Review: Men's Adventure Quarterly #12: The Private Eyes Issue - Bob Deis and Bill Cunningham, eds.

I’ve been a fan of MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY since it began, and it’s a real pleasure and honor to have an article in the latest issue, #12, The Private Eyes Issue. My contribution is about detectives in Western fiction, and I hope it’s both entertaining and informative, but I’m here today to talk about the rest of the contents. Which, of course, are absolutely top-notch, as I’ve come to expect from editors Bob Deis and Bill Cunningham.

For starters, there are stories from two of my favorite authors featuring two of my favorite fictional private eyes: Michael Avallone and his iconic character Ed Noon, and Frank Kane and his equally legendary private eye Johnny Liddell. The Avallone story is “Make Out Mob Girl”, a Book Bonus condensation of the first Ed Noon novel THE TALL DOLORES, from the October 1962 issue of MAN'S WORLD. David Spencer, author of THE NOVELIZERS, provides a fine introduction to Avallone and his career, and Mike's son David Avallone contributes a touching essay about his dad. As a long time fan of Mike Avallone and his work, I'm really glad I got be his friend-by-correspondence for many years. 

Frank Kane’s “Party Girl” (KEN FOR MEN, May 1957) is a retitled reprint of the story “Frame” from the August 1954 issue of MANHUNT, the great crime fiction digest. This story was also reprinted in the paperback collection JOHNNY LIDDELL’S MORGUE from Dell. Both are really strong stories, and if you’ve never read any Ed Noon or Johnny Liddell stories or novels, this would be a fine place to start.

But of course there’s more. Honey West is probably the most famous fictional female private eye, and this issue includes the only Honey West short story, “The Red Hairing” by G.G. Fickling, actually the husband and wife writing team Forrest (“Skip”) and Gloria Fickling. This one appeared originally in the June 1965 issue of MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE. In addition, there’s an article about the TV series HONEY WEST featuring numerous photos of its beautiful star, Anne Francis. I was a fan of the show when it aired originally in the Sixties and am always happy to revisit it.

Walter Kaylin, one of the best authors who wrote for the men’s adventure magazine, contributes “I Had to Amputate My Leg to Save My Life!”, the tale of a private detective trapped by a mad killer, and it’s every bit as harrowing and gruesome as the title makes it sound. It’s also lightning-fast, compelling reading. Kaylin was a master, and this story is a good example of his work.

A story from a short-lived men’s adventure magazine actually called PRIVATE EYE features detective Adam Baxter in “Sing a Song of Sex-Mail”. It’s an entertaining yarn written in a fast-moving, breezy style. The story was published anonymously and I have no idea who wrote it, but I had fun reading it.

There’s also a non-fiction reprint from Alan Hynd called “The Case of the Murdering Detective” (CAVALIER, September 1956) about a real-life murder case from 1910 and the clever detective who solves it. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not much of a fan of true crime stories, but Hynd does a fine job with this one and kept me flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen.

New articles in this issue include the one by me on Western detectives that I mentioned above, a look at some of the latest Sherlock Holmes pastiches, both literary and TV, from Holmes scholar and fan Paul Bishop, and film critic John Harrison on detectives in science fiction films. Plus a feature on early Sixties TV series 77 SUNSET STRIP and HAWAIAN EYE, both of which were favorites of mine, especially 77 SUNSET STRIP. I never missed an episode back in those days. If you're the right age, you can hear the show's theme song in your head right now, can't you? I miss the Sixties just thinking about all this stuff!

I know I’ve said it before, but this is the best issue yet of MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY. You can find it on Amazon, and I give it my highest recommendation.

Review: Weasels Ripped My Flesh!: The Illustrated Men's Adventure Anthology - Robert Deis, Wyatt Doyle, and Josh Alan Friedman, eds.

When Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle published the original edition of WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH! TWO-FISTED STORIES FROM MEN’S ADVENTURE MAGAZINES back in 2013, it was the first book reprinting such stories in decades. There were paperback collections of stories from the men’s adventure magazines back in the Fifties and Sixties, but nothing since then as far as I know. The original edition of this book was successful enough that it launched an entire line of such reprints known as the Men’s Adventure Library, as well as the fantastic MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY.

Now, Deis and Doyle have published an updated deluxe edition of this landmark volume that started it all. It’s one of the most beautifully produced books I’ve ever seen, with more cover reproductions and interior illustrations, better printing, full color, and updated and expanded articles and story introductions.

In addition to that, you have the stories themselves, of course, which are hugely entertaining. I’ll be honest with you, I was just going to skim through this new edition and read the updated material, but time and again, I found myself stopping to reread and enjoy all over again some of the stories. It was great fun revisiting these wild yarns by such authors as Lawrence Block, Robert Silverberg, Walter Wager, and Harlan Ellison. I found myself appreciating even more the talents of the legendary Walter Kaylin, who has two stories in this book. And it brought back fond memories of another author with a pair of stories included, Robert F. Dorr, who I was fortunate enough to correspond with, talk to on the phone, and consider a friend before he passed away.

If I had to pick one story that knocked me out even more this time, it would be “I Was a Slave of the Savage Blonde” by Emile C. Schurmacher, from the Summer 1956 issue of HUNTING ADVENTURES. This tale of a two-fisted botanist lost in the jungles of Paraguay, captured by fierce natives, and enslaved by the beautiful blond Spanish anthropologist who has become the tribe’s queen is well-written and moves at a breakneck pace. I remember enjoying it the first time I read it, but I really got swept up in it this time, to the point that I ordered several paperback collections of Schurmacher’s stories from the men’s adventure magazines.

As I’ve mentioned before, I would see these magazines on the stands when I was a kid and really wanted to buy some of them, but I never did. Now, thanks to the efforts of Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle, I can read some of the best stories from them, and I really appreciate that. The new edition of WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH!: THE ILLUSTRATED MEN’S ADVENTURE ANTHOLOGY is available in hardback and trade paperback editions from Amazon or directly from the publisher here or here. If you’re a fan of great art and wild, over-the-top storytelling like I am, I give it my highest recommendation.