The MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY #12, is a special treat for fans of vintage private eye stories, novels, and TV shows.
It features classic stories about detectives from magazines published in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. And, like all MAQ issues, MAQ #12 showcases high-resolution scans of the classic cover and interior artwork originally used for the stories, a fantastic layout by my co-editor Bill Cunningham, background commentary on the stories, and exclusive articles related to the issue’s theme written by written some of our pulp culture friends.
The opening introduction of MAQ #12 starts with a farewell salute to my friend Mort Künstler, who passed away earlier this year at age 97.
Obituaries for him focused on his historical artwork, paintings of people and events in various eras of American history, especially the Civil War. That phase of his career came after he honed his skills doing cover and interior illustrations for men’s adventure magazines. He was one of the greatest MAM artists and one of the few who did artwork for them through all three decades of the genre’s existence.
It was the cover and interior art Mort did for MAMs that led me to contact him in 2011 and ask him to do an interview for my MensPulpMags.com blog. He graciously agreed. That led to an ongoing series of phone calls and emails with him, his daughter Jane Künstler, and his official archivist Linda Swanson.
In 2019, Wyatt Doyle and I worked with Mort, Jane and Linda to publish an art book showcasing Mort’s original MAM cover paintings. It’s titled MORT KÜNSTLER: THE GODFATHER OF PULP FICTION ILLUSTRATORS.
The book got its title from the title of a retrospective show of his original MAM art at The Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York that year. It was curated and given its title by Michael W. Schantz, the museum’s Executive Director. He later graciously let us borrow his title for our book and wrote an introduction for it.
One of the biggest thrills of my life was visiting with Mort, Jane and Linda at his home in Oyster Bay, New York, then going to the Heckscher Museum show with them, Michael, and Mort’s wife Deborah, who was a frequent model for female characters Mort painted.
Most of Mort’s MAM art was done for magazines published by Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management company. Mag Management (also the birthplace of Marvel Comics) published some of the best and longest-lasting MAMS, such as ACTION FOR MEN, FOR MEN ONLY, MALE, MEN, STAG, TRUE ACTION and MAN’S WORLD.
The “Godfather” part of the title Michael Schantz chose for the art exhibition alludes to Mort’s connection to Mario Puzo and Puzo’s 1969 blockbuster novel THE GODFATHER.
Mario worked as a staff writer and Associate Editor for the Goodman MAMs before THE GODFATHER made him famous. (You can read one of the MAM stories Puzo wrote, credited to his usual pseudonym Mario Cleri, in MAQ #10, the Vietnam War issue and in the forthcoming MAQ #13.)
When a “Book Bonus” excerpt of THE GODFATHER was published in the August 1969 issue of MALE, Mort was tapped for that cover painting. Around the same time, Mort painted the cover illustration for the July 1969 LITERARY GUILD BULLETIN, which included an abridged version of the novel as a Featured Selection. Those paintings by Mort were the first images of “Godfather” Vito Corleone ever published.
In the months preceding Mort’s death, Wyatt and I had started working with him, Jane and Linda on a new book featuring his MAM artwork. I’m hoping we can still eventually pull that book together in the coming year. I miss Mort’s presence in the world. It was a great honor to know him.
It’s also my honor to have collaborated with some other talented people on this issue of the MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY, such as David Avallone, son of the prolific novelist Michael Avallone (1924-1999).
Michael Avallone was a grandmaster of detective and action/adventure novels and a top writer of movie and TV series tie-in novels. One of the classic private eye stories in this issue was written by him.
To go with that story, we have an exclusive remembrance David Avallone wrote about his dad. David is an accomplished author himself and has also worked as a Hollywood screenwriter and producer. His latest creation is the graphic novel series DRAWING BLOOD, co-written with Kevin Eastman, one of the original creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
A second exclusive article about Michael Avallone in MAQ #12 was written by another guy who knew him, author David Spencer. David is a music composer and lyricist who also happens to be a world authority on TV tie-in novels. He’s the author of THE NOVELIZERS, an award-winning book about novels in that realm and the writers who penned them.
MAQ #12 also includes articles contributed by three other writers and pulp culture experts we greatly admire.
NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author James Reasoner contributed an article about detective characters in Western novels. I’ve a big fan of James’ novels and his “Rough Edges” blog. His recent novels include the Western CALIFORNIA POWDERSMOKE and LAIR OF THE SERPENT QUEEN, the third novel in his Snakehaven sword and sorcery series.
Another writer and pulp culture expert who contributed an article to this issue is Paul Bishop. Paul is the author of fifteen novels and editor of many other pulp fiction anthologies and non-fiction books. His article for MAQ #12 issue provides an overview of modern incarnations of Sherlock. You can read more of his research on Sherlockiana in his latest book 52 WEEKS • 52 SHERLOCK HOLMES NOVELS.
We also recruited our writer friend and movie maven in Australia, John Harrison, to do an article for us about science fiction movies that feature private eyes. It’s as cool as the article about movies featuring killer crocodiles and alligators he wrote for MAQ #9, our Croc Attack issue. John ‘s latest book is CREATURES OF THE SCREEN – THE UNCENSORED (AND UNOFFICIAL) HISTORY OF KISSPLOITATION ON FILM, TELEVISION & HOME VIDEO.
The first vintage detective story reprinted in MAQ #12 is “The case of the Murdering Detective” by Alan Hynd, first published in the September 1956 issue of CAVALIER. It’s about the real life detective Raymond C. Schindler, who was internationally famous from 1910 until his death in 1959. His first major case, involving the murder of a young girl that’s the subject of Hynd’s story, generated nationwide headlines and catapulted Schindler to worldwide fame.
Next up is “Party Girl” by Frank Kane, from KEN FOR MEN, May 1957. Kane authored over 40 novels and scores of short stories that feature P.I. character Johnny Liddell. “Party Girl” is one of them. The model artist Rudy Nappi used for his depiction of the alluring girl was my friend Eva Lynd. Eva is a legendary artists’ model, pinup photo model, and actress whose career is showcased in the book EVA: MEN’S ADVENTURE SUPERMODEL, which I co-edited with her and Wyatt Doyle
MAQ #12 reprints two detective stories and several unique special features from the magazine PRIVATE EYE, a short-lived men’s adventure mag oddity. Only two issues were published: one in November 1959 and the second in April 1960. Like most MAMs, both of those have painted covers and include a mix of fiction stories, non-fiction articles, and cheesecake photo spreads.
But there are things about PRIVATE EYE that are unique. One is that both issues have stories about characters specifically created for the magazine: a Mike Hammer style P.I. named Adam Baxter and a sexy female detective named Liz Hunter.
Another unusual thing about PRIVATE EYE is that both issues have a cartoon strip style feature titled “YOU BE A PRIVATE EYE.” We’ve included those in MAQ #12. We challenge you to guess the solution to the mysteries they describe—without looking up the answers printed further back in the issue
The Michael Avallone story in MAQ #12 is “Make-Out Mob Girl.” It’s a “Book Bonus” version of his novel THE TALL DOLORES from MAN’S WORLD, October 1962. That novel, originally published in 1953, was the first of 32 novels Avallone wrote featuring Private Eye Ed Noon.
After that comes “The Red Hairing” by G.G. Fickling. It’s the only short story featuring the beautiful and brainy female detective Honey West ever published. G.G. Fickling is the pseudonym Forrest “Skip” Fickling and his wife Gloria used for the eleven Honey West novels they wrote together between 1957 and 1971. “The Red Hairing” was published in the June 1965 issue of MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE.
Bill Cunningham and I love Honey West, especially the 1965-1966 HONEY WEST TV series starring Anne Francis as Honey. In fact, Bill created eye-popping, detailed guide to the show that’s included as a special feature in MAQ #12.
The last story in MAQ #12 is an especially wild one, as you can tell from the title—“I Had To Amputate My Leg To Save My Life!”—and the grisly illustration done for it by artist Bruce Minney. It was originally published in FOR MEN ONLY, June 1977 and written by Walter Kaylin under his common pseudonym Roland Empey.
Bruce, who I interviewed before he passed away in 2013, was one of the great MAM artists. His MAM art is featured in the book BRUCE MINNEY: THE MAN WHO PAINTED EVERYTHING.
Walter Kaylin, who I talked to many times before he passed away in 2017, was one of the best and most versatile writers of men’s adventure magazine stories. Wyatt Doyle and I worked with Walter to publish an illustrated collection of his MAM stories titled HE-MEN, BAG MEN & NYMPHOS before he passed away in 2017. It was originally printed as a black-and-white paperback not long before Walter died. Last year, we published new, expanded, full color, deluxe hardcover and trade paperback editions HE-MEN, BAG MEN & NYMPHOS.
Like all MAQ issues, the MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY #12 is available via Amazon in the US and worldwide, BudsArtBooks.com, this blog’s online bookstore, and my eBay listings. If you want see an in-depth flip page preview of MAQ #12, click this link.
Bill and I have dubbed MAQ #13, scheduled for publication in November 2025, the “Fatal Femmes” issue. It features stories and articles about real and fictional women who are murderers, gangsters, or assassins. It will be another killer issue, literally and figuratively. We’re also already working on MAQ #14, which will feature men’s adventure magazine stories about Bigfoot. If you’re on Facebook, join our MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY BRIGADE group if you want to get updates on our MAQ issues, our forthcoming third book in THE ART OF RON LESSER series, and other gloriously pulpy stuff we’re cooking up.
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