Ron Lesser

This article is about the American artist. For other uses, see Ron Lesser (disambiguation) .

Ron Lesser
Ron Lesser by David Lesser in New York
Born	1941 Manhattan, New York
Notable work	Ryan's Daughter High Plains Drifter Carter Brown Mysteries Zardoz

Ron Lesser (born 1941) is a Manhattan-born illustrator and painter that specializes in paperback covers, comic books, magazines, and film posters. From 1976-1991, Ron was among the premier illustrators, contributing painted book covers for publishers like Doubleday, Dell, Avon, Bantam, Fawcett, and Pyramid.

In 2002, Lesser began a four-year commission as one of the top military artists in America, creating artwork for Civil War Publications and exhibitions at the Gettysburg National Museum, National Civil War Museum, and the Gettysburg Frame Shop & Gallery. In recognition of his work, Lesser has received recognition from The Society of Illustrators and the Art Directors Club of New York. ^[1]

Early life & Education

Born in Manhattan in 1941, Lesser was an only child. When he was around age 9 he discovered comic book drawings and gravitated to the mid 20th century cartoonists like Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon), Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates), and Al Capp (Li'l Abner). Around the age of 12, Lesser began drawing comics and later graduated from New York City's High School of Music & Art before studying one semester at the Pratt Institute in New York in 1958. Shortly after leaving Pratt, Lesser enrolled in the Art Students League of New York (ASL) and solely studied for four years under Frank J. Reilly, a teacher of drawing, painting, and illustration. ^[2] There, Reilly taught the tradition and techniques of the French Fine Arts Academy of the 19th and 20th centuries while also offering several publisher-sponsored contests for students to join. Two Western paintings Lesser did while he was a Riley student became his first paperback covers. One was used on one side of the Ace Books Double Lead In His Fists (D-276 WE, 1958) by Tom West. The second, a Riley contest winner, was used for the Berkley Books paperback War Country (G433, 1960) by William O. Turner. ^[3]

Career

Shortly after departing the Art Students League of New York, Lesser joined the Fredman-Chaite Studios. The renowned agency would commission advertising representatives to secure illustration assignments for artists. This editorial work consisted of illustrating magazines, newspapers, paperback covers, and ad art. Due to the rise of photography, the studio was driven out of business. ^[4]

Lesser was a prolific illustrator between 1976 through 1991. He painted several thousand paperback covers while simultaneously creating movie art and advertising illustrations. ^[5] In the 1980s, Lesser made several hundred covers for Harlequin Enterprises' romance paperbacks. ^[6] In the 2000s, Lesser created paintings inspired by the American Civil War. In the 2010s, Lesser created paintings celebrating polo horses and their riders, pop art from his successful Marilyn Monroe series, and became affiliated with a major celebrity and sports marketing and branding company to illustrate athletes like Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle, and Muhammad Ali. ^[7]

Film

1960s

One of Lesser's earliest involvements with the film industry was a movie poster, poster art, and b&w press kit for the 1964 film The Americanization of Emily starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, and James Coburn. ^[8] Two years later, Lesser painted the theatrical poster for the Mauro Bolognini and Mario Monicelli comedy Queens, starring Raquel Welch. ^[9]

Lesser was involved with preliminary artwork for the 1967 United Artists theatrical film The Way West (film) . Although the painting was never used for the film, Lesser was still paid for his work. ^[10] Also in 1967, Lesser painted movie posters for two comedy films, the Italian Spoof film O.K. Connery , released in the U.S. as Operation Kid Brother, and Three Bites of the Apple , a 1967 American romantic comedy.

In 1968, the Len Deighton novel Only When I Larf was adapted into a Paramount Global film of the same name with Lesser's painted theatrical poster. Lesser followed a year later with a painted theatrical film poster for the Paramount Pictures distributed film Paint Your Wagon (film) .

1970s

While at his agent's office, Lesser saw artists making sketches for the 1970 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Ryan's Daughter . He submitted two paintings to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer advertising the film and the studio purchased both. That same year, Lesser created a print ad art for the Columbia Pictures film There's a Girl in My Soup starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. ^[11]

In 1972, Lesser painted movie posters for the Clint Eastwood film Joe Kidd for Eastwood's Malpaso Productions. and the The Revengers (film) , distributed by National General Pictures. ^[12]

1973 was a productive year for Lesser's film artwork. He painted two iconic western movie posters, the iconic Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter in 1973. ^[13] and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid . ^[14] Also the same year, Lesser painted movie posters for the crime film Lady Ice starring Donald Sutherland. ^[15] and Massacre in Rome , an adaptation of the 1967 Robert Katz novel Death in Rome. ^[16]

Lesser painted the theatrical poster for the 1974 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) film Zardoz . The painting was awarded the best movie art of the year from the Art Directors Club of New York. ^[17] That same year, Lesser painted the poster for the French film L'amour a la bouche, released in America as Mannequin. ^[18]

Comics

In 2012, Ron Lesser painted the pulp hero Spider (pulp fiction character) for the Dynamite Entertainment covers of The Spider #1, #2, #3 (May-July 2012) ^[19]

Lesser's 2014 painting Sin City: A Dame to Kill For ^[20] features actress Rosario Dawson as the character Grail. The painting was featured in the Dark Horse Comics limited series A Dame to Kill For .

Lesser paired with Titan Publishing Group for the first issue of the Max Allan Collins title Quarry's War (Nov. 2017). The artist was featured in the story "The Beginnings of Quarry" alongside iconic artist Robert McGinnis ^[21] .

The Exclusive Jetpack/Forbidden Planet variant for the Dynamite Entertainment title Bettie Page (Nov. 2018), based on the celebrity Bettie Page, was painted by Lesser. ^[22]

The first issue of the Dynamite Entertainment title Charlie's Angels vs The Bionic Woman (July 2019) features Ron Lesser's painted cover on Variant C ^[23] and Variant E. ^[24]

After his submission of artwork used on the Charlie's Angels vs The Bionic Woman comic, the individual manager of Dynamite Entertainment reached out to Lesser for an art piece for their Red Sonja comic issues. In "The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 2: Dangerous Dames and Cover Dolls", edited by Robert Deis, Bill Cunningham and David Zimmer, Lesser explained his limited involvement in the series:

"I made a painting of her with a big axe and he liked it, but it didn't end up being used. I liked it, too, though and it sold pretty well quickly through an online art site. Since then, I've done several other Red Sonja paintings." ^[25]

Books

In 1959, as Lesser was honing his craft, he was hired by Midwood Books to paint the first published novel by the acclaimed crime-fiction author Donald E. Westlake, the creator and writer of the iconic heist-fiction series Parker (Stark novels character) . ^[26] That same year, Lesser painted the cover for iconic crime-fiction and mystery writer John D. MacDonald's paperback The Crossroads, published by Fawcett Publications imprint Crest Books. ^[27] Lesser used models Steve Holland (actor), Lisa Karan, and his wife, Claudia Lesser. ^[28]

1950s

Year	Title	Publisher	Number
1959	All My Lovers	Midwood	15
1959	Crossroads, The	Crest	S400
1959	Lead in His Fists	Ace	D-276
1959	Long Dream, The	Ace	K-100

In the 1960s, Lesser was hired by publishers like Berkley Books, Lancer Books, Avon (publisher), Midwood Books, Dell Publishing, Pyramid Books (now Jove Books), and Fawcett Publications to paint paperback covers. ^[29]

The 60s aligned Lesser with three best-selling fiction series titles, Shell Scott by Richard Prather ^[30] ,Johnny Liddell by Frank Kane (author), ^[31] and Travis McGee by John D. MacDonald. ^[32] Additionally, Lesser was commissioned by Lancer Books to paint two covers for the Steve Bentley series, authored by Watergate scandal conspirator E. Howard Hunt, a former officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who experienced success as a mystery and spy-fiction author from the 1940s through the 1990s. ^[33] Lesser also painted for the popular Carter Brown mysteries. ^[34]

1960s

Year	Title	Publisher	Number
1960	Concerning a Woman of Sin	Crest	S410
1960	So Willing	Midwood	48
1960	War Country	Berkley	G433
1960	Deadly Doll (Peter Chambers)	Zenith	ZB-19
1961	Name is Malone, The	Pyramid	G-671
1961	Seven Slaughters (Shell Scott)	Fawcett	T2613
1962	Bride of Fu Manchu (Fu Manchu)	Pyramid	F-761
1962	Diary of Love	Pyramid	F793
1962	Crazy to Kill	MacFadden	50-363
1962	Crime of Their Life (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	1557
1962	Curtains for a Lover (Steve Bentley)	Lancer	71-311
1962	Into the Forest	MacFadden	60-111
1962	Make Me an Offer	Berkley	Y635
1962	Mask of Fu Manchu (Fu Manchu)	Pyramid	F-740
1962	My Body (Steve Bentley)	Lancer	70-010
1962	Name is Jordan (Scott Jordan)	Pyramid	F-720
1962	Never Love a Call Girl	Midwood	F205
1963	Bats Fly at Dusk (Cool & Lam)	Dell	0476
1963	City Limits (Mike Macauley)	Pyramid	F-887
1963	Diana	Lancer	72-667
1963	Fifth Wife	Pyramid	R-942
1963	Hearse Class Male (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	3528
1963	Her Own Kind	New Chariot Library	6C-635
1963	It's Different Abroad	Avon	G1279
1963	Johnny Come Lately (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	4246
1963	Never Give a Millionaire an Even Break (Peter Chambers)	Lancer	70-048
1963	Rind-a-Ding-Ding (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	1963
1963	Strange Friends	Pyramid
1963	Wary Transgressor, The	Panther
1964	Barely Seen (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	D458
1964	Ben Gates is Hot <Ben Gates)	Dell	0534
1964	Bitter Conquest	Ballantine	U5013
1964	Bombshell (Honey West)	Pyramid	R-1106
1964	Catch a Falling Spy	MacFadden	60-168
1964	Death on Scurvy Street	Popular Library	60-2336
1964	Deep Blue Good-By (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	R2025
1964	Fatal Undertaking (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	2489
1964	Final Curtain (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	2522
1964	Grand Canary	Pyramid	R-1021
1964	Guilt Edged Frame, The (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	3289
1964	Headed for a Hearse	MacFadden	50-221
1964	Nightmare in Pink (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	d1682
1964	Only on Tuesdays	Dell	6680
1964	Purple Place for Dying, A (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	d1826
1965	April Robin Murders, The	Dell	D264
1965	Bare Trap (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	D456
1965	Blue Mascara Tears	Ballantine	U2239
1965	Bright Orange for the Shroud (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	D1573
1965	Esprit de Corpse (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	2409
1965	Freakshow	MacFadden	60-219
1965	Girl in the Topless Suit	Pyramid	1965
1965	Love Lush, The	Pyramid	1965
1965	Make My Bed Soon	Avon	G1277
1965	Of All the Bloody Cheek	Ballantine	U5023
1965	Syndicate Girl	Dell	8454
1965	Two to Tangle (Johnny Liddell)	Dell	9213
1965	Which the Justice, Which the Thief	Avon	S199
1966	Beast in the Bedroom	Private Edition
1966	Beat Not the Bones	Avon	G1281
1966	Beware the Curves	Pocket	55949
1966	Clio	All Star	AS-118
1966	Darker Than Amber (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	D1674
1966	Darkest Urge, The	Private Edition
1966	Dead in Bed (Peter Chambers	Lancer	72-115
1966	Death and Circumstance	Avon	G1288
1966	Demon Tower, The	Signet	D3044
1966	Echo in a Dark Wind	Signet	D2931
1966	Fistful of Death (Fistful of Death)	Signet	D2825
1966	French Doll, The	S215
1966	Girl from Havana	All Star	AS112
1966	Is There a Traitor in the House	Avon	G1283
1966	Mistress, The (Al Wheeler)	Signet	D2996
1966	Never Give a Millionaire an Even Break (Peter Chambers)	Lancer (Unauthorized	72-116
1966	One Fearful Yellow Eye (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	D1848
1966	Operation Atlantis (Counterspy)	Berkley	F1239
1966	Pleasure Island	Signet	D2892
1966	Quick Red Fox, The (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	M2828
1966	Season for Violence, A	Fawcett	D1676
1966	Spoils of the Victors, The	MacFadden	95-108
1966	Target for Their Dark Desire (Al Wheeler)	Signet	D3017
1966	Temptress, The (Al Wheeler)	Signet	D2898
1966	Virgin Luck	Avon	G1295
1967	Crucible	Popular Library	75-1262
1967	Dead Heat (Shell Scott)	Pocket	50519
1967	Dragon Hunt	Signet	P3203
1967	Intrusion, The	Signet	P3290
1967	Kubla Khan Caper, The (Shell Scott)	Pocket	50535
1967	Lament for a Lousy Lover (Al Wheeler)	Signet	D3162
1967	Shaking Shadow, The	Signet	P3186
1967	Tigress,The (Al Wheeler)	Signet	D3212
1968	Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	M2430
1968	Isle for a Stranger	Ace	H-71
1968	Lost Isobel	Signet	P3597
1968	Million Dollar Babe, The (Mike Farrel)	Signet	D3636
1968	Mist at Darkness, The	Signet	Q6138
1968	Pale Gray for Guilt (Travis McGee)	Fawcett	D1893
1968	Secrets of Hillyard House	Paperback Library	54-761
1968	Target for Their Dark Desire (Al Wheeler)	Four Square Crime	2129
1969	Alaska Steel (John Fargo)	Belmont	B60-1068
1969	Boarding House	MacFadden	60-419
1969	Cheim Manuscript, The (Shell Scott)	Pocket	75662
1969	Count Me In	MacFadden	60-377
1969	Ever-Loving Blues, The	Signet	D3722
1969	Fargo (John Fargo)	Belmont	B60-1056
1969	Honey	Ballantine	01793
1969	House of Stolen Memories	Lancer	74-575
1969	Island Players, The	Curtis	502-07124-075
1969	Kill Me Tomorrow	Pocket	55030
1969	Kings in Winter, The	Picket	75380
1969	Man-Chaser	MacFadden	60-408
1969	Panama Gold (John Fargo)	Belmont	B60-1058
1969	Shell Scott Sampler, The (Shell Scott)	Pocket	55028
1969	Superdoll	Award	A427X
1969	Third Spectre, The	MacFadden	60-395
1969	Touch of Fear, A	Signet	P3807
1969	When Debbie Dared	Golden Griffon	5654

Some of Lesser's most notable work is his western covers of the Buchanan series using model Steve Holland (actor). Lesser took over the bulk of the series' paperback cover illustrations in 1971 after the departure of the series' regular artist, Lu Kimmel. Also, using Steve Holland (actor) as the model, Lesser painted covers for the early installments of the Ben Haas western series Fargo. ^[35]

Beginning in 1970, Lesser began painting covers for the sexy Tower Publications spy series The Lady from L.U.S.T., authored by multiple Alley Awards winner and DC Comics staple Gardner Fox. In 1973, Lesser started painting covers for a police procedural series starring popular fictional series character Los Angeles Police Department Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza, authored by Elizabeth Linington using the pseudonym Dell Shannon. ^[36]

Other notable work Lesser paperback paintings in the 1970s include series titles like Renegade, Sam Durrell, Cherry Delight, and Dan Fortune. ^[37] Lesser used models Steve Holland (actor), Lisa Karan, and his wife, Claudia Lesser. ^[38]

1970s

Year	Title	Publisher	Number
1970	69 Pleasures, The (Lady from L.U.S.T., The)	Tower	43-912
1970	Apache Raiders (John Fargo, Partial)	Belmont	B60-2004
1970	Arizona	Ballantine	02076
1970	Behold the Upright	Apollo	00104
1970	Bright to the Wanderer	Popular	95-154
1970	Bugle and Spur	Ballantine	02077
1970	Forked Tongue	Ballantine	01819
1970	Fort Starvation	Bantam
1970	Galloway	Bantam	10795X
1970	Heller with a Gun	Fawcett	D2031
1970	Judgment Trail	Ballantine	02311
1970	Lust, Be a Lady Tonight	Belmont Tower	50516
1970	Man from Robber's Roost	Pocket	55108
1970	Morgan	Paperback Library	63-423
1970	Nevermore Affair, The	Curtis	123-07011-075
1970	Of Good and Evil	Ballantine	01850-8-095
1970	Ransome Castle	Apollo	103
1970	Reach for Gold	Pyramid
1970	Santa Fe Passage	Bantam	H5540
1970	Season of Vengeance	Bantam	14741
1970	Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light	Pocket	77187
1970	Steel Web, The	Bantam
1970	Tall Men, The	Bantam	N8716
1970	Tough Bullet (Carmody)	Belmont	B60-2021
1970	Trouble with Lazy Ethel	Ballantine	01851
1970	Victorian Crown, The	Belmont	B75-2042
1970	Whip, The	Bantam	H5512
1971	Buchanan Gets Mad (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	D2546
1971	Buchanan's War (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	R2396
1971	Fannin	Belmont	B75-2109
1971	His Majesty's Yankee	Popular Library	95-202
1971	House of Deadly Calm	Apollo
1971	In the Company of Eagles	Ballantine
1971	Majority of Scoundrels, A	Ballantine	02571-7-125
1971	Mohave Crossing	S6756
1971	Rustler's Rock	Pocket
1971	Sagebrush Swindle	Pocket
1971	Twilight for the Gods	Ballantine	02143-6-095
1972	Assignment Ankara (Sam Durell)	Fawcett	T2599
1972	Avengers, The	Ballantine
1972	Bayou Guns	Pyramid	445-01629-075
1972	Buchanan's Gamble (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	T2656
1972	Decoy, The	Fawcett	T2588
1972	Italian Connection, The (Cherry Delight	Leisure	LB106Z K
1972	Land is Bright, The	Ballantine	02347-1-125
1972	One-Man Massacre (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	T2597
1972	Ranger Rides the Death Trail, A (Walt Slade)	Pyramid
1972	Trail Ends at Hell, The	Belmont Tower	50294
1972	Trap for Buchanan (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	T2579
1973	Alaska Steel (John Fargo)	Belmont	BT50550
1973	Amos Flagg: High Gun (Amos Flagg)	Belmont Tower	K1596
1973	Big Kiss-Off, The	Triphammer (Unauthorized)
1973	Beds to Mecca (Lady from L.U.S.T., The)	Belmont Tower	BT50566
1973	Buchanan on the Prod (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	P3472
1973	Buchanan's Siege (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	1-3786-4
1973	Case of the Brazen Beauty (Pete Selby)	50592
1973	Alaska Steel (John Fargo)	Belmont	50550
1973	Horror at Gull House	Belmont Tower	50522
1973	Indian Killer, The	Belmont Tower	50519
1973	Kiss My Assassin (Lady from L.U.S.T., The)	Belmont Tower	50594
1973	Last Place God Made, The	Fawcett	Q2758
1973	Lay Me Odds (Lady from L.U.S.T., The)	Belmont Tower
1973	Ringer, The (Luis Mendoza)	Belmont Tower	50517
1973	Slavers, The (Carmody)	Leisure	LB12JNK
1973	South of the Bordello (Lady from L.U.S.T., The)	Belmont Tower	BT50582
1973	Unexpected Death (Luis Mendoza)	Belmont Tower	50501
1973	Wildcatters, The (John Fargo)	Belmont	BT50583
1974	Destructors, The	Ballantine	24190
1974	Ever After	Popular Library	445-00226-095
1974	Judas Cross	Avon	36426
1974	Kilrone	Bantam	20882-9
1974	Mad River	Fawcett	d1871
1974	No Holiday for Crime (Luis Mendoza)	Belmont Tower	50639
1974	Whim to Kill (Luis Mendoza)	Belmont	50756
1974	Zardoz	Signet	451-Q5830
1975	After the Last Race	Fawcett Crest	Q2650
1975	Buchanan Calls the Shots (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	M3429
1975	Emerald Canyon	Belmont Tower	50809
1975	Sixth Directorate, The (Peter Marlow)	Fawcett Crest	2-2938-6
1975	Skirmish	Fawcett	Q2867
1976	Black Work	Signet	451-E7538
1976	Guns of the Timberlands	Bantam	Q2281
1976	Catch a Rising Star	Fawcett	1-3636-1
1977	Assignment Zoraya (Sam Durell)	Fawcett	1-4184-5
1977	Buchanan's Texas Treasure	Fawcett	1-3812-7
1977	Neutron Two	Avon	35089
1977	War in Sandoval County	Bantam	12691
1978	Assassin, The	Berkley
1978	Comes a Horseman	Dell	11509
1978	Crazy in Berlin (Carlo Reinhart)	Ballantine	27173
1978	First Campaign	Bantam
1978	No Laughing Matter	Ace Tempo
1978	Pleasant Places	Fawcett	2-3769-9
1978	Reinhart in Love	Ballantine	27174
1978	Vital Parts	Ballantine	27175
1978	Walk a Black Wind (Dan Fortune)	Playboy Press	16478
1979	Bad Lands, The	Fawcett
1979	Blood Runner (Renegade)	Warner
1979	Buchanan's Manhunt (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	1-4119-5
1979	Death List	Dell	11841
1979	Death Tide	Jove
1979	Forest Things	Dell	12593
1979	Forever Sophia: An Intimate Portrait	Baronet
1979	Great Silver Bonanza, The	Fawcett	1-4202-7
1979	King Jaguar	Fawcett
1979	Lure of the Outlaw Trail	Ballantine
1979	Only For Today	Ace	63090-1
1979	Renegade (Renegade)	Warner
1979	Shadow of the Wolf	Ballantine
1979	Showdown at Cibecue Creek	Ace
1979	Zinsser Implant, The	Dell	19889

1980s

Year	Title	Publisher	Number
1980	Chesapeake Cavalier	Charter	10345
1980	Cover Stories	Dell	11522
1980	Death Hunter (Renegade)	Warner	94-233
1980	Down River	Dell	11830
1980	Fear Merchant (Renegade)	Warner	94-161
1980	Fort Starvation	Bantam	14180
1980	Foxbat Spiral, The	Dell	12582-2
1980	Hunting Shack, The	Dell	13300
1980	Islands	Dell	13402
1980	Last Liberator	Dell	15071
1980	Outlaw	Bantam	10727
1980	Red-12	Dell	17429
1980	Searchers, The	Ace	75692
1980	Traitor Blitz, The	Popular Library
1980	Unforgiven, The	Ace
1981	Above Suspicion	Fawcett
1981	Armageddon Game	Dell
1981	Crossfire Trail	Ace	12280
1981	Day of Wrath	Dell	0440-11898-0
1981	Debt of Honor	Dell	19156
1981	Earhart Betrayal, The	Popular Library
1981	Hunter Equation, The	Dell
1981	Kilrone	Bantam
1981	Last Liberator, The	Dell	14321
1981	Luciano's Luck	Dell	14321
1981	Marchand Woman, The	Berkley	0-425-04731-8
1981	On Wings of Fire	Dell
1981	Santa Fe Passage	Bantam	14540
1981	Season of Vengeance	Bantam	14741-2
1981	Slade's Glacier	Dell	18441
1981	Solstice Cipher, The	Dell	18096
1981	Web, The	Dell	19440
1991	Bloody Border	Dell	21031-3
1994	South Will Rise Again, The	Dell	21045-3
1982	Arizona Fancy Lady (Spur McCoy, Unauthorized)	Leisure
1982	Bent Star, The	Tower	51843
1982	Buchanan's Revenge (Tom Buchanan)	Fawcett	1-4179-9
1982	Cathedral	Dell
1982	Debt of Honor	Dell
1982	High Plains Temptress (Spur McCoy, Unauthorized)	Leisure	1123
1982	Luciano's Luck	Dell	14321
1982	Night-Wind	Dell	15757
1982	When Dragons Dance	Avon	79145
1983	All Things in Their Season	Dell	10057
1983	Flight of the Falcon	Fawcett Crest	0-499 20271-2
1983	Free Woman, The	Dell
1983	Moonlight Splendor	Harlequin Superromance	HS-81
1983	Osprey Dilemma, The	Dell	16159
1983	Outback, The	Dell
1983	Pioneers, The	Signet	451-AE2274
1983	Press Lord, The	Dell	17080
1983	Queen's Messenger, The	Dell
1983	Scorpion's Sting, The	Dell	17872
1983	Serengeti Sunrise	Harlequin Superromance	HS-92
1983	Barrabas Run, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1983	Worldly Goods	Bantam
1984	Armageddon Conspiracy (Track	Gold Eagle
1984	Atrocity (Track)	Gold Eagle
1984	Butchers of Eden (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1984	Colonists (Australians, The)	Dell
1984	Delta Nights	Harlequin Superromance	HS-145
1984	Hard Way, The (Track)	Gold Eagle
1984	Ninety-Nine, The (Track)	Gold Eagle
1984	Plains of Fire (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1984	Show No Mercy (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1984	To Catch the Wind	Harlequin Superromance	HS-118
1984	Triangles of Fire	Dell
1984	Wild Seed	Zebra-Kensington
1985	Eye of the Fire (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1985	Gulag War (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1985	Red Hammer Down (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1985	River of Flesh (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1985	Some Choose Hell (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1985	Tyler's Woman	Avon
1985	Vultures of the Horn (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1986	Agile Retrieval (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1986	Death Deal (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1986	Firestorm U.S.A. (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1986	Goodly Heritage	Ballantine	32999
1986	Jihad (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1986	No Sanctuary (SOBs)	Gold Eagle	61613
1986	Point Blank (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1986	Wildcat Summer	Harlequin Superromance	HR-218
1987	Alaska Deception (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1987	Bandini Affair, The (Benny Freedman)
1987	Black Market	Pocket	63921-8
1987	Cover	Warner	30245-7
1987	Kremlin Devils (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1987	Live Girls	Pocket	62628-0
1987	Night of the Fox	Pocket
1987	No Safe Place (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1987	Price, The	Fawcett	13129-7
1987	Sakhalin Breakout (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1987	Skyjack (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1987	Whole Truth, The	Harlequin Superromance	HS-280
1988	Alpha Bug	Pocket	63668-5
1988	Banshee	Worldwide Library
1988	Barrabas Creed, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1988	Barrabas Edge, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1988	Barrabas Fallout, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1988	Barrabas Fix, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1988	Barrabas Raid, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1988	Battle Stations	Signet
1988	Crucifax	Pocket	62629-9
1988	Diamond Spur	Popular Library	20514-8
1988	Directive Sixteen	Pocket
1988	Graveyard Rules	Pocket
1988	Hour of the Fox	Signet
1988	Man with a Gun	Pocket
1988	No Lesser Plea	Signet
1988	Pacific Payload (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1988	Rampage	Pocket	64852-7
1989	Barrabas Fire, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1989	Barrabas Heist, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1989	Barrabas Hit, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1989	Barrabas Kill, The (SOBs)	Gold Eagle
1989	Barrabas Thrust, The (SOBs	Gold Eagle
1989	Camelot Jones	Avon	0-380-75589-0
1989	Cannibal, The (Joe Ryker
1989	Day of Judgment	Pocket	72772-9
1989	Death Squad, The (Joe Ryker)
1989	Eagle Has Landed (Liam Devlin)	Pocket
1989	Favored Child, The	Pocket
1989	Hammer of God, The
1989	Night of the Phoenix
1989	Promises	Warner
1989	Run to Morning, The	Pocket
1989	Royal Treatment, The	Harlequin
1989	Smack Man, The	Pocket	63212-4
1989	Storm Warning	Pocket
1989	Tangled Murders	Pocket
1989	Waves of Glory	Popular Library	20731-09

1990s

Year	Title	Publisher	Number
1990	Billy Bathgate	Harper & Row	0-06-100007-8
1990	Blind Side	Signet
1990	Blood Sisters	Pocket	67399-8
1990	Final Cut, The	Bantam
1990	Immediate Prospect of Being Hanged	Onyx
1990	Naked Heart, The	Dell
1990	Night Hawk, The (Floating Outfit	Dell
1990	Season in Hell, A (Tony Villiers)	Pocket
1990	Tides of Valor, The	Mysterious Press
1990	Time of the Wolf
1990	Bone Orchard, The	Signet	451-AE7014
1991	Captain Butterfly	Signet
1991	Flowers of Betrayal	Onyx	451-JE247
1991	True Colors	Warner	36115-1
1992	Blood Confessions	Dell
1992	Judas Kiss, The	Signet	451-AE7319
1992	Power and Glory	Dell
1993	Alternate Oscars	Delta
1993	Mafia Wars	Onyx
1993	Nebraska Crossing (Rails West!)	Jove	0-515-11205-4
1993	Rails West! (Rails West!)	Jove	0-515-11099-X
1993	Sheikh's Revenge, The	Harlequin
1993	Stranger in the Mist	Silhouette	2-7003-1
1993	Texas Fury (Ole Devil)	Dell	21044-5
1993	Wealth and Passion	Dell
1994	Dark Fire (Too Hot to Handle)	Harlequin	1735
1994	Saint Mudd	Penguin
1994	Wyoming Territory (Rails West!)	Jove
1996	Devious Desire	Harlequin	1827
1996	Exocet (Tony Villiers)	Pocket
1997	Confessional (Liam Devlin)	Pocket
1997	Scandalous Bride	Harlequin	1936

2000+

Year	Title	Publisher	Number
2001	Going Home (Barnaby Skye	Forge
2001	West to Comanche County	Force
2009	Honey in His Mouth	Hard Case Crime
2010	Nobody's Angel	Hard Case Crime
2011	Quarry in the Middle (Quarry)	Hard Case Crime
2012	Complete Slayers, The	Centipede Press
2016	Man Drowning	Centipede Press
2017	Lenient Beast, The	Centipede Press
2017	Wench is Dead	Centipede Press
2022	Quarry's Blood (Quarry)	Hard Case Crime

Magazines

All Years

Year-Month	Magazine	Story	Placement
1963-Apr.	Man's Magazine	"38"	Interior
1963-Nov.	Argosy	"Murder Caribbean Style"'	Interior
1963-Dec.	True Adventures	"Passion Girl"	Interior
1964-Apr.	Argosy	"The Moonshiners"	Interior
1970-Oct.	Guy (Unauthorized)		Cover
1970-Dec.	Adventure	"Bush Happy"	Cover & Interior
1973-Aug.	Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine		Cover
2000-Spring/Summer	Cigar Smoker Magazine	"Hidden Assets"

The Art of Ron Lesser

A series of full color books celebrating Ron Lesser's prolific career is being co-edited and published by pulp culture historian Robert Deis and book designer Bill Cunningham. The books were designed by Cunningham (Pulp 2.0 Press) for Deis' Subtropic Productions imprint.

The first volume, The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens, published in 2023, showcases paperback cover, magazine and movie poster artwork created by the artist from 1959 through 1979. The book also includes an extensive interview with Lesser conducted by vintage paperback expert J. Kingston Pierce covering the artist's career, painting techniques, and the various models and publishers he utilized for his vivid paintings. ^[39]

The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 2: Dangerous Dames and Cover Dolls was published in 2024. It features scores of original paintings of sexy real and fictional women Ron has created in recent decades, including Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Brigitte Bardot, Vampirella and Red Sonja. Lesser Vol. 2 also includes an introduction by Daniel Zimmer, editor of Illustration Magazine, and a Foreword by the popular comic book and book cover artist Joe Jusko.

External Links

Ron Lesser Official Website

References

1. Lesser, Ron. "About Ron Lesser". POVonline. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
2. ""Blood Sisters, Paperback Cover"". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
3. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Kingston Pierce, J. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 9-16
4. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 2: Dangerous Dames and Cover Dolls. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2024, p. 13
5. Lesser, Ron (February 20, 2015). "About Ron Lesser". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
6. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Kingston Pierce, J. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 20
7. Lesser, Ron (February 20, 2015). "About Ron Lesser". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
8. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Kingston Pierce, J. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 128
9. Edwards, Greg. "Queens". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
10. Lesser, Ron (September 28, 2017). "What History Has Taught Me: Ron Lesser". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
11. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 14,135
12. "Movie and Television Ads/ Theatrical". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
13. Allison, Darren (May 15, 2017). "Alternative High Plains Drifter artwork design by Ron Lesser". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
14. Boggs, Johnny (January 26, 2018). "Ron Lesser: Artist Gone West". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
15. Shannon, Eddie (February 12, 2022). "Lady Ice / 30×40 / USA". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
16. "Movie and Television Ads/ Theatrical". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
17. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 127
18. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 137
19. Ammerlaan, Boris. "The Spider (2012 series)". POVonline. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
20. Lesser, Ron (2019). "Movie and Television Ads / Theatrical". POVonline. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
21. Daly, Shad. "Quarry's War #1 [Cover A]". POVonline. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
22. Nielsen, Mike. "Bettie Page #1 [Exclusive Jetpack/Forbidden Planet]". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
23. "Charlie's Angels vs. The Bionic Woman #1". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
24. Ammerlaan. "Charlie's Angels vs. The Bionic Woman #1 [Cover E Virgin Art Ron Lesser]". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
25. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 2: Dangerous Dames and Cover Dolls. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2024, p. 66
26. Kingston Pierce, J (June 5, 2018). "The Lesser Look: "All my Lovers"". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
27. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Kingston Pierce, J. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 28-29
28. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 34
29. Lesser, Ron (February 20, 2015). "List of Publications, Agencies, and Galleries". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
30. "The Shell Scott Sampler". POVonline. April 22, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
31. Deeck, William (June 9, 2009). "THE BACKWARD REVIEWER". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
32. Scott, Steve (May 2, 2016). "The Look of Travis McGee". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
33. Kingston Pierce, J (June 10, 2023). "The Lovely Ladies of Lesser's Life". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
34. "ON LESSER (American, 20th Century). The Mistress, Carter Brown paperback cover, 1965. Gouache on board. 15 x 22 in.. Si..." POVonline. July 15, 2009. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
35. Stradford, Michael (April 2, 2021). "Fargo- Ron Lesser". POVonline. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
36. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 112
37. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Kingston Pierce, J. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 28-29
38. Deis, R. and Cunningham, B. and Zimmer, D. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy sirens. Subtropic Productions, LLC., 2023, p. 113-120
39. Deis, Robert (August 7, 2023). "NEW! THE ART OF RON LESSER, VOL. 1: DEADLY DAMES AND SEXY SIRENS". POVonline. Retrieved August 7, 2025.