Pulp Horror and the Origins of the Psychedelic
posted on 9 March 2011 | posted in
Arts and Entertainment
Recently while exploring the artwork of horror comics from the late 1940's and early 1950's, I happened upon the artist L.B. Cole. His style was instantly recognizable, and distinguished itself from the other artwork featured bright colors, patterns, and brilliant use of contrast invoked images of later 60's psychedelia. Upon further reading, this was in fact the case he is commonly thought to be the originator of the style. Yet the art wasn’t meant for any mind bending purposes beyond the horror and morbid interest it invokes. Cole describes his use of bright colors simply to be attention grabbers, to make his covers pop out in the sea of pulp comics around it. His work, while meant to portray menacing scenes, is beautiful and complex, yet simple at the same time. Like most artistic geniuses his skill makes the art work on multiple levels, just like that of a modern Banksy street art piece while staying accessible to his target audience, the removal of the cover titles would allow the art to lend itself to critical appreciation. Monsters and scenes of despair and "horror" fill up the covers, yet the beauty is there to behold, the beauty of an art movement on the cusp.
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