Fantasy in Pulp Magazines of the 1920s

Pulp magazines were made in response to the magazines of the 1880s and 1890s that were made of slick, heavyweight papers, consisting of stories by well known authors and were therefore quite expensive. The word ‘Pulp’ comes from the fact they made the papers from pulp and in reflection of this cheaper process unknown authors and illustrators were also hired.
Ideas and content of fantasy art has long been inspired by folklore and mythology, dreams, the strange and infinite forms of nature and the peculiar aspects of reality, and are often visual interpretations of the incredible imagery of fictional authors, although the techniques often involve close attention to realism, as renowned fantasy artist Maurice Wilson commented that, “great care must be taken over truth to nature to endow the fantasy image with a high degree of realism.” In Pop culture in the 1920’s 2D design brought fantasy art into the form of comics, children’s classics, adult fiction, theatre and movie posters, magazines, video covers and record sleeves. Pulp magazines were of great interest to fantasy artists of the 1920s as the authors of this writing style would only allude to themes of violence, sexuality, submission and torture, creating an air of dramatic tension. 'Weird Tales' was the first of Pulp magazines to involve fantasy and sci-fi content.