Jongor of Lost Land (cover illustration)
From the Weird Strange Archive
Jongor of Lost Land is an American pulp magazine cover illustration painted in 1940 by artist J. Allen St. John (1872–1957). It served as the front cover for the October 1940 issue of Fantastic Adventures (Vol. 2, No. 8), published by the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company[cite: 1, 4]. The artwork illustrates the issue's lead novella of the same name by Robert Moore Williams and is historically notable for its pivotal commercial impact on the magazine's survival[cite: 1, 4].
Background and PublicationLaunched in May 1939 as an oversized companion to Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures struggled with weak circulation and sustained financial losses throughout its first year. In June 1940, founding editor Raymond A. Palmer reduced the magazine to standard pulp size to cut overhead, but sales continued to falter. By late summer 1940, Ziff-Davis management determined the venture was unprofitable and scheduled the October 1940 issue to be the magazine's final release before cancellation.
To headline the slated final issue, Palmer paired Robert Moore Williams' prehistoric lost-world adventure with a dynamic, full-color cover painted by J. Allen St. John—already celebrated across the industry for his defining visualizations of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and John Carter of Mars novels[cite: 1, 4].
Newsstand Impact and Rescue from CancellationUpon hitting newsstands in the autumn of 1940, the October issue generated an unprecedented commercial turnaround:
Circulation Reversal: Driven by the newsstand appeal of St. John's cover art, the October issue achieved more than double the sales volume of the preceding August 1940 release.
Rescinded Cancellation: The surge in circulation prompted Ziff-Davis executives to immediately reverse their cancellation decision.
Expanded Schedule: Following the sales rebound, the publisher stabilized the publication and transitioned Fantastic Adventures to a regular monthly schedule by May 1941, enabling the title to continue uninterrupted for another 13 years until 1953.
The artwork exemplifies St. John’s classical academic draftsmanship, kinetic monster-versus-hero staging, and rich oil-painting technique[cite: 1, 4]:
The Central Conflict: The composition depicts the loincloth-clad protagonist Jongor mounted astride a charging, bipedal horned dinosaur or prehistoric reptile. Perched atop the beast's back, Jongor aims a drawn bow upward toward a diving, crimson-winged pterosaur swooping from the sky.
Palette and Lighting: Painted in saturated oil pigments, the scene utilizes a glowing yellow-green horizon line, banded purple-gold cloud formations, a deep blue shoreline, and earthy textures across the scales and musculature of the prehistoric creatures[cite: 1, 4].
Trade Dress: The original publication framed the painting beneath the arched red-and-yellow Fantastic Adventures masthead, diagonal teaser text reading "Grim Danger in a Lost World", and the 20¢ newsstand price badge.
The painting visualizes the opening installment of Robert Moore Williams' Jongor series. The story follows an orphaned adventurer raised in an isolated, prehistoric valley within the Australian interior, populated by surviving dinosaurs and lost civilizations. The commercial success of the initial novella and its cover presentation established Jongor as a recurring franchise for the magazine, prompting multiple sequels in subsequent years.