A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1882 — 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 · 1882

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281

1882 · Free to read

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

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Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

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Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 281 — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This serial installment, "Denver Doll's Victory; or, Skull and Cross-Bones" by Edward L. Wheeler, features a wild Western action narrative. Denver Doll, a renowned female detective, intercepts a telegraph message revealing a plot by the "Terrible Tribunal"—a criminal organization—to wreck the eastward-bound Union Pacific Express at Devil's Curve for plunder. Racing her horse Colonel along the railroad tracks through a storm, she successfully flags the train to prevent the crash, but is captured by gang members. The train derails anyway, killing numerous passengers and crew. Doll is brought to the gang's mountain hideout, where Captain Crime, the Tribunal's leader, interrogates her after recognizing her identity. Threatened with execution, she is suddenly rescued by Bill Bethel, a ragged ten-year-old boy armed with revolvers, who confronts the desperadoes with determined gunplay.

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