Men's adventure is a genre of magazine that was published in the United States from the 1940s until the early 1970s. Catering to a male audience, these magazines featured pin-up girls and lurid tales of adventure that typically featured wartime feats of daring, exotic travel or conflict with wild animals.[1] These magazines were also colloquially called "armpit slicks", "men's sweat magazines" or "the sweats", especially by people in the magazine publishing or distribution trades.
Fawcett Publications was having some success with their slick magazine True whose stories developed more of a war focus after the U.S. entered World War II in 1941. Pulp magazineArgosy opted to switch to slick paper in 1943, and mix in more 'true' stories amidst the fiction. The other major pulps Adventure, Blue Book and Short Stories eventually followed suit. Soon new magazines joined in - Fawcett's Cavalier, Stag and Swank. During their peak in the late 1950s, approximately 130 men's adventure magazines were being published simultaneously.
The interior tales usually claimed to be true stories.[2]Women in distress were commonly featured in the painted covers or interior art, often being menaced or tortured by Nazis[3] or, in later years, Communists. Typical titles which relied on especially lurid and salacious cover illustrations include Man's Story, Men Today, World of Men, and Man's Epic.
Many of the stories were actual historical accounts of battles and the biographies and exploits of highly decorated soldiers. Several of the stories were combined and issued under various titles in paperback editions by Pyramid Books with the credit "edited by Phil Hirsch". Phil Hirsch was vice president of Pyramid Books from 1955 to 1975.[4]
In the 1970s, many of the men's adventure magazines dropped the fiction and "true action" stories, and started focusing on pictorials of nude women and non-fiction articles related to sex or current events.
Contributorsedit
"The Soul Scorcher's Lair" by Norman Saunders from Eerie Stories number 1, August 1937.
Artist Norman Saunders was the dean of illustrators for these magazines, occupying a position similar to that enjoyed by Margaret Brundage for the classic pulps. Charles Copeland[5] and Earl Norem were two other popular artists who worked for the Magazine Management stable of magazines. Many illustrations that were uncredited were done by Bruce Minney,[6] Norm Eastman, Gil Cohen, Mel Crair, Basil Gogos, and Vic Prezio among others.[7]James Bama contributed over 400 cover and interior illustrations for an approximate eight-year period circa 1957–1964 before turning to paperback cover illustration as his mainstay. Historical artistMort Künstler painted many covers and illustrations for these magazines, and Playboy photographer Mario Casilli started out shooting pinups for this market. At publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company, future best-selling humorist and author Bruce Jay Friedman was a men's sweat writer-editor, and Mario Puzo was a contributor before he became a well-known novelist. Pierre Boulle, Ray Bradbury, Erskine Caldwell, Ian Fleming, Robert F. Dorr and Mickey Spillane also contributed short stories or novel excerpts to men's adventure magazines.[8]
Legacyedit
Paperback novels became increasingly popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and series' such as Don Pendleton's The Executioner mined a similar vein of war story, and continued on long after the magazines themselves shifted away from such fare.[9]
The title of the Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention album Weasels Ripped My Flesh was borrowed from a man-against-beast cover story in the September 1956 issue of Man's Life,[10] and the title went through another permutation when filmmaker Nathan Schiff made the horror feature Weasels Rip My Flesh (1979).
There have been attempts to revive the Argosy title, once in the 1990s, again in 2004, and finally in 2013. Soldier of Fortune carried on the tradition of war stories for a male audience.[11] A few contemporary "lad mag" periodicals such as FHM and Maxim are somewhat similar to the earlier adventure magazines, featuring a combination of glamour photography and occasional true adventure/horror stories. Publishers such as Hard Case Crime put out new and reprint paperback novels in the hard-boiled pulp tradition. Online book vendor Amazon.com uses the genre label "men's adventure" in a general sense to categorize adventure novels where the hero is an adult man to distinguish these books from "women's adventure" and "children's action & adventure."
Referencesedit
^Strausbaugh, John (December 9, 2004). "Oh, Those Pulpy Days of 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
^Osgerby, Bill (2001), Playboys in paradise: masculinity, youth and leisure-style in modern America, Berg, p. 76, ISBN978-1-85973-453-7
^Abrams, Nathan; Hughes, Julie (2000), Containing America: cultural production and consumption in Fifties America, Continuum International Publishing Group, p. 135, ISBN978-1-902459-06-6
^. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
^Don D'Ammassa. 2009. The Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction.
^Freund, Charles Paul (November 1, 2003). "Weasels ripped our flesh: the forgotten world of men's adventure magazines". Reason. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
^Peterson, Ivar (September 23, 1985). "Mercenary Magazine Widens Appeal". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
Further readingedit
Adam Parfrey. 2003. It's a Man's World - Men's Adventure Magazines, the Postwar Pulps. Feral House.
Rich Oberg, Steven Heller, Max Allan Collins and George Hagenauer. 2008. Men's Adventure Magazines. Taschen.
Robert Deis, ed. 2013. Weasels Ripped My Flesh! Two-Fisted Stories From Men's Adventure Magazines. New Texture.
Robert Deis, ed. 2016. A Handful of Hell - Classic War and Adventure Stories by Robert F. Dorr. New Texture.
External linksedit
List of known Men's Adventure magazines
January 01, 1970
adventure, genre, magazine, that, published, united, states, from, 1940s, until, early, 1970s, catering, male, audience, these, magazines, featured, girls, lurid, tales, adventure, that, typically, featured, wartime, feats, daring, exotic, travel, conflict, wi. Men s adventure is a genre of magazine that was published in the United States from the 1940s until the early 1970s Catering to a male audience these magazines featured pin up girls and lurid tales of adventure that typically featured wartime feats of daring exotic travel or conflict with wild animals 1 These magazines were also colloquially called armpit slicks men s sweat magazines or the sweats especially by people in the magazine publishing or distribution trades The March 1963 cover of For Men Only promised among other things Swastika Slave Girls in Argentina s No Escape Brothel Camp Contents 1 Overview 2 Contributors 3 Legacy 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksOverview editFawcett Publications was having some success with their slick magazine True whose stories developed more of a war focus after the U S entered World War II in 1941 Pulp magazine Argosy opted to switch to slick paper in 1943 and mix in more true stories amidst the fiction The other major pulps Adventure Blue Book and Short Stories eventually followed suit Soon new magazines joined in Fawcett s Cavalier Stag and Swank During their peak in the late 1950s approximately 130 men s adventure magazines were being published simultaneously The interior tales usually claimed to be true stories 2 Women in distress were commonly featured in the painted covers or interior art often being menaced or tortured by Nazis 3 or in later years Communists Typical titles which relied on especially lurid and salacious cover illustrations include Man s Story Men Today World of Men and Man s Epic Many of the stories were actual historical accounts of battles and the biographies and exploits of highly decorated soldiers Several of the stories were combined and issued under various titles in paperback editions by Pyramid Books with the credit edited by Phil Hirsch Phil Hirsch was vice president of Pyramid Books from 1955 to 1975 4 In the 1970s many of the men s adventure magazines dropped the fiction and true action stories and started focusing on pictorials of nude women and non fiction articles related to sex or current events Contributors edit nbsp The Soul Scorcher s Lair by Norman Saunders from Eerie Stories number 1 August 1937 Artist Norman Saunders was the dean of illustrators for these magazines occupying a position similar to that enjoyed by Margaret Brundage for the classic pulps Charles Copeland 5 and Earl Norem were two other popular artists who worked for the Magazine Management stable of magazines Many illustrations that were uncredited were done by Bruce Minney 6 Norm Eastman Gil Cohen Mel Crair Basil Gogos and Vic Prezio among others 7 James Bama contributed over 400 cover and interior illustrations for an approximate eight year period circa 1957 1964 before turning to paperback cover illustration as his mainstay Historical artist Mort Kunstler painted many covers and illustrations for these magazines and Playboy photographer Mario Casilli started out shooting pinups for this market At publisher Martin Goodman s Magazine Management Company future best selling humorist and author Bruce Jay Friedman was a men s sweat writer editor and Mario Puzo was a contributor before he became a well known novelist Pierre Boulle Ray Bradbury Erskine Caldwell Ian Fleming Robert F Dorr and Mickey Spillane also contributed short stories or novel excerpts to men s adventure magazines 8 Legacy editPaperback novels became increasingly popular in the 1950s and 1960s and series such as Don Pendleton s The Executioner mined a similar vein of war story and continued on long after the magazines themselves shifted away from such fare 9 The title of the Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention album Weasels Ripped My Flesh was borrowed from a man against beast cover story in the September 1956 issue of Man s Life 10 and the title went through another permutation when filmmaker Nathan Schiff made the horror feature Weasels Rip My Flesh 1979 There have been attempts to revive the Argosy title once in the 1990s again in 2004 and finally in 2013 Soldier of Fortune carried on the tradition of war stories for a male audience 11 A few contemporary lad mag periodicals such as FHM and Maxim are somewhat similar to the earlier adventure magazines featuring a combination of glamour photography and occasional true adventure horror stories Publishers such as Hard Case Crime put out new and reprint paperback novels in the hard boiled pulp tradition Online book vendor Amazon com uses the genre label men s adventure in a general sense to categorize adventure novels where the hero is an adult man to distinguish these books from women s adventure and children s action amp adventure References edit Strausbaugh John December 9 2004 Oh Those Pulpy Days of Weasels Ripped My Flesh The New York Times Retrieved December 7 2011 Osgerby Bill 2001 Playboys in paradise masculinity youth and leisure style in modern America Berg p 76 ISBN 978 1 85973 453 7 Abrams Nathan Hughes Julie 2000 Containing America cultural production and consumption in Fifties America Continuum International Publishing Group p 135 ISBN 978 1 902459 06 6 Happy 80th Phil Hirsch War anthologies amp joke books Archived from the original on 2012 02 14 Retrieved 2008 11 03 Lynn Munroe Books Men s sweat magazine cover paintings from the Oberg Collection Part 3 Originals by Bruce Minney Walter Popp and Vic Prezio 7 May 2011 Parfrey Adam et al It s a Man s World Men s Adventure Magazines the Postwar Pulps Feral House 2003 ISBN 0 922915 81 4 The FictionMags Index Don D Ammassa 2009 The Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction Freund Charles Paul November 1 2003 Weasels ripped our flesh the forgotten world of men s adventure magazines Reason Retrieved December 7 2011 Peterson Ivar September 23 1985 Mercenary Magazine Widens Appeal The New York Times Retrieved December 7 2011 Further reading editAdam Parfrey 2003 It s a Man s World Men s Adventure Magazines the Postwar Pulps Feral House Rich Oberg Steven Heller Max Allan Collins and George Hagenauer 2008 Men s Adventure Magazines Taschen Robert Deis ed 2013 Weasels Ripped My Flesh Two Fisted Stories From Men s Adventure Magazines New Texture Robert Deis ed 2016 A Handful of Hell Classic War and Adventure Stories by Robert F Dorr New Texture External links editList of known Men s Adventure magazines Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Men 27s adventure amp oldid 1172228850, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
