Thrilling Publications, also known as Beacon Magazines (1936–37), Better Publications (1937–43) and Standard Magazines (1943–55), was a pulp magazine publisher run by

Ned Pines Ned L. Pines (December 10, 1905 – May 14, 1990) was an American publisher of pulp magazines, comic books, and paperback books, active from at least 1928 to 1971. His Standard Comics imprint was the parent company of the comic-book lines Ne ...

, publishing such titles as '' Startling Stories'' and ''

Thrilling Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

''. Pines became the president of Pines Publications in 1928. Pines folded most of his magazines in 1955 but continued to lead the company until 1961.

Cover artists

Pines' cover artists included Earle K. Bergey, John Parker,

George Rozen George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

, and

Rudolph Belarski Rudolph Belarski (May 27, 1900 – December 24, 1983) was an American graphic artist known for his cover art depicting aerial combat for magazines such as ''Wings'', '' Dare Devil Aces'', and ''War Birds''. He also drew science fiction covers for ...

Paperbacks

In 1942 Pines started

Popular Library Popular Library was a New York paperback book company established in 1942 by Leo Margulies and Ned Pines, who at the time were major pulp magazine and newspaper publishers. The company's logo of a pine tree was a tribute to Pines, and another ...

, a paperback publishing house, and devoted himself to that company after closing his other ventures. Popular reprinted materials from the pulps.

Characters

The Black Bat The Black Bat was the name of two unrelated pulp heroes featured in different pulp magazine series in the 1930s, most well known because of their similarity to DC Comics hero, Batman. There is, also, a Black Bat character, that is seen in toys a ...

* Captain Danger * Captain Future (a separate comic book character, unrelated to the pulp character, also existed) * Crimson Mask * Green Ghost (also appeared in comics) * Masked Detective * Masked Rider (purchased from Martin Goodman's Ranger Publications after the first three issues; Better Publications' numbering started with v01n01) *

The Phantom Detective ''The Phantom Detective'' was the second pulp hero magazine published, after ''The Shadow''. The first issue was released in February 1933, a month before ''Doc Savage'', which was released in March 1933. The title continued to be released unt ...

* The Purple Scar * The Rio Kid

Titles

* ''Air War'' * ''Army Navy Flying Stories'' * ''Black Book Detective'' * '' Captain Future'' (1940–1944; 17 issues)(the series was continued with several novels and short stories in '' Startling Stories'') * ''Detective Book Magazine'' * ''Detective Novels'' * ''Everyday Astrology'' * ''Exciting Detective'' * ''Exciting Love'' * ''Exciting Football'' * ''Exciting Western'' * '' Fantastic Story Quarterly / Fantastic Story Magazine'' (1950-1955, 23 issues) * ''G-Men'' * ''The Lone Eagle'' * ''Masked Detective'' (1940–1943, 12 issues) * ''Masked Rider Western'' (1934–1953; 100 issues) * ''Mobsters'' * ''The Phantom Detective'' * ''Popular Detective'' * ''Popular Love'' * ''Popular Sports Magazine'' * ''Popular Western'' * ''RAF Aces'' * ''Range Riders Western'' (1938–1953; 72 issues) * ''Rio Kid Western'' * ''Rodeo Romances'' * ''Sky Fighters'' * '' Space Stories'' (1952-1953, 5 issues) * '' Startling Stories'' (1939–1955; 99 issues)(Following the cancellation of '' Captain Future'' in 1944 due to wartime paper restrictions, several CF novels appeared in this magazine immediately, and several short stories in the early 50s) * ''

Strange Stories ''Strange Stories'' was a pulp magazine which ran for thirteen issues from 1939 to 1941. It was edited by Mort Weisinger, who was not credited. Contributors included Robert Bloch, Eric Frank Russell, C. L. Moore, August Derleth, and ...

'' (1939-1941, 13 issues) * ''The Rio Kid Western'' (1939–1953; 76 issues) * ''Texas Rangers'' * '' Thrilling Adventures'' (1931–1943) * ''Thrilling Baseball'' * ''Thrilling Detective'' (1931–53; 213 issues) * ''Thrilling Football'' * ''Thrilling Love'' * ''Thrilling Mystery'' * ''Thrilling Ranch'' * ''Thrilling Sports'' * ''Thrilling Western'' * ''West'' * ''

'' (1936–55, 112 issues) * '' Wonder Story Annual'' (1950-1953, 4 issues)

References

Sources

* Wooley, John and Locke, John. "A History of the Thrilling Pulps." ''Thrilling Detective Heroes'' dventure House, 2007