In addition to the Men’s Adventure Library book series I co-edit with Wyatt Doyle, I also co-edit a full-color magazine that showcases artwork and stories from men’s adventure magazines (MAMs) and discusses the writers, artists and publishers who created them.
It’s titled the MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY, or the MAQ for short (#MAGMAG for hashtag purposes).
I co-edit the MAQ with Bill Cunningham. Bill, whose self-chosen nickname is the “Mad Pulp Bastard,” publishes cool books via his Pulp 2.0 indie publishing company. (You can read more about him here.)
All issues of the MAQ are available on Amazon in the US and worldwide or directly from me via the online bookstore linked to this blog or my eBay listings. Each issue is 8″ x 10,” perfect bound, and printed in full color on high quality paper. Each issue has a theme and is around 150 pages in length, though MAQ #5 is a supersized 171-page issue.
The first issue of the MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY, MAQ #1, is our “Most Wanted Wild West” issue. It focuses on Western stories and artwork. You can preview it here.
Issue #2, our “Espionage” showcases James Bond style Cold War spy stories and artwork. Click this link to read more about that issue.
The theme of MAQ #3 is “Vigilante justice” — a la Don Pendleton’s ground-breaking Mack Bolan, The Executioner novel series.
In fact, that issue actually includes two never-before-reprinted Executioner “Book Bonus” stories, thanks to the generosity of Linda Pendleton, who approved the reprints and also contributed an article in it about the origins and evolution of the Mack Bolan character.
Sadly, Linda passed away shortly after it was published. She was a great author in her own right and a great person.) A preview of MAQ #3 is online at this link.
In January, Bill and I published the MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY #4. our “Jungle Girls” issue.
It focuses on exotic adventure fiction yarns and artwork that fit the “Jungle Girls” trope, plus articles and pinup photos involving two once-famous “Jungle Girls” — writer and pinup model “Jungle Jane” Dolinger and Marion Michael, who played Liane, the “Jungle Goddess” in movies. You can see a preview of that issue in the post at this link.
We dubbed MAQ #5 our “Dirty Mission” issue. It focuses on “Dirty Dozen” style MAM stories and artwork, enhanced by several special related features, including: an introduction by Joe Kenney, author of the great vintage paperback review blog, Glorious Trash; a special section about the legendary artists’ model, pinup model and actress Eva Lynd and artist Norm Eastman, who often used Eva for his wild covers; an article about British war comics by UK fanzine king Justin Marriott; and, much more (which is why MAQ #5 is 170 pages long instead of 150).
You are undoubtedly aware of the classic movie THE DIRTY DOZEN. But you probably didn’t know that the 1965 novel THE DIRTY DOZEN by E.M. Nathanson and the 1967 movie adaptation were inspired by a story in a men’s adventure magazine. Well, now you do. And, you can read that story in MAQ #5. It was first published in TRUE, October 1944. The writer of the story, Arch Whtehouse, was a World War I veteran and aviation history author who worked as a war correspondent during WWII. He based it on a brief article he saw in the US Army’s official magazine, STARS AND STRIPES about a real squad of tough paratroopers on the European front who were sent on hazardous demolition missions behind enemy lines. They were originally called “The Dirty Dozen” until a 13th member was added to the squad.
The “Filthy Thirteen” cut their hair in Mohawk fashion and painted their faces like Indian warriors before they jumped. Whitehouse embellished their exploits, but they were indeed incredibly tough mofos whose ability to parachute in and blow stuff up played an important role in several battles. If you want to read the real true story of “The Filthy Thirteen,” I highly recommend the book THE FILTHY THIRTEEN: FROM THE DUSTBOWL TO HITLER’S EAGLE’S NEST. It’s great.
If you want to read the type of purely fictional, pulp MAM stories that are descendants of tales about “The Filthy Thirteen,” you’ll find some of our favorites in this MAQ issue. Among them is “Savage Comrades,” from MALE, September 1969.
It was written by my friend Donald Honig, one of the last living regular contributors to the MAMs published by Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management company (which also spawned Marvel Comics). Don was also a successful writer of novels and history books.
The illustration for Don’s story is by Bruce Minney, whose interview for this blog led his son-in-law Tom Ziegler to publish the book about his career, BRUCE MINNEY: THE MAN WHO PAINTED EVERYTHING.
Don told me that he thinks that story was suggested to him by an editor at MALE specifically because of the recent success of the film THE DIRTY DOZEN.
Cross fertilization between MAMs and movies was common.
For example, there are the many biker and Mafia stories in MAMs in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s inspired by the success of films like EASY RIDER and THE GODFATHER. (See the Men’s Adventure Library art book BARBARIANS ON BIKES: BIKERS AND MOTORCYCLE GANGS IN MEN’S PULP ADVENTURE MAGAZINES for some great examples of motorcycle gang covers and interior illustrations.)
But because the stories are from men’s adventure magazines and because MAMs got racier in the ‘60s and ‘70s, five of them involve sexy female freedom fighters and some “dirty bits” in between battle scenes.
The stories and artwork in this issue of the MAQ show why the “Dirty Missions” subtitle we gave it is a bit of a double entendre. They all involve hazardous World War II missions involving tough American servicemen.
Those stories include:
“The Wild Raid of Gibbon’s Lace Panty Commandos” from MAN’S BOOK, June 1963, a true MAM classic I’ve written about on this blog;
“The Desperate Raid of Wilson’s Lace Panty Guerrillas” from WORLD OF MEN, March 1963;
“Free the Girls of Love Captive Stalag” from MEN, December 1967;
“The Vengeance Raid of O.S.S. Carter’s Death Doll Platoon” from MAN’S STORY, February; and,
“The 5 Wild Missions of O’Brien’s Submarine Commandos” from STAG, November 1973.
I’m also highly pleased that this issue includes a special section about my friend, the legendary MAM and paperback cover artists’ model, pinup photo model and actress Eva Lynd. As I note in my introduction for that section, I’ve known Eva for almost ten years now. I’ve done many posts about her on this blog and had the honor of co-editing the book EVA: MEN’S ADVENTURE SUPERMODEL with Eva and Wyatt Doyle.
Among other things, Eva was one of the favorite female models used by artist Norm Eastman. And Norm was, among other things, a grandmaster of the gonzo Nazi cover paintings that often show Nazis doing terrible things to scantily-clad women and American POWs, though many of his covers also show badass female freedom fighters kicking Nazi butts. Eva Lynd modeled for both types of covers and many others by Eastman. Here are just a few examples you’ll see in MAQ #5 that are part of a section that also covers other aspects of her career…
Our Eva Lynd section also includes examples of the glamour girl she modeled for, taken by top pinup photographers like Peter Basch and Earl Leaf, whose work appeared in hundreds of men’s and general interest magazines. There are also still photos of Eva from TV shows and movies she was in and quotes and reminiscences by Eva about her multifaceted career.
MAQ #5 also includes some very cool faux movie posters featuring Eva created by her fans David Goode and Vance Capley, plus examples of some of the amazing variations on classic men’s adventure and detective magazine covers created by photographer, digital artist, author and pinup photo model Mala Mastroberte.
If our Eva Lynd section in MAQ #5 turns you into an Eva Lynd fan, you’ll want to buy her book. (It’s available in paperback and deluxe, expanded hardcover editions on Amazon in the US and worldwide or directly from me via my eBay listings or the bookstore linked to this blog.) If Mala’s cover recreations intrigue you, check out her book MALALAND, which is available from Asylum Publications or Amazon. You can also get prints of Mala’s cover recreations via her MALALAND KIOSK page.
Bill Cunningham and I picked “Heists & Capers” as the theme for our next MAQ issue. It will include a special introduction by our friend Paul Bishop. Paul is an author, blogger, pulp media maven, and an editor at WolfPack Publishing, one of the best current publishers of action/adventure novels.
Bill and I haven’t decided on the theme for the issue after that. If you have suggestions for it, or comments on MAQ #5, shoot me an email. I love hearing from readers.
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