awaiting a rescuing hero.

Related Topics:
Wood pulp - Penny dreadful - Dime novel - Nineteenth century - Sensational - Exploitative stories - Comic book - The Shadow - Doc Savage - The Phantom Detective - Damsels in distress - Hero

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The first "pulp" is considered to be Frank Munsey's revamped Argosy Magazine of 1896. The format eventually declined (especially in the 1950s) with rising paper costs, competition from comic books, television, and the paperback novel. Most remaining pulp magazines are science fiction or mystery magazines now in digest form. The format is still in use for some lengthy serials, like the German science fiction weekly Perry Rhodan (over 2200 issues as of 2005).

Related Topics:
Frank Munsey - Argosy Magazine - 1896 - Comic book - Television - Paperback - Science fiction - Mystery - Perry Rhodan - 2005

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