Frank R. Paul

Frank R. Paul was the founding father of science fiction art, and his work in early pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories helped define the look of the future.  

In 1914, Hugo Gernsback hired Paul to create covers and illustrations for the technical magazine The Electrical Experimenter. Paul later provided all the covers and interior illustrations for Amazing Stories’ first three years, starting in 1926, and went on to do work for a number of other pulps.

Drawing on his architectural training, Paul specialized in enormous cities and vehicles, and his work is known for its bright, basic colors. He painted more than 200 magazine covers as well as countless interior illustrations.  

In 1939, he was guest of honor at the first World Science Fiction Convention. That was the year he also painted the cover of Marvel Comics #1. He continued to be Hugo Gernsback’s go-to artist up to and including Gernsback’s last magazine, Science-Fiction.