Dimensions Unlimited: Fantastic Adventures Cover, November 1948

Surprisingly intimate for a magazine promising adventure in unknown worlds, this cover forgoes rockets and robots entirely in favor of brooding menace: a darkly clad figure in a red cap looms in the foreground, one gloved hand gripping what appears to be a weapon, while a glamorous woman in a golden robe reclines serenely behind him. The tension between her cool composure and his threatening posture gives the image a noir thriller quality that pushes against the science-fantasy label — pulp romance dressed in speculative fiction clothing.