A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1896 — 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 · 1896

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971

1896 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 971 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This 1896 Beadle and Adams pulp weekly presents Deadwood Dick, Jr.'s, Oath; or, Paradise Park, a western romance by Edward L. Wheeler, author of the Deadwood Dick novels. The tale opens with the hero discovering a burning wagon train massacre in New Mexico's Cottonwood Meadows, where wagons, horses, and bodies burn together. A dying survivor urges Dick to avenge the victims but expires before revealing details. Mysteriously, no tracks lead from the massacre site. Years later, at a New Mexico hotel, Dick recounts the unsolved mystery to fellow guests. A man named Williamson reveals he was asked to investigate the disappearance of Andrew Whitley (matching initials tattooed on the corpse Dick examined), missing for years after striking gold. A letter arrives from Whitley's brother Ryan, dated from a missive five years old, expressing suspicion of foul play and requesting Dick's help, as he now wants "proof" and retribution.

Browse this issue page by page

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