Avon Fantasy Reader No.10 — Robert E. Howard Conan Cover, 1950s
Pulp adventure and menace collide on this striking digest cover — a square-jawed warrior in Roman-style golden armor cradles a swooning, scantily-clad woman while a grotesque reptilian monster looms behind him, claws outstretched and fangs bared. The composition is pure sword-and-sorcery bravado, clearly tied to Robert E. Howard's Conan tale 'A Witch Shall Be Born.' Rich amber, crimson, and black dominate, with the beast's green scales providing a sinister counterpoint to the hero's gleaming breastplate.
The leering reptile beast with outstretched talons looming directly over a barely-clothed unconscious woman being cradled by a muscle-bound armored hero is textbook peak pulp melodrama. The woman's ornate wheel-shaped chest decoration pushes the absurdity — and the appeal — firmly into classic pulp territory.
“AVON Fantasy READER No.10 A WITCH SHALL BE BORN by Robert E. Howard also stories by H. P. Lovecraft Basset Morgan Malcolm Jameson AND OTHERS 35¢”
