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Home > Artists > Norman Saunders

Norman Saunders

Born: January 1, 1907 | Died: March 7, 1989

Norman Saunders

Biography

Norman Saunders (1907-1989) began his artistic career at age twenty for Fawcett Publications in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. The company is perhaps most famous for their 1939 superhero creation Captain Marvel, published under their Fawcett Comics label. Saunders moved to New York in 1934 where he continued to produce work for Fawcett Comics in publications such as Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, and Strange Stories from Another World, in addition to covers of magazines for other publishers. He also studied professionally for a time at the Grand Central School of Art under legendary illustrator Harvey Dunn.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Saunders’ popularity skyrocketed with the publication of his imaginative and often lurid pulp magazine covers. His style adapted well to all genres of pulp magazines—Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Sex, Detective, and Western. His work adorned hundreds of covers of popular pulp magazines like All Detective, Saucy Stories, Dynamic Adventures, Black Book Detective, Saucy Movie Tales, Eerie Mysteries, Dime Detective, Black Mask, and many more.

As the popularity of pulp magazines began to wane in the post-war period of the late 1940s, Saunders turned to painting covers of paperback books, which he continued into the 1980s. Additionally, he found work painting covers of men’s magazines from 1951 to 1973. A handful of the dozens of titles for which Saunders painted are Blue Book, Climax, Men Today, New Man, and Man’s Story.

In 1958, he began working for The Topps Company, best known for producing trading cards of baseball players. While at Topps, Saunders created or worked on several series including the famous Mars Attacks cards in 1962, Ugly Stickers in 1965, Batman trading cards in 1966, and the popular Wacky Packages line from 1968 to 1976. 

Saunders continued painting until 1984, leaving behind a rich legacy that spanned nearly six decades.

Visit artist's website

Illustrations by Norman Saunders

Cover of “All-Detective Magazine,” October 1933Unknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/all-detective-magazine-cover-october-1933
Cover of “All-Detective Magazine,” January 1935Unknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/all-detective-magazine-cover-january-1935
Cover art for “Variety Detective,” October 1939Unknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/variety-detective-cover-october-1939
Cover art for “Western Story Magazine,” April 8, 1939Steeger Properties, LLChttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/western-story-magazine-cover-april-8-1939
Wacky Packages posterThe Topps Company, Inc.https://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/wacky-packages-poster
Mars Attacks card #32The Topps Company, Inc.https://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/mars-attacks-card-32
Cover art for “Mystery Stories,” August 1950Unknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/mystery-stories-cover
Cover of “Marvel Science Stories,” April/May 1939Unknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/marvel-science-stories-cover
Cover art for “Marvel Science Stories,” April/May 1939Unknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/marvel-science-stories-cover-april-may-1939

Additional Resources

  • Yesterday’s Papers
  • “The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000,” by Walt Reed

Bibliography

Saunders, David. Norman Saunders. St. Louis, MO: The Illustrated Press, Inc., January 20, 2009.

Ellis, Douglas, Ed Hulse, Robert Weinberg. The Art of the Pulps: An Illustrated History. San Diego, CA: IDW Publishing, October 24, 2017.

Robinson, Frank M. and Lawrence Davidson. Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines. Portland, OR: Collectors Press, September 19, 2001.

Genres
  • Advertising
    • Corporate
    • Political and Public Service
    • Product
    • Self-Promotion
  • Books
    • Children’s Books
    • Cover Art
    • Interior Illustration
  • Cartooning
    • Advertising
    • Caricature
    • Political and Editorial
    • Sports
    • Spot
  • Comics
    • Comic Books
      • Manga
    • Comic Strips
  • Decorative & Applied Illustration
    • Info Graphics
    • Murals
    • Portraiture
  • Fantasy
    • Adventure
    • Fairy Tales and Fables
    • Mythology
  • Fashion
    • Advertising
    • Design
  • Graphic Novels
    • Fiction
    • Non-Fiction
    • Visual Memoir and Autobiography
  • Internet Illustration
    • Web Comics
    • Website Illustration
  • Magazine
    • Cover Art
    • Story Illustration
  • Moving Image
    • Animation
    • Concept Art
    • Storyboard
    • Video Game Design
  • Newspaper
  • Non-Commissioned Work
  • Poster
    • Event (Promotional)
    • Film
    • Political
    • Propaganda
    • Travel
  • Product Illustration
    • Album/CD
    • Calendars
    • DVD/VHS/Videogame
    • Greeting Cards
    • Packaging
    • Paper Dolls
    • Postage Stamps
  • Pulp Illustration
    • Pinup Art
    • Pulp Magazines
  • Science Fiction
    • Creatures
    • Outer Space
    • Technology
  • Technical
    • Anatomy
    • Archaeological
    • Architecture
    • Courtroom Drawings
    • Horticulture
    • Mechanical
    • Natural History
Global Perspectives
  • North America
  • Europe
  • Asia
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  • Mort Künstler Mort Künstler
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  • J. Frederick Smith J. Frederick Smith
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  • James Warhola James Warhola
  • Harold von Schmidt Harold von Schmidt
Related Time Periods
  • The Decade 1920-1930 The Decade 1920-1930
  • The Decade 1930-1940 The Decade 1930-1940
  • The Decade 1940-1950 The Decade 1940-1950
  • The Decade 1950-1960 The Decade 1950-1960
  • The Decade 1960-1970 The Decade 1960-1970
  • The Decade 1970-1980 The Decade 1970-1980

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"The great band of illustrators have shown us to ourselves and I am proud to be among their company."
- Norman Rockwell

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