The tenth issue of Men’s Adventure Quarterly, the excellent magazine series focused on men’s adventure magazines. This time it has a focus on Vietnam.
As with previous issues, MAQ is available in three formats: the full-color printed version, a black-and-white “noir edition,” and a full-color “digital replica edition.”
Full disclosure, I was sent a copy of the full-color edition.
As noted, this is “The Vietnam Issue,” focusing on the “bravery and sacrifice in the hellscape of a war no one wanted!” As a child of the 1960s, I knew of the Vietnam War but certainly didn’t understand it at the time. And I recall the impact the war had on subsequent movies and TV shows, as well as other entertainment that I was familiar with, such as in Doonesbury and Mad Magazine. Certainly, as the heyday of the MAMs was winding down, the war would have an impact on them as well.
As before, publisher Bob Deis (Men’s Adventure Library) and graphic designer Bill Cunningham (Pulp 2.0 Press) have another great issue. And their excellent intros to each piece are a big reason why this magazine series is so great. These intros get into the author, artist, and sometimes publisher behind that particular work. For me, I sometimes enjoy these more. This time they are joined by guest contributors Paul Bishop and Rob Morris.
And as there is usually a segment on an artist or model in the magazine, and this time we get two. First is a gallery highlighting artwork that used model Steve Holland, one of which graces the cover of this issue. Holland is best known as the model for the Bantam Doc Savage covers, but he did so much more. And the other focuses on actress and model Raquel Welch. Here her work entertaining the troops is what is highlighted.
The issue has four articles not connected to any specific reprint. Bob kicks off with a great introduction. From Bill, we get an article on PS Magazine, which was created by Will Eisner for the U.S. military, and which he edited from 1951-71. As an Eisner fan, I learned of this magazine years ago and even found a couple of issues. There is a book focused on it which I have. Paul Bishop provides a look at the men’s adventure paperbacks that involved the war and Vietnam vets. A sidebar by author Nicholas Cain looks at the adaption of his book series Saigon Commandos into a movie.
The bulk of the issue is devoted to nine reprints with excellent multi-page intros or afterwords. These are either articles, fiction, or fiction presented as fact.
Kicking these off is the article “The First GIs to Die in Vietnam.” What is nice is the afterword that looks into the facts of the soldiers highlighted, and we learn that two of them actually did not die. Next is a fictionalized account by Mario Puzo (under a pseudonym) on the Green Berets. The foreword tells more of Puzo’s involvement with MAMs, and he wrote a lot of these fictionalized war stories.
Next is a war story that surprisingly stars Vietnam soldiers fighting the Vietcong. The forward focuses on the cover artist of the story, Vic Prezio. He did other covers, like for Gold Key’s Magnus, Robot Fighter and others. I’d love to see a book highlighting his work.
The U.S. Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets, was a force that came to the public’s attention during the Vietnam War. The next article is on Sgt. Barry Sadler. He’s one of the reasons they came to fame, through his song The Ballad of the Green Berets. Thus we get a great intro on him and the Green Berets.
Next is another fictionalized war story. What is interesting is it was written by a former WWII bomber pilot turned author, Glenn Infield, who not only wrote realistic war stories for the MAMs, but also wrote military history books. Contrast that will the work by Robert Dorr, which is a fact-based story of the air war over North Vietnam. Dorr also wrote military history books and both pieces have great intros that go over both men’s careers.
The tunnels dug by the Vietcong are something I recall hearing about way back when. Thus we get a fictionalized story with a great and detailed intro to them. The “Battle of Khe Sanh” was a bloody affair between North and South Vietnam, and the subject of another article. The intro to it focuses on the cover artist, Mel Crair, with a selection of his other works.
The overall poor treatment of Vietnam Vets was something I was aware of the time I was a kid. It’s something that really only changed in recent decades. Thus it’s fitting that the final article is one from the MAMs at the time that highlighted this issue. Hopefully, we’ve learned our lesson.
The next issue looks to have a UFO theme, which as a long-time sf fan, I look forward to. This also kind of ties in with their recent collection I reviewed here, Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants. It should be another fun read. Do check out this and other volumes from the MAM Library.
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