Showing posts with label GWK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GWK. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Paperback 101: The Chic Chick Spy / Bob Tralins (Belmont B50-718)

Paperback 101: Belmont B50-718 (PBO - I think - 1966)

Title: The Chic Chick Spy ("The Miss from S.I.S.")
Author: Bob Tralins
Cover artist: uncredited

Yours for: SOLD (5/27/08)


Best things about this cover:

  • Another great cover copy claim - first, promises of vomit; now, declarations of absurdity.
  • Love the ironic, self-referential, falsely modest cover copy ("Absolutely nothing in it is true ... you couldn't spend a better 50 cents")
  • Is this woman a. directing traffic, b. casting spells, or c. fending off a defensive tackle?
  • I love her murderous dance style: "L ... is for the way I Lacerate ... your faaaace..."
  • Either a sniper is preparing to shoot her or she is able to jam enemy sonar with a tiny machine located in the underwire of the bra she isn't wearing.
  • I submit that if this woman let her arms hang at her sides, she would be able to scratch her shins without bending at the waist one bit.

Best things about this back cover:
  • "Booby sexed" - furthermore, "booby sexed." How am I supposed to pay attention to anything else on this cover?
  • "... an organization that was making men feel queer and women feel like men" - OK, I'm going to have to read this if only to figure out how "booby sexed" fits into this whole queer / transgender theme. Do men grow boobies? Do women start ogling boobies? Are we sure that Ed Wood didn't write this?
  • This is perhaps the only back cover in my collection that ends with an honest-to-god orgasm.
  • This book is grimy. Solid, but covered with a thin layer of grime. I can't imagine what could have soiled it in precisely this fashion. It's as if it's been artfully basted with mud.

Page 123~ (this better be good...)

When she mounted the steps, she seemed to be weighed down by an enormous weight.

I'm sorry, I'm sure there are more lurid sentences on this page, but this is the first thing my eyes landed on, and it made me laugh out loud. "Mounted" was funny enough, but then ... well, here's how I imagine the author conceived the sentence:

  • Author: "'When she mounted the steps, she seemed to be weighed down by ... by ...' Hmm, I know she needs to be weighed down by something, but what? ... [phones editor] ... yeah, hi Joe, I just wrote the part where she mounts the steps..."
  • Joe: "Uh huh"
  • Author: "... and I'm trying to describe how she's 'weighed down,' you know? But I can't think of what she could be weighed down by. I know it should be something big ... or giant. Maybe huge."
  • Joe: "How about an enormous weight?"
  • Author: "'... weighed down by an enormous weight.' Hey, that's good. I like how 'weight' sorta conveys the whole idea of being 'weighed down.' Thanks, Joe."

~RP

Monday, October 22, 2007

Paperback 34: Signet 1724

Paperback 34: Signet 1724 (PBO, 1957)

Title: Triple Slay
Author: Adam Knight
Cover artist: [Robert Schulz]

Best things about this cover:

  • Yesterday, I said I'd buy pretty much any vintage paperback that featured a girl with a gun on its cover. I'd like to expand that claim to include girls with knives or other assorted weaponry.
  • She's really holding that knife in the jabby / kill position. Not fooling around...
  • Why do I find her completely unsexy?
  • Unless this novel involves baseball, that title is terrible.


Best things about this back cover:

  • God, the copywriter really goes on a cliché bender in that second paragraph. I also love how much mileage (and perhaps joy) said copywriter is getting out of the "[pregnant pause] MURDER!" line...
  1. "The beautiful brunette has a face and figure that could send a man ... to murder." (front cover)
  2. "LIGHTS ... CAMERA ... MURDER!!!"
  3. "... he discovers that a killer is setting the stage - for murder."
  • "Mari Barstow" ... "Steve Conacher" ... these names are almost as bad as "Barr Breed." Clearly I need to start a running list of the Most Ridiculous Character Names in my collection. I'll get on that soon.
  • What's a "TV singer?"
RP