A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1899 — 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 · 1899

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1090

1899 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1090 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

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Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1090 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This issue of Beadle & Adams' pulp weekly, dated June 1892, features a serial detective story titled "Jubilee Joe, the Chain-Lightning Detective; or, The Lamb in the Wolfs Den," credited to multiple authors including E. L. Wheeler, Charles Morris, and others. The narrative begins in Philadelphia during the Centennial celebration of 1876. A beautiful but friendless young woman named Laura Murray arrives by train from Lancaster, only to be robbed of her grip-sack containing her only money and the address of a contact, Mrs. Bradford. Joe Bindley, a resourceful fifteen-year-old street boy and boot-black, witnesses the theft and attempts pursuit. When a man posing as Mrs. Bradford's servant arrives to collect the girl, Joe grows suspicious and attempts to follow their cab, despite being stopped by a policeman. Subsequent investigation through the city directory reveals the "servant" is actually Archibald Gibbs, suggesting the girl has been deliberately lured into danger. The serial appears designed around Joe's detective exploits protecting vulnerable innocents.

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