A complete issue · 32 pages · 1886
Beadle's Dime Library No. 411: The White Crook
A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1886 — all 32 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.
A complete issue · 32 pages · 1886
This is the first installment of "Old Hark's Fortress: A Tale of the Arizona Raid" by Maj. Daniel Boone Dumont, featured in an 1886 Beadle & Adams dime novel. The story opens at Pat Byrne's remote Arizona saloon where several characters converge: Zeke Stebbins, a man with Apache connections who claims to have left that life for mining; two young men; Ephraim Cronkhite, a Michigan missionary intent on aiding Apache peoples and exposing white exploitation; and Hark Sarpy, a bronzed, heavily armed man of commanding presence who emerges from a corner. A heated debate erupts over Apache character and culpability for their recent uprising from San Carlos reservation. Cronkhite argues for Apache victimhood due to land theft and starvation; Sarpy counters that Apaches are inherently savage killers, comparing them to wild beasts. The narrative balances these conflicting perspectives while establishing tension among the assembled characters.
Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.