Mala Mastroberte Recreates Pulp Fiction Covers

Top pinup model and "James Girl" goes retro to bring to life some classic cover artwork

1936 Spicy Detective Stories 10      1936 Spicy Detective Stories 10 (Mala)

Pinup model extrodinnare Mala Mastroberte often does retro photo shoots that are stunningly accurate. Mala usually does it all herself. As she states in her website bio; “I do everything myself, come up with an idea, I am my own model and photographer, do my own costumes, props, hair and make-up and then I edit the images.” One of the few who has had the honor and privilege of photographing Mala, has been prominent pinup photographer Mike James (featured here), which says a lot for Mike. Above is Mala (on the right, of course) recreating the October 1936 issue of Spicy Detective Stories. What follows are several more examples of Mala bringing classic pulp fiction cover art to life.

1950 True Detective      1950 True Detective (Mala)
The exact year of this June True Detective issue is still unknown, but we will say circa 1955.

     
Flamingo Road by Robert Wilder. Published in 1942, it’s the oldest cover featured here.

Movie Fun      Mala Matroberte - Movie Fun
Not a pulp fiction novel cover, but this recreation of a 1950 cover of the movie fan magazine Movie Fun deserves inclusion nonetheless.

Ripe Fruit      Ripe Fruit - Mala
Ripe Fruit by John McPartland, first published June, 1958.

She Asked for Murder      She Asked for Murder (Mala)
She Asked for Murder by Edna Sherry was first published in January 1959.

If Death Ever Slept      If Death Ever Slept (Mala)
If Death Ever Slept was a 1957 Nero Wolf detective novel by Rex Stout

Widow's Pique      Widow's Pique (Mala)
Widow’s Pique by Blair Treynor was first published in 1956.

Window at the White Cat      Window at the White Cat (Mala)
Even though it was hard to top the look of terror on the face of the cover model for Mary Roberts Rinehart’s 1910 novel,
The Window at the White Cat, Mala not only captured it, she exceeded it.

Man's Adventure      Man's Adventure (Mala)
May 1959 issue of Man’s Adventure magazine. Original artwork by Vic Prezio.

You can see more of Mala and order her personal pinup-related ephemera at her website.
Hat tip to Robert Deis of MensPulpMags.com and Mike James of Azimuth Designs.

About the author

Editor-in-Chief at // More articles

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris flirted with the music business there and in Nashville before joining the U.S. Army and serving in South Korea. He remained in Asia for several years afterwards, teaching English, traveling, and covering the regional entertainment scenes. Currently in a mindset between Seoul and San Francisco, besides Idol Features, you can also catch his writings in the print edition of the monthly magazine, Effective.

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