Walter Popp's Big Planet Cover — Startling Stories Sept. 1952
More dynamic than many of Walter Popp's contemporaries at Thrilling Publications, this September 1952 Startling Stories cover crackles with pulp energy: a reclining woman in a harlequin costume dominates the foreground while a blue-suited hero wields a ray gun amid a blazing inferno behind her. A chrome ray-gun device discharges a blinding energy bolt, sending a second woman flying through the air in a purple lightning storm — a vivid illustration for Jack Vance's novel Big Planet.
A scantily-clad woman, a ray-gun battle, roaring flames, and a flying body all competing for the eye at once — this cover delivers maximum newsstand impact. The harlequin costume and chrome weapon device add an extra layer of lurid strangeness that screams Atomic Age pulp at its most unrestrained.
“TODAY'S SCIENCE FICTION — TOMORROW'S FACT STARTLING stories A THRILLING PUBLICATION SEPT. 25c featuring BIG PLANET a novel by Jack Vance and THE OBLIGATION a novelet by Roger Dee SCIENTIFICTION AT ITS BEST”
