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.

Home › Exhibition › Pulp Fiction › Read

A complete issue · 16 pages · 1881

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230

1881 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 230 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This serial by C. Dunning Clark depicts a maritime adventure in the Malay Seas. The narrative opens in Shanghai where Captain Harry Castleton, master of the merchant ship Tokio, prepares to sail with Ellen Darrel (daughter of retiring American businessman Mr. Darrel) and her father. The mysterious Captain Manton, a rejected suitor who harbors revenge, confronts them on the Bund before an eccentric American Yankee named Saul Belton intervenes. Belton later reveals himself as part of a vigilante trio—including a tall silent American and a resolute Malay—united against wrongdoing. That night, kidnappers attempt to abduct Ellen, but Belton and his associates repel the attackers. Castleton, grateful, offers passage aboard the Tokio, unaware that Belton suspects the third mate, Will Wescott, may be an impostor connected to his vendetta. The narrative combines maritime adventure with mysteries of identity and hidden motives.

Browse this issue page by page

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