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Saunders was a pulp artist of great talent who worked from the beginning
to the end of an era, then made a smooth transition to the paperbacks.
Born in 1907 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, his introduction to his eventual
profession was a mail order art course. He soon landed ay Fawcett Publications,
where he was employed from 1928-1934.He decided he wanted to become a freelance
pulp artist, moved to New York, and studied under Harvey Dunn at the Grand
Central School of Art. He painted for all the |
| Norm and his kids, 1959 |
publishers and was known for his fast-action scenes,
his beautiful women, and his ability to meet a deadline. He could and did
it all--westerns, weird menace, detective, sports and even the 'saucys'
(under the pen name of Blaine). Some of his finest paintings were in science
fiction: his covers for 'Mystery Adventures'
were imaginative and superb in detail. Even though he was fast, producing
one hundred paintings a year--two a week from 1935 through 1942--they were
complete and without any compromise in quality.
After service in the
Second World War he returned to the pulps, but also tackled paperbacks.
He had pride in his work, loved pulp art, and had no misgivings. Each painting
conformed to his highest standards, and he did the very best work he could
within the time and monetary constraints. Some of his best paintings are
preserved in a pristine state in a collection at Syracuse University. They
were donated by A.A. Wyn of Ace Publications in the 1930's and include
his finest detective. western, and sports covers. The baseball covers are
exciting scenes, using unusual foreshortening and perspective techniques
(for example, a giant foul ball coming straight at the viewer). He had
steady work from 1935 to 1953, when the pulps stopped.
The Topps company employed
Saunders' talents for their line of bubble gum cards. The artist created
the art for one of the most successful nonsport-card sets in history: Mars
Attacks, in 1962. They were so "successful" that letters of protest poured
in from parents, and Topps had to use a different brand name. An original
set today cost thousands. His Wacky Packs cards were even more of a winner:
the series lasted from 1970-1977, making millions for Topps. |
