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.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1894

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886

1894 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 886 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This Beadle and Adams weekly (No. 886, 1894) features "The Prodigy of Paradise Park" by Jo Pierce, serialized across multiple chapters. The story concerns Curly Kell (nicknamed Cobwebs for his extreme thinness), a young janitor at the Happy Haven, a twenty-cent lodging house in New York's Five Points neighborhood. Monk Merry, a ragged man, arrives with George Washington, a small boy—their relationship suggesting hidden purposes. Merry watches lodgers carefully, indicating past troubles. A swarthy, French-speaking stranger enters seeking quiet lodging, appearing fearful and asking suspicious questions about privacy. The narrative builds intrigue around Merry's guardianship of the boy and the mysterious foreigner's arrival, establishing a thriller within the impoverished urban setting.

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