Mort Künstler is best known today for his vivid paintings of scenes from American history, specifically the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. These works have been featured in books and calendars, and spotlighted in exhibitions around the country.
Warning! This article is image-heavy. Please click on the image, to refresh the image if they don't load properly.
Less known is Künstler’s early work in men’s adventure magazines, a unique genre that populated newsstands from the 1950s through the late ‘70s. Also known as “men’s sweats,” because most covers featured a sweaty, shirtless guy facing some type of peril, scores of adventure titles vied for a reader’s attention with eye-popping headlines such as “Death Orgy of the Leopard Women” and “Weasels Ripped My Flesh!”
Men’s adventure magazines were the bastard child of the popular pulp magazines of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s, and many of the artists who worked for the pulps also put paint to canvas for this next evolution, most famous among them being Norm Saunders. Numerous publishers saw an easy buck in the men’s adventure magazines, but none more so than Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management, whose titles included Male, Stag, Action For Men, Battlefield, Complete Man, For Men Only, Man’s World, and many others.
Künstler started working for the men’s adventure magazines shortly after graduating from Pratt Institute in the early 1950s.
“I was a hungry guy, and I was persistent,” he says. “I clicked with several [men’s adventure magazine] publishers, and it almost became a competition for my services. I ended up with Magazine Management mostly because they paid better and offered me as much work as I could handle.”
Künstler also did a lot of work for other publishers, whose titles included True, Argosy, Adventure, American Weekly, and The Saturday Evening Post. The men’s adventure magazines specialized in lurid headlines and even more lurid covers, often depicting over-the-top war stories, daring tales of escape, deadly encounters with dangerous animals, and sex. Most of the stories were pure fiction but presented as fact – an easy way to lure gullible readers. Künstler illustrated them all with a straight face.
“I always tried to make my covers and interior illustrations as believable as possible,” he says. “That was my knack, and instrumental in why the magazines sold so well. And I was rewarded as a result. It worked out very well and I had a lot of fun with it.”
The stories with a sexual component sometimes made Künstler a little uncomfortable, and he admits to turning down a couple of assignments because of that. When he did say yes, however, the results were stunning – sexy in a clean, classical style.
“By today’s standards, none of them are offensive,” Künstler says, “but they were slightly risque. I never painted an illustration in which a woman’s breasts were seen; they were always covered by long hair or a torn blouse.”
More: Mort Künstler, Wikipedia
Ah.
Now, if you will, picture, if you can, a time before man buns and rompers on the covers of “men’s magazines.” A time before the easy reach of internet porn, when magazines were a source of escape, fantasy and inspiration.
We’re not talking GQ, Maxim or Esquire, but instead titles that left nothing to the imagination, like Complete Man’s Magazine or True Men Stories or All Man or my personal favorite (for obvious reasons), Stag.
The publishers didn’t try to mine focus-group-driven demographic data to determine their audience. The editorial staff knew who they were after: Men.
Real men.
Guys who were just coming back from war or who were headed back into it.
Guys who were away from their families, girlfriends and wives, who wanted nothing more than to feel like a man in an environment that was trying to rob them of their souls.
They wanted to be transported back into the shit and to read stories about survival and sweat and combat and conquest.
These men’s magazines of the 50s and 60s offered the perfect respite from life’s drudgery. Packed with heroic stories of war or more salacious articles like the “‘Private Love Club’ Girls of London.”
Ads for well-paying jobs like meat cutting (“People Must Eat!”). These magazines went straight to the heart of what drives men to be only slightly-better-dressed cavemen. Action, adventure, women, fighting, danger, lust and an unwavering addiction to being a proud American.
The covers of these magazines were absolute works of art, typically depicting pulse-pounding scenes such as an outdoorsman shooting bloodthirsty wolves trying to attack his downed horse, a sailor rescuing crewmates from Nazis, or a swimmer beating a shark to death with a raft paddle.
Many of the publications featured artwork depicting the age-old damsel-in-distress with an imminent rescue by a Burt Lancaster-meets-Paul Newman type.
The foes didn’t matter — Nazis, bloodthirsty Mongolians or Pacific Island natives. What these stories had in common was that they raised the heart rate of the reader.
When I scrounged around the dusty, moldy boxes in an old used book store in a collapsing central Pennsylvania building, they had no idea that I was a fan of Men’s Magazines.
Before I unwrapped them, I could smell the musty pages that instantly transported me back to my grandfather’s basement, where I first saw some of these rags.
There was a stack there against a back wall sitting in a wooden apple crate wedged between an old oil tank piled with books and the remains of a sewing machine buried under bags of paperbacks.
I remember when I was a young boy.
Sometimes I would sneak down and leaf through them, not really understanding what I was looking at, but nonetheless fascinated by the pictures. I mean, how is an eight-year-old supposed to understand the subtle intricacies of article titles like “Nude Love Slaves of the Master of Pain”?
I got to see barely covered boobs on the covers and that was enough for me. (The “Playboy” stash would be uncovered later, scrounging though garbage cans outside. And yes, that was a different level of reading comprehension.)
Decades later, I still remember the impact of some of those covers, and this treasure trove that arrived in the mail was a perfect walk down memory lane.
I fell into the articles and pictures again, completely consumed by them.
Seriously, the cover images blew me away and I wanted to find out more about the artists who designed them.
Research kept leading me back to Mort Künstler, an illustrator and artist best known for his historical, war-themed pieces.
However, Künstler started like many of us do, freelancing for jobs as a way to pay the bills. In the 50s and 60s this meant illustrating the covers for many of the men’s pulp titles.
Want a man depicted fighting a shark? Künstler was your go-to guy.
There were others, of course.
Norman Saunders was also very well known for his illustrations across all men’s magazines, eventually branching out from pulp into westerns and science fiction. Saunders spent time as an MP and as a member of the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.
Perhaps the military experience fine-tuned his skill at creating lifelike fantasy perfectly suited for pulp.
Throughout that period Künstler and Saunders progressed in their careers, prolifically creating works for magazines like National Geographic and Newsweek.
As cover art was slowly replaced by photography in the 70s, Künstler shifted directions and became a historical artist, while Saunders worked for Topps trading cards and continued illustrating other fantasy magazines.
There were several other artists that helped to shape this era as well, but many were never credited or else worked under pseudonyms so as to not affect their “real” art careers.
What they left in their wake, though, was an epic genre of images that sparked the imagination like no photography ever could.
At the time these magazines were being published, the country was in the midst of a cultural shift. Hippies were on the rise, political correctness was in its infancy, and we had Viet Nam looming.
These men’s magazines offered a release and a non-PC point of view. Drawn in by the cover art, the men who bought these mags were captivated by their stories that often blurred the lines between fact and fiction.
Inside these 25-cent rags there were no glossy pages or color photos. Each page was filled with black-and-white text on cheap, newspaper-type material. The articles were littered with testosterone-fueled, somewhat realistic fiction.
These pieces weren’t exactly an imitation of hardcore journalism — unless you are thinking of that other sort of hardcore.
Essentially, these magazines were eighty pages of pulp fodder, laced with sex, adventure, history and menace. The ads were reflections of society at the time, too.
Flipping through them, you could almost picture Don Draper sipping a third martini in his office before noon, dreaming up quick-hit ads that sold everything from love pills to binoculars to early precursors of cell phones.
What’s interesting is that all of the same types of ads are still in play today, only the quality of the images and sales copy has changed.
Suffice it to say, men are always going to be men, drawn to the same stuff. These magazines just gave zero F’s about subtlety. Remember, they weren’t trying to appeal to Harvard-educated executives. Their core readership were the GIs that had served in World War II or Korea, or who would be going to Viet Nam.
Pictures were key, but in-depth research was not. The heavyweight titles and subtitles were enough to keep the pages turning.
One of my favorite patriotic pictorials was simply titled, “Invasion!” It included grainy black-and-whites from Normandy. That would be cool in and of itself, but the subtitle was even better: It can be a platoon carrying M-1s or an Army corps backed by atomic cannon.
Once they’re dumped on that beach, an invasion boils down to just plain guts. Guns, guts, military superiority, nostalgia and pride. All the ingredients that would ensure the reader would come back for more.
But once the initial content got the reader’s heart pumping, it was time to send that blood elsewhere.
Toward the middle of the magazine were the women. Bikinis, bed sheets, blondes and brunettes — the centerfolds were tame by today’s standards.
Remember though, there was no Tinder, Instagram or PornHub for a guy to get his fix.
For a quarter, the reader was immersed in a world that catered to his every desire. From Japanese wrestling girls to The Case of the Nude Lady Bartenders.
These literary gems also tried to answer medical questions like “What is Sexual ‘Excess?’” (A good question if we’ve ever heard one.)
The back pages of the magazines were very much like they are today. A collection of ads, business “opportunities” and promises of better living through consumption. The publishers had the formula nailed.
As societal tastes have changed over the decades, so has the content of most major men’s magazines. Impossibly beautiful men living impossibly extraordinary lives are the substance that publishers and advertisers think we want.
As a middle-aged man with a few kids and a world-class “dad-bod,” I just can’t relate. I want to hear stories from guys with scars that they got in some unknown part of the world. Authenticity is what sells, and a bit of creative license here and there just makes the reading fun.
So, the next time you’re cruising the local bookstore or men’s magazines at the supermarket, take a look at the covers and ask yourself if there is anything actually piquing your interest.
Do you really want to learn “7 Secret Tips to Grooming the Perfect Beard?”
Or do you want to see a leather-clad biker saving his old lady from the clutches of the Nazi sadists?
Yeah, us too.
Yeah. I know.
It’s an old clichéd joke to say you read adult magazines for the articles. However, if you’re talking about men’s mags from the 1950s and 60s, there might actually be some truth in your statement.
Magazines like Playboy, Adam, Jem, and Rogue often featured genuinely well-written articles and short fiction.
Getting published in a men’s magazine wasn’t the shameful smudge on an author’s reputation as it is today – in fact, it was a common stepping stone for soon-to-be-famous authors.
But it isn’t just the stories that deserve respect – it’s the artwork that complimented them. Often sleazy and purposefully outrageous, the illustrations were designed to entice you to read the story in a not-so-subtle way.
In my mind, Mort Künstler was one of the best. And I hope that I can impress upon you all why I loved his work. What follows are some of his art, and I hope that it teleports you all to another time and place…
Defending a house full of school girls from the rampaging communist menace…
Escaping on a raft with beautiful ladies and trying to navigate over rapids while the enemy tries to bomb you with explosives tied to kites…
Assault on a Nazi German stronghold…
Fighting off pacific islanders while on a captured Japanese patrol boat, while you protect the beautiful lasses who want to be saved…
Fending off ME-109s with a “tommy gun” while in a high altitude balloon, as you try to infiltrate the German V2 secret rocket program…
Rescuing women in a slave rape camp from their evil Nazi captors…
The crew of a merchant marine ship sunk by the Japanese, take control of the submarine and claim it for themselves…
Fighting off mutant, rapid, attack gophers…
Blowing up a secret Nazi installation while saving a beautiful scuba-dame…
Crashing through a bases gate with a red haired raven…
Battling sharks while shipwrecked on the high seas…
Fighting the evil communist Chinese with help from pretty attractive native women…
Special forces seize the personal quarters of a ranking Nazi German officer and commandeer his (ahem) possessions…
Military vet fights off thugs to protect the pretty lass…
Bank robbery, mission impossible style…
Hunting bigfoot for fine eating…
Taking over a Nazi German training aircraft and using it to bomb German bridges…
When the airfield is under attack, the hero races to a forgotten vintage biplane on display…
Dealing with evil Chinese triad mobsters…
Secret mission and convincing an attractive lass to help…
Separating the women from the Japanese as spoils of war…
Captured and a meeting of the Sheik…
When elephants rampage!
Freeing Russian women from the pleasure quarters…
Battle of Midway.
The fighting of the giant stingray!
A femme fatale…
Braving the wild rino!
Fighting a very agressive panther.
Staked down in the sand and being fed upon by vultures…
There’s a new shirtless cowboy in town…
Lone survivors. A man and two lovely women.
Mob action on board a yacht.
An art of seduction…
Seduction of two Nazi officers.
The rescue of a dame…
Battle in the skies…
A bank robbery…
Saling in the rough South Pacific…
Fighting together…
Party times Nazi style…
Balloon fun…
Rescue of trapped ladies from the Japanese…with tanks!
Plans within plans…
More heists…
Capture of a German military train…
Raid in a casino…
Seduction of Nazi elite…
A ruse for the big attack…
A surprise awaits inside the tent…
A paratroop rescue from the wild barbarians…
Hiding from the evil Chinese commies…
Seizing the beauty from the military base…
A bomb based bank heist…
Remember the Catina!
battle on the high seas…
The rewards of vice…
Stealing the oil…
Placing bombs on the hulls of the evil Japanese navy…
Mobsters caught poaching…
Capturing a key bridge…
And inside of China, some serious skull duggery…
Shootout in the subway…
Brave race for life…
Top secret mission to the South Pole.
The rewards of ill gains can provoke female inspiration…
Escape from a prisoner of war camp…
A historical battle…
Or battling the evil Chinese communists on their home turf…
Tromping though Vietnam…
Or being rescued by attractive native dames…
A civil war story…
Or fighting the wild indians…
Surprise awaiting at home…
Learning how to survive in the Northern wilderness…
Fighting the British…
Defending the South…
Destruction of the South…
Fun and games in the French Foreign Legion…
Secret mission to destroy the evil communist navy…
Taking away valuable assets…
Breaking up an evil Nazi party…
Destruction of a SAM missile complex…
Gathering of battle forces…
Taking over the port…
Taking over Nazi submarines…
Fighting a wild bear…
Prep for battle…
Recon the enemies new secret weapon…
Wagon train adventures…
And so on, and so forth.
I hope you all enjoyed this. My fingers are tired. Have a great rest of the day.
Do you want more?
I have more articles like this one in my Art Index here…
ART.
MM Articles & Links
Master Index.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
- You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
- You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
- You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
- You can find out more about the author HERE.
- If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
- If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.
.
Wonderful stuff, thanks for all the effort!
It was definitely a simpler time back then I guess. One day our western societies will realise that so much of their previous strength came from men being real men and women being real women!
I never knew my grandfathers much but they were always larger than life guys who I easily imagine would have liked such magazines. I don`t know if we had equivalents here, maybe they got their fix from shared stories down the Legion? (It was always the British Legion club that everyone hung out in back then as everyone had been in the war.)
US military recruitment brass must have loved this guy. He certainly was a top tier illustrator. His depictions of small arms, weapons and materiel are strikingly accurate. Oh, and the female and male form. Yeah, can’t forget about that talent!
Super duper post and yes, that transported me back to my young days perusing the gigantic magazine racks at the grocery and retail stores.
I remember also the Detective magazines whos cover regularly featured some lass on a bed or something, gagged and tied up. Sometimes a bit bloodied. Soldier of Fortune, a ton of brutal looking wrestling magazines, and then there were the muscle car magazines with the lovely ladies, Mad, National Lampoon, Omni, and all the gun magazines, and on and on.
I could lose myself in fantasy world in the magazine section while mom or dad did some shopping. Good memories. OG
Great collection of images. The dangerous ones had real tension – I could feel it – a sign of real talent. Makes most modern art look exactly like the pretentious BS it is. The women look curvy and alluring, no scrawny supermodels, thank God. The androgynous western men of today have lost their identity. These images would be vilified on social media today, by men! Sad..
Wow. A time long ago when men were men and women were women (and beautiful), and patriotic.