Back Then

A loose page from a pulp with art by Virgil Finlay, the pulp artists' pulp artist, back then— portraying a character that looks somewhat like Buster Crabbe, the serial hero's serial hero, back then.

Virgil Finlay — Thrilling Wonder — December, 1951

Breakfast Serial

Flash Gordon was the first movie serial I ever saw, playing on TV on Saturday afternoons, a couple at a time. Tarzan and westerns also played intermittently, but they were pretty boring compared to Flash and Dale. I had some Sunday pages from the Alex Raymond days, but I didn't think to connect them until much later. Surprisingly the serial caught much of the flavor of the comic strip. Here Vultan, king of the Hawkmen, is just as hefty, bearded and  rowdy as his comic strip counterpart.

That's Vultan in the middle, just in case you got confused.

And wow, they got this pretty accurate as well...