TRASHY TUESDAY: MORE LARRY KENT COVERS
I recently came across a couple more Larry Kents to add to my collection. Both of them featured cover art work by the Spanish syndicated art agency Nova Bossa, which provided a lot of covers for Cleveland in the late 1960s and 1970s. Using Spanish artists such as Rafael Cortiella, Fernando Fernandez and Enrich Torres, Nova Bossa provided covers which were usually more violent and sexualised in their approach. See my earlier post at: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/trashy-tuesday-larry-kent-covers/
Assassin Take All (above) was done by Sebastian Boada, who seems to have only done a handful of Kent covers. The use of a blue background was unusual for a Kent cover, but it gives a nice feel to it. It is not as bold or as innovative as the later Spanish covers, but it is a step up from the formulaic covers of the late 1960’s, which usually featured a similar looking blonde in a bikini in the centre of the cover (see Mourning Glory below).
The other one I got was Always Aim High (No. 810, 1974).
Always Aim High is more typical of the covers done by Nova Bossa for the Larry Kent books. This one is by Spanish artist Fernando Fernandez, who did a number of the Kent covers As with several others, it uses a collage of three pictures, one of which is always a scantily dressed woman. The covers from this period tended to use drawings of popular movie stars, such as Clint Eastwood or Robert Redford, or replicas of scenes from movies. This one seems to be drawing from the Day Of The Jackal, which would have come out a few months earlier.
The use of the three white circles as kill spots on the man’s head is quite clever and effective. As with most of the covers, the pretty red head with large eyes is staring directly outwards and enticingly at the potential purchaser. It is a good cover, with a strong early 1970’s feel to it.
Instant memories of the early 1970s. Was it really nearly 50 years ago?
Hi!
“Always Aim High” is by Fernando Fernandez . So is “Centerfold be Damned” from this post:
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/trashy-tuesday-larry-kent-covers/
See:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/09/fernando-fernandez-obituary
https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=778242
Thanks for a great site!
-jussi
Hi. Thanks. I had identified Fernandez, but hadn’t got around to updating. I hadn’t seen the Guardian obituary, which was interesting. I have a few of the Fernandez covers and I am going to do an article shortly. You may be interested, that on the weekend I came across a Cleveland western which had a cover by Rafael Cortiella. I am hoping to post in the next few days. Thanks very much for your comments and the research that you have done. All the best, Jeff
I was organizing my pulp collection and came by this one, and thought I’d seen the cover somewhere before:
http://cocacola.mbnet.fi/pokkarit/kirjallisuus/m/manhattankirja/mk120129/mk120129isot/mk121iso.htm
Of course i’d seen the cover here, as it was also used for Larry Kent 810 “Always Aim High.” Its a small world 🙂
Take care,
Jussi (from Finland)
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing
Any others look like they have been done by Spanish artists?
Yes. Covers by Spanish artists were commonly used in Finland (and the rest of the Europe as well) for various pulp series.
I’ve been trying to identify as many artists as possible. It’s quite difficult, but sometimes you get lucky.
Here are few examples:
Another one by Fernandez:
http://www.kolumbus.fi/timo.palonen/kirjallisuus/e/etulinja/etulinja1972/etulinja1972isot/e1272iso.htm
…and Cortiella:
http://www.kolumbus.fi/timo.palonen/kirjallisuus/e/etulinja/etulinja1970/etulinja1970isot/e770iso.htm
Jordi penalva:
http://www.kolumbus.fi/timo.palonen/kirjallisuus/e/etulinja/etulinja1970/etulinja1970isot/e1270iso.html
Noiquet:
http://www.talvipaivanseisaus.com/kirjallisuus/p/puumakirjat/pk100111/pk100111isot/pk103iso.htm
http://www.talvipaivanseisaus.com/kirjallisuus/a/agenttisarja/as1019/as1019isot/as10iso.htm
Angel Badia Camps:
http://www.talvipaivanseisaus.com/kirjallisuus/s/strongmax/strongmax1965/strongmax1965isot/ms1065iso.htm
http://www.talvipaivanseisaus.com/kirjallisuus/s/sciencefiction-sarja/sciencefiction-sarjaisot/sf-s2iso.htm
Thanks. I like the one for the Martin Fallon (Jack Higgins) book.
Have you come across Masters of Spanish Comic Art by David Roach? It mainly focuses on comics, but it also includes book covers. I only just downloaded it – very interesting and great illustrations
Yes. I also came across the book quite recently. I agree the illustrations are great. I wouldn’t be too surprised if some of the covers originally comissioned for comics would somewhere else appear as book covers. That happened in Finland, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. My guess is that Spanish art agencies sold the same illustrations again and again, so it’s very difficult to establish where they were used first. I also believe that, sadly, some publishers didn’t really care for where the cover illustrations came from.
But back to Larry Kent. Here is one example of re-cycling:
https://www.pulpcurry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Whos-Kidding-Who.jpg
https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9788472503670-us.jpg
Thanks. I have that one too. A good Rafael Cortiella cover. I have identified a couple more from the Spanish Comic Art book, but I don’t have them in my collection. I am going to try and do another Larry Kent post this week.
Great! I look forward to your upcoming Larry Kent post.
Sorry if this is a repost. I thought i’d replied to this, but it seems my reply didn’t get through.
I came across Masters of Spanish Comic Art quite recently. And I agree it is very interesting. The problem with the illustrations by Spanish artists is that they’ve been reprinted so many times in many different publications. Same illustration may have appeared on comic book covers and / or pulp covers in different parts of the world.
Here’s an example of an illustration by Salvador Fabá. It’s been used as a cover for Swedish and Finnish horror comic and a German horror pulp: https://muuta.net/Shokki/Shokki1975.html#S1975
And another example of recycling:
Larry Kent. Who’s Kidding Who:
https://www.pulpcurry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Whos-Kidding-Who.jpg
and Lou Carrigan : Pompas funebres S.A,:
https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/18494354815.jpg
I must admit, I didn’t know Martin Fallon was Jack Higgins. I’m not that familiar with him. Thanks for the info.
I believe the cover for the book was taken from this:
https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/30910863284.jpg
(Títle: Los tontos mueren en viernes
Publisher: Molino, [Barcelona]
Year of pubilcation: 1963)