A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1894 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

Home › Exhibition › Pulp Fiction › Read

A complete issue · 16 pages · 1894

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880

1894 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 880 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This Beadle and Adams dime novel, "Broadway Billy and the Bomb-Throwers; or, The Detective Queen of Paris" by J. C. Cowdrick, begins with a dramatic historical narrative. Detectives Broadway Billy and Harry Freeman witness the execution of anarchist Auguste Vaillant by guillotine in Paris on February 5th. The detailed, eyewitness account depicts Vaillant's composure before death and his final cry of "Death to the bourgeoisie! Long live Anarchy!" Following the execution, Billy and Harry overhear two bomb-plotting anarchists discussing revenge attacks on Paris. Using a ruse, they infiltrate the anarchist network by posing as sympathetic foreigners, gaining an appointment to meet the conspirators. The story combines sensational true-crime reportage with detective fiction adventure, as the American sleuths pursue investigation into a contemporary European anarchist threat. The narrative exemplifies the period's popular crime-and-espionage pulp formula.

Browse this issue page by page

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