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Posted by on 26 Jun, 2020 in Australian Crime Fiction, Australian Pulp, Men's Adventure, trashy covers, Trashy Tuesday | 14 comments

TRASHY TUESDAY: MORE LARRY KENT COVERS

TRASHY TUESDAY: MORE LARRY KENT COVERS

Assassin Take All, Larry Kent 709, by Don Haring (Cleveland, 1972)

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).

Mourning Glory: Larry Kent 656 (Cleveland 1970)

The other one I got was Always Aim High (No. 810, 1974).

Always Aim High, Larry Kent 810 (Cleveland, 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.

14 Comments

  1. Instant memories of the early 1970s. Was it really nearly 50 years ago?

    • 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

  2. 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)

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