A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1902 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1902

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1126

1902 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1126 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

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About this issue

This serialized narrative follows Joe Bruce, a fourteen-year-old orphan-bound military school graduate from New York. After his uncle's death leaves him and his mother destitute, Joe persuades his mother to let him travel to Texas to seek his fortune as a cowboy, having befriended Walter Duke, whose wealthy cattle-ranching father has promised him employment. The installment depicts Joe's departure and journey to Little Rock, where he encounters a shooting competition for a belt of arms and a prized horse with saddle and bridle. Despite his youth and inexperience with revolvers, Joe wins both contests through exceptional marksmanship learned at New York shooting galleries, earning the nickname "Arizona Joe" through his victories and proving his courage and skill to seasoned frontiersmen. The narrative combines adventure, coming-of-age themes, and frontier shooting matches.

Browse this issue page by page

Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.