Artist Earle Bergey was born this date, August 26, in 1901. He passed away on September 30, 1952. Bergey’s covers for pulp magazines established the trope of the scantily clad girl (often in a brass bra) being menaced by a BEM (Bug Eyed Monster) while a square-jawed hero comes to her rescue. In other words, stuff that would be considered 100% politically incorrect by certain of today’s standards.
What I want to know is why the men had to wear full spacesuits while the women wore bikinis and fishbowl helmets. I guess the women were just made of tougher stuff back then.
Enough philosophizing. Let’s enjoy some of Earle Bergey’s art.
The “Three B’s” of stf pulp covers: Babe, BEM, and Bum. I don’t think that Bergey created the trope, but he certainly epitomized it.
That he did. 🙂