Real Men Magazine ran from 1956 to 1975. It was a magazine full of pin-ups and stories about war, crime, and adventure. You can probably guess what the magazine was about just by looking at the covers below. If you think some of the covers below are racy, you should see the ones that I couldn’t include in this post!
by Clarence Doore
by Clarence Doore
by John Leone
by Mel Crair
by Milton Luros
by Roger Kastel
by Roger Kastel
by Sydney Shores
by Victor Prezio
by Victor Prezio
Published by Stanley Publications, Battle Cry ran from 1955 to 1971. The magazine was advertised as being “for men” and each issue featured stories and features about war, dangerous women, and damsels in distress who were waiting for a good, strong man to come rescue them. Battle Cry also featured some of the most violent covers around, usually emphasizing manly soldiers battling America’s enemies and saving women in danger though there was also a large number of covers that featured evil women (usually wearing a swastika armband) whipping bound men.
Below is a sampling of the covers of Battle Cry. Most people would probably consider the covers that I picked to be mild by the standards of Battle Cry but I still think they give a good indication of what the magazine was all about.
February 1958. By Clarence Doore
June, 1958. By Clarence Doore
February, 1959. By Victor Prezio
April, 1959. By Victor Prezio
August, 1959. Artist Unknown (though it looks like another Victor Prezio cover to me)
May, 1960. Artist Unknown.
December, 1963. By Bruce Minney
December, 1965. By Victor Prezio
August, 1966. Artist Unknown
June, 1968. By Clarence Doore
One of the most popular and financially successful pulp magazines, Adventure Magazine ran from 1910 t0 1971, for a total of 881 issues! That’s 881 covers, all done by some of the best illustrators and artists in the pulp field. I can’t share all 881 of those covers but I can still offer a small but representative sampling of the adventurous covers of Adventure Magazine! As you can see Adventure featured adventures that took place everywhere, including underwater, in the jungle, in war, and during the era of the Old West.
By Charles Dye
by Griffith Foxley
by Herb Mott
by Mel Crair
by Mort Kunstler
by Peter Stevens
by Rico Tomaso
by Roger Kastel
by Shannon Stirnweis
by Sydney Shores
by Victor Prezio
by Walter Baumhofer
by Victor Prezio
Most men probably won’t even notice the dagger.
by Victor Prezio
Smoking the cigarette is Steve Holland, whose handsome face appeared on many a pulp cover.
by Mort Kunstler
True Adventures was a pulp magazine that ran from 1955 to 1971. Each issue featured stories about manly men doing manly things and they were all supposedly true. Today, True Adventures not because of the stories but the very pulpy and often very violent covers.
Here, for our adventurous readers, is just a sampling of the covers of True Adventures:
by Basil Gogos
by Doug Rosa
by Earl Norem
by Joe Little
by John Leone
by Norm Eastman
by Robert Schulz
by Victor Olson
by Victor Prezio
Who was Steve Holland?
He was one of the most familiar faces in the world of the pulps. An actor and a model, Holland’s rugged good looks inspired a countless number of magazine and paperback covers. Over the course of his career, Holland served as the model for everyone from tough private investigators to prehistoric warriors to futuristic adventurers to suburban husbands.
Check out just a few of the adventures of Steve Holland below:
by David Bergen
by James Elliott Bama
by George Wilson
by Jack Faragasso
by Stanley Borack
by Mort Kunstler
by Robert Maguire
by Robert Maguire
by Stanley Borack
by Victor Prezio
Considering that he was one of the most prolific pulp artists working in the 50s and 60s, there’s not much biographical information on Victor Prezio. He worked in all genres but he’s best known for the work he did for the “men’s magazines” for the era. He died in 1976, when he was only 52 years old.
Below is a small sampling of his work:
Through the Shattered Lens 