Pulp International - Mort+Kunstler

Jul 11 2014

War is hell. Unless you get paid to paint it.

Today we have a bunch of scans from a July 1960 issue of the American men’s magazine Stag. The cover is by Mort Kunstler, and features the type of large scale war tableau that was pretty much his trademark. Inside you get art from the usual suspects Samson Pollen and James Bama, and photos of actress Vikki Duggan, aka Vikki Dougan, who made a splash in the 1950s by wearing backless dresses that plunged to ass-crack height (or below, sometimes). The idea was to compete with Monroe, Mansfield and the like using her back, because she didn’t have large breasts. Stag offers a couple of images, though not her most scandalous examples. You can see one of those by clicking here. You can also have a look at more of Mort Kunstler’s art by clicking here, as well as by visiting the comprehensive pulp magazine site menspulpmags.com. Twenty scans below for your enjoyment.

Stag Magazine Mort Kunstler Samson Pollen James Bama Vikki Duggan Vikki Dougan magazine art

Vintage Pulp

Apr 1 2013

The only good fascist is an imprisoned fascist.

Below, a few scans from Stag of April 1963, with cover art by Mort Kunstler illustrating Emile C. Shurmacher’s story “90 Nazis and 8 Redheads of Radar Island,” and interior spreads from Charles Copeland, Samson Pollen and Walter Popp. See two more issues of Stag here and here.

Stag Magazine Mort Kunstler Charles Copeland Samson Pollen Walter Popp Emile C. Shurmacher literature magazine art nazis

Vintage Pulp

Nov 20 2012

A hard rain is gonna fall.

Mort Kunstler nicely captures the chaos of a storm hitting the beaches of northern France on this D-Day-themed cover of Stag from November 1964. Kunstler was a master at this sort of sprawling composition, and Stag in particular published many similar pieces of his. Today Kunstler bills himself as America’s Artist and paints U.S. Civil War scenes that sell as limited editions. To say that his reputation as an artist is assured is an understatement. He has had countless exhibitions, been added to the permanent collections of numerous museums, and been profiled in the New York Times.

Below are some interior scans from Stag, including more Kunstler, as well as a spread from Walter Popp. Kunstler’s illustration for George Raffey’s “House of the Pleasure Dolls” is a brilliant bit of adolescent sexual fantasy, with its naked girl holding off a group of armed men. That probably never happened in the entire history of the world (despite the “True Book Bonus” label on the story), but it’s just another day in the pages of a vintage men’s magazine. Also in this issue you get a few photos of 1961 Miss Universe semi-finalist, Scottish model Susan Jones. More Kunstler here.

France Scotland U.S. Civil War World War II D-Day Miss Universe Stag Magazine Walter Popp Mort Kunstler Susan Jones George Raffey magazine art

Vintage Pulp

Oct 2 2012

We haven’t been there but we’re pretty sure it’s nothing like this.

Today we have a Stag magazine from October 1967 with cover art by Mort Kunstler illustrating Emile C. Schurmacher’s exotic yarn about sex crazed women in Kashgai, Iran. Apparently free love was flowing like crude oil in the Fertile Crescent—or maybe it was just flowing in Schurmacher’s fertile imagination. That’s un-retouched color, by the way. Somehow, the magazine took some wear and tear over the years but did not fade. Content-wise, it follows the time-honored men’s magazine form, with tales of loose women, righteous violence, and international adventure, all while hitting the political hot buttons of the moment—Vietnam, hippies, and drugs. Fifteen years earlier it would have been Korea, commies, and the Mafia. The semi-gloss, two-color interior illustrations have a wonderful impact, including Charles Copland’s nice spread for W. J. Saber’s centerpiece story “The Big Frame.”

Also of interest is an exposé on Wallace Groves, a Wall Street exec/felon who, after serving a prison term for mail fraud, jetted down to the Bahamas, bought 214 square miles of wilderness and turned it into the resort and gambling haven known today as Freetown. Apparently crime really does pay, especially on Wall Street, but we digress. We love how the Bahamian wilderness is described in the text as useless. One day not too very far in the future, everyone—not just scientists and environmentalists—will think of resorts and gambling havens as useless and pristine swaths of trees and wetlands as indispensable. When that day inevitably comes, stories like these will seem like profiles in civilizational lunacy, but we digress again.

You also get an interesting story on Milton Helpern, an NYC pathologist who by 1967 had conducted 80,000 autopsies and been called as an expert witness in innumerable trials, typically by prosecutors on behalf of murder victims. The footer on the article pits Helpern against F. Lee Bailey, the famous Boston defense attorney, with inset text telling readers that Helpern’s experience “beats any lawyer’s grandstand play any day.” We have a feeling Bailey won a few battles too. All in all, you get more than your money’s worth with Stag—great art, diverting stories, and pervasive fantasies that women the world over hang around naked waiting for a Western stud to happen along. Highly recommended publication. Scans below.

Iran Bahamas Kashgai Freetown New York City Stag Magazine Mort Kunstler Charles Copland Milton Helpern F. Lee Bailey Emile C. Schurmacher W. J. Saber magazine art literature