Allen Anderson

Allen Anderson (January 31, 1908 – October 23, 1995) was an American visual artist of pulp fiction. 

Allen Anderson was born Allen Gustav Anderson on January 31, 1908, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John Bernard Anderson (born 1884, of Swedish ancestry) and Anna M. Lewis (born 1887, of German ancestry.) His father was a professional cook at The Radisson hotel. He had an older brother, Richard Anderson (born 1906). 

Anderson studied correspondence art courses at The Federal Schools of Minneapolis and received his certificate diploma in 1928.

After completing his education, Anderson worked as a staff artist at Fawcett Publications in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1929 to 1939. Working at Fawcett, he met fellow artists Carl Buettner, Ralph Carlson, and Norman Saunders, who strongly influenced Anderson's early painting style—though he soon developed his own distinctive style.

In 1940, Anderson relocated to New York City and painted covers for pulp magazine published by Ace Magazines, Fiction House, Harry Donenfeld, and Martin Goodman.

After marrying his first wife, Aline, in 1942, he joined the US Navy during the Second World War and was an instructor at a naval training camp in Upstate New York, where he taught sign painting. He divorced after the war and resumed his freelance career painting pulp covers.

From 1949 to 1953, Anderson also painted comic book covers for Ziff-Davis.

Anderson created a syndicated comic strip and animated series named "Pinky Pete," based on a character like "Tom Thumb," who lived in the Wild West. Unfortunately, he failed to find any interest in this strip.

Anderson married his first wife, Aline, in 1942. They divorced after Anderson's service in the Second World War.

In 1953, he married his second wife, Joan, and moved to Tillson, New York, where he opened a small advertising agency and sign painter.

Anderson died of heart problems on October 23, 1995, in Kingston, New York. He was 87.