The Whispering Gorilla Rampage — Fantastic Adventures May 1940 Cover

Published in May 1940, as pulp magazines were hitting peak circulation before wartime paper rationing, this Fantastic Adventures cover illustrates Don Wilcox's 'The Whispering Gorilla' — a tuxedo-clad gorilla hurling a man from a rooftop or marquee above a frenzied urban crowd. The scene captures the pulp era's love of blending urban menace with fantastical horror, crowd panic rendered in vivid gouache strokes against a blazing nighttime cityscape of neon signs and police.