Pulp Artists: Earl Norem — From Men's Mags to Marvel -

Stag Aug. 1973 - Earl Norem — For *Stag* magazine – Aug. 1973

Earl Norem (1924 – 2015) is the bridge between men’s adventure magazines and comic book art. The guy painted for everything pop culture; men’s mags, comic books, pulp paperbacks, movie posters, toy packaging, and even programs for the New York Yankees.

He was born on April 17, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York. During World War II he joined the army and fought with the 85th Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division primarily in Italy where he was wounded.

Earl-Norem-photo-by-Ray-Falcoa-01--- — Earl Norem photo by Ray Falcoa – via menspulpmags.com

After the war, Norem started out almost exclusively for Men’s Adventure Magazines but then went on to illustrate for such projects as Masters of the Universe, Mars Attacks, Spider-Man, Planet of the Apes, The Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, Savage Sword of Conan. As well as package designs for Mattel, Hasbro, and Mego Toys.

Norem retired in 2005 and died ten years later in Danbury Connecticut.

Norem artwork you can buy

civil war battle, NEW YORK ZOUAVES — Civil War Battle, New York Zouaves – Available for purchase on eBay

People often ask us if we know where they can get their hands on any of the artwork we post. Usually, like Mort Künstler, the artist has a website and we’d encourage you to go directly through them. When it comes to Earl Norem there are a few people who collect his stuff, one is a friend of the pulps Rays Art and Comics Collection.

Here’s some of the stuff Ray has, feel free to reach out if you think it’d look good on your wall.

Final Norem — The final product of the sketches above

He’s got a lot of them. Like we said, Ray’s Art and Comics Collection, send him a DM if you’re interested.

From Men’s Mags to Marvel Comics

I was going to break this down by comics vs. men’s mags but I kind of like having the Hulk and Cobra Commander amongst bears swatting nazis and surfer assassins so we’ll just throw them all together.