A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1881 — 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 · 1881

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196

1881 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

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Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

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Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 196 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This dime novel installment, published by Beadle and Adams in 1881, features "Shadowed; or, Bob Rockett's Fight for Life" by Charles Morris, an installment in the Bob Rockett series. Bob Rockett, a fugitive sought by police for involvement in a bank robbery, hides in the squalid East River apartment of his associate Beau Bink. When police descend on the building searching for him, Bob methodically scouts escape routes while Beau stalls the officers. Police interrogate Beau, revealing they seek Bob for murder—specifically the killing of a woman named Sally Crapper—not merely the bank crime. Though officers search the premises thoroughly, Bob vanishes, apparently slipping past the police through tactics involving the back stairway. The narrative emphasizes Bob's coolness under pressure, resourcefulness, and the contrast between his bearing and his criminal circumstances, alongside Beau's comic, evasive patter.

Browse this issue page by page

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