Here’s an insider tip: after you enter a thrift store, go to the book section and scan the spines of the paperbacks. If you see a gleam of silver, pull it off the shelf—you may have a Pocket Book 
in your hands. These early 60s “pb” paperbacks, with their cute little kangaroo logos, are synonymous with good cover art. If you’ve really lucked out, you may have found some great cover art, i.e. anything by Robert McGinnis.
This prolific artist could conjure up a gorgeous, Rat Pack-worthy doll from the flimsiest of pretexts. Paul Drake, Perry Mason’s sidekick, whistled at her as she crossed the street, and that’s the last glimpse we have of any passably attractive dame in The Case Of The Missing Bombshells. She may have crossed the street, strolled down the sidewalk, and so on out of the story, but she’ll still make it to the marquee if McGinnis is in charge, and why would you want to buy a Perry Mason paperback whose cover he hasn’t painted? Boring!
The covers here were all found the old-fashioned way: through much rummaging in the field. Ask Santa for a book called Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis by Art Scott if you haven’t got time for that.
Erle Stanley Gardner wrote a lot, and Robert McGinnis painted a lot.
Page Ten, Issue Two
The Case of the Cool Covers
