INTRODUCTION: THE GREAT MYSTERY MAN
He is known among many paperback cover aficionados as the "Great Mystery Man" of the paperbacks because no information about him has ever been published, even though he was prolific and painted many highly recognized covers in the field. He was a pioneer of Good Girl Art in paperbacks in the late 1940s and helped define the Avon look of the late 1940s/ early 1950s, having painted a quarter of their covers in 1950 and 1951, including many of the most collected and reprinted classic covers of the run.
In addition to paperback covers, Johnson painted many illustrations for the Men's Adventure Magazines as well as cartoon animation, newspaper, and advertising art during his career. His total output will probably never be known since information about his pre-WWII career output is as scarce as his biographical information has been.
Much of Johnson's work was unsigned or uncredited in its original publication, and nothing has been published about his life until this article, so his career and works are not well cataloged like Robert Maguire, Rudolph Belarski, or some other of the top collected vintage paperback/pulp artists. But his distinctive faces, of long, thick eye-browed women with high, slightly pudgy cheekbones and hair curled at the bottom, painted with texture and glowing highlights, have stared up alluringly from their covers, entrancing collectors like sirens since collecting paperbacks began.
This story is from the Illustration No. 77 edition of Illustration.
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This story is from the Illustration No. 77 edition of Illustration.
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THE ART OF PAUL BRANSOM
Paul Bransom (1885-1979) was widely known as the Dean of American Animal Artists. His work appeared on the covers of magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and served as illustrations of short stories in periodicals and in books. He provided the illustrations for some 45 books, most notably the 1912 edition of Jack London’s Call of the Wild and the 1913 edition of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.
THE ART OF FRANK MCCARTHY
Witnessing a Wild West show as a young boy was a crucial early influence that led Frank McCarthy to become a distinguished painter of Western historical themes. The excitement and emotion he felt that day stayed with him, and can be seen in the vivid action, color, and splendor that emanate from his paintings.
THE ART OF WARD BRACKETT
Ward Brackett (April 2, 1914–December 14, 2006) was a gifted American illustrator, known for his work in paperback books and periodicals such as Reader’s Digest and Cosmopolitan.
THE ART OF N.C. WYETH
For over 25 years, N.C. Wyeth was regarded as the foremost illustrator of books and magazines in the United States. His artwork for iconic tales of romance and adventure has become synonymous with the stories themselves, familiar to multiple generations of readers. Some of the best-known characters in literature have become nearly indistinguishable from the images he produced.
THE ART OF CHARLES LASALLE
\"We have some artists in the family.\" I didn't know it at the time, but my future father-in-law Aiden E. LaSalle was a master of understatement.
THE ART OF PRUETT CARTER
Pruett Carter was once recognized as one of America's top illustrators, during a time when illustrations were viewed primarily as easel paintings
THE ART OF RAYMOND JOHNSON
Raymond Sven (Ray) Johnson was a commercial illustrator who created iconic paperback book covers spanning all genres of fiction for Avon, Popular Library, Monarch and other publishers from the late 1940s through the early 1960s.
"Blow some my way"
THE DELINEATION OF DESIRE IN 1920s COMMERCIAL ILLUSTRATION
THE ART OF FRITZ WILLIS
Fritz Willis was born in Oklahoma in 1907, and raised in Boston.
THE ART OF WILLIAM OBERHARDT
Illustrator William Oberhardt (1882-1958) was born in Guttenberg, New Jersey, 1882.
