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March 5th - March 19th iNarrabri Magazine 13
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Pulp Confidential
Scantily clad cover girls, titillating titles and
cheap thrills are just part of the riveting tale of
Australia’s fast-paced pulp fiction industry of the
1940s and 50s, revealed in a new exhibition at
the State Library of NSW.
Pulp Confidential: Quick and dirty publishing
from the 40s and 50s presents a behind the
scenes look at the rise and fall of Australia’s
tough pulp publishing market through a rich
and lurid collection of vintage ‘pulp’ cover art,
crime story illustrations, gags and original comic
strip artwork held in the State Library’s archives.
The lively, often racy and sometimes amus-
ing artwork is drawn from the papers of Frank
Johnson, a small but shrewd Sydney publisher
of mass produced 40s and 50s pulp including
comics, crime novels, humour magazines and
boxing and racing fiction.
According to crime writer and Pulp Confiden-
tial curator Peter Doyle, “the outbreak of WW2
put a halt on printed imports from America,
and subsequently created an opportunity for
Australian publishers – big and small – to ‘cash
in’ on the public’s voracious appetite for fast
entertainment in the days before television.”
“Frank Johnson Publications churned out pure
pulp of the quick and dirty sort, the sort of stuff
left lying around in lunch rooms, barracks, pris-
ons and nurses’ and apprentice quarters,” said
Peter. Anyone who could quickly pen a decent
story or create bold artwork could be published.
Johnson introduced readers to characters like
Skip Dolan, a crime-fighting Sydney journal-
ist and Scorch Morgan, a millionaire detective
(solving crimes not because he had to, but
because he liked it), as well as super-hero paro-
dies such as ‘Powerman’. Death of a Fan Dancer,
Desire for Danger and Excuse for Scandal were
just some of the racy titles boldly illustrated with
curvaceous femme fatales and dark mysterious
men. “Curiously, the unfolding stories between
the covers were relatively conservative despite
the explicit covers,” said Peter. “What’s special
about Johnson’s material is that it was deter-
minedly Australian in subject and setting, unlike
other publishers who preferred the Hollywood
feel.” Housewives and teenage boys were
among Johnson’s throng of freelance artists and
authors. Johnson’s business correspondence re-
veal his somewhat ‘dodgy’ dealings who hustled
his employees, paying them little and often late!
The State Library purchased the Frank Johnson
papers five years after his death in 1960 for
£250. It was hoped there would be works from
Johnson’s earlier publishing career when he
collaborated with the likes of Kenneth Slessor
and Norman Lindsay. “What the State Library
got instead is an extraordinary collection of
cultural artefacts that in their day were consid-
ered trashy but are now highly valued and richly
represented in modern design, cinema and even
in fine art,” said Peter.
Pulp Confidential is a free exhibition at the State
Library of NSW until 10th May 2015.
#pulpconfidential
Peter Chapman with his wife Meg and step daughterHelen view Peter’s artwork at the State Library
will be. It will jump out and bite you.”
Peter and Meg have just recently returned
from an exciting trip to Sydney to attend the
official opening of the “Pulp Confidential:
Quick and dirty publishing from the 40s
and 50s” exhibition, currently running at the
State Library of NSW (see article on right).
This exhibition is drawn from Frank Johnson
Publications, where Peter started his career. At
the time, the organisers thought Peter to be
the only known living artist of that era, and
were keen to have him there for the official
opening.
The official exhibition opening had an ex-
clusive guest list of over 150 patrons, which
shows how much interest there still is in pulp
and seeing original artwork like Peter’s.
According to Meg, they were treated like roy-
alty and met so many wonderful people. An
additional 25 tickets were created for Peter’s
family and guests. While a great deal of Pe-
ter’s artwork features in the exhibition, Peter’s
entourage was given a private tour and view-
ing of Peter’s artwork that they hadn’t been
able to hang due to the volume of work.
“Just in two folders there would of been eighty
artworks that Peter could hardly remember
doing and that was only a small fraction of
what they have filed away of his.
“In the actual exhibition there was a painting
of horses that had been blown up to life size
taken from the racing covers Peter did for the
King of the Turf publications. It is thought
that Peter did up to 200 of these covers.
“They had allocated a whole glass case to
one of Peter’s original comics to show how
they were done in the day. People were lined
up for Peter to sign things including the book
that Peter Doyle had written especially for the
exhibition.
“The organisers made us feel so welcome
and expressed throughout the night how
honoured they were to have Peter there and
how he had contributed so much to the ex-
hibition.”
Peter’s contribution to the exhibition did not
just include his artwork.
“I knew most of the artists at Frank Johnsons
so I was able to fill in a lot of gaps for them
(the organisers), most of the artists there at
the time were my good mates... some were
d...heads like me...”
Peter’s family and friends travelled from all
over to be at the exhibition opening along
with current comic book artists and collectors.
One of Peter’s ex-students currently illustrates
The Phantom for Frew Publications, which
is Australia’s longest running comic title and
one that Peter himself worked on around sixty
years ago.
Peter found everyone to be very nice but all
of the attention was overwhelming... especial-
ly considering all of the fuss made over some
of his earliest work...
“I’ve always been an ordinary bloke, and as
far as considering what we did at the time as
art... most of it was s...!”
Spoken like a true artist! ... If you are in Syd-
ney in the near future be sure to call in and
judge for yourself. - Ed.