MEN
Collectors often talk about MALE and STAG being the cornerstones of the Diamond Group, and while that's true, MEN ran a very close third. It appeared on newsstands from 1952 until the early 1980s, first as a great men's adventure magazine with dynamic cover art and fine illustration. An early issue credits Monroe Froelich Jr. as Business Manager, Noah Sarlat as Editorial Director and Mel Blum as Art Director. Of all the adventure magazines I've looked at, MEN April 1956 is the earliest issue to credit artist Charles Copeland, for a story called "Michigan's Sexiest Twins". It's about Saginaw and Bay City, the twin cities, and although "sexy" is not the first word that comes to mind when visiting them, they must have been something back in 1956.
Martin Goodman's paperback company Lion Books did not last, but Copeland's work for Goodman's publishing empire continued in magazines for another two decades. Some of the best Lion books were abridged for magazine reprints in MEN, most notably Jim Thompson's BAD BOY in the November 1956 issue illustrated by Charles Copeland.
In the mid-1960s MEN gave us a top-notch series of issues from the unbeatable team of editor B.J. Friedman, associate editors Mario Puzo et al, and art director Larry Graber. They lined up writers like James M. Cain and Richard S. Prather, and they used Copeland in almost every issue of that period. MEN ANNUAL #1 and #2 both feature Pussycat comic strips by Bill Ward.
MEN April 1956 - "Michigan's Sexiest Twins". |
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November 1956 - "Private Lives of a Hell-Raiser" (BAD BOY) by Jim Thompson. |
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February 1957 - "1001 Nights of Ruffian Dick", the story of explorer Richard Burton. |
May 1957 - "All of My Sons are Brave" |
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July 1957 - two illustrations
"How to Cope With a Come-On Girl' looks like his work for BACHELOR or SWANK. |
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.and "The Blonde Booby Trap" (KISS HER GOODBYE) by Wade Miller, a Lion Library reprint using the cover art credited to "Richard Copeland" from the book, gets Charles Copeland's name right this time. |
May 1958 - "The P.O.W.'s who Seduced a Town">
June 1958 - "Queen of the Legion's Deserters" (not shown) |
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July 1958 - "The Love Couch Impostor"
<detail
plus two small second-page illustrations
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August 1958 - "Wanted For Cannibalism: The Monster of Dusseldorf" |
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October 1958 - "Those Girls From Greenwich Village". Not typical men's adventure fare. Almost everybody is paired off in this fun SWANK-style party scene; including the first depiction of a lesbian couple I ever remember seeing in the pages of MEN. |
MEN October 1958
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February 1959 - "Live-It-Up King of the Swindlers"
<duotone
April 1959 - "Uncle Johnny's Woman Farm" duotone> |
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June 1959 - "Punishment Compound for Frauleins" |
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December 1959 - "The Hell-Raising Saga of 'Soldier Sam' Baldwin" |
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February 1960 - "A Giant Came Ashore"
Second-page illustration (not shown here) is also Copeland, later small illustrations by unknown staff artist. |
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MEN May 1960 - "Miss Society By Day 'Any Bed Dolly' By Night" |
When I was a young and naïve magazine collector, I used to think that the magazine editors would take a color painting and make half of it black & white, or all blues like this one, to save money. When I saw Copeland's original art for MEN May 1960, I realized that he was painting per the editor's exact requirements. This painting is half-color and half-duotone, exactly as it appears in the magazine.
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July 1960 - "Fraulein Rosemary, $1000. a Night"
duotone. Not shown.
June 1961 - "The 50 Blushing Brides of 'Deadly Jim' Watson"
<detail
November 1962 - "The Fraulein was a Tramp" reused: see TRUE ACTION May 1966. |
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May 1963 - cover and interior "Fastest Girl in Town". Top of his three cover paintings and the interior are clever mirror images, not a flip but a reworking of the same scene. Copeland recycled this cover art for TRUE ACTION December 1965, where the lady has dark hair. |
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July 1963 - "The Passionate Hooker" by Henry Kane. Ah yes, the old gun in the teddy bear trick. |
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August 1963 - "Case of the Wild Widow" (from HUNTER AT LARGE) by Thomas B. Dewey.
September 1963 - two b&w illustrations for "Lost Village of Heathen Blondes" |
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December 1963 - "Redheaded Hellcat of Hershel Island" detail
January 1964 - "Strange Bedfellows" (not shown) |
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February 1964 - two illustrations for "Backwoods Tease" (THE BRAT) by Gil Brewer. Later smaller drawings are by an uncredited staff artist. |
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June 1964 - "Passionate Afternoons of Belle De Jour". Second-page and all later drawings by uncredited staff artist.
September 1964 - "The Promiscuous Babysitter"
Not shown. |
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October 1964 - "Pushover Blonde in Room 504" detail.
Copeland will appear in 20 of the next 24 issues of MEN.
December 1964 - "The Loose, Young Widow of Sailor Street" by Mario Puzo writing as Mario Cleri. Recycled in TRUE ACTION Sept 1966. |
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January 1965 - "Buzz Ryan's Sensuous New Secretary" |
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February 1965 - "Oriental Pushover" |
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March 1965 - title page & second-page illustrations for "The Blonde From Shack Road" (CLAUDELLE INGLISH) by Erskine Caldwell.
Later small drawings are by a different artist. |
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April 1965 - title page & second-page illustration for "Killer's Nymph" (READY FOR THE TIGER) by Sam Ross. Later small drawings are by a different artist.
Reused in MALE ANNUAL #7, 1969. |
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<Apr 1965 second-page illustration
May 1965 - "Movie House Tease" reused in TRUE ACTION July 1969. |
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June 1965 - "The Girl With Hot Dreams" |
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July 1965 - "The Not-So-Pure Girl" detail |
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August 1965 - "Wild Girl on Parole" reused in TRUE ACTION July 1967. |
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October 1965 - "The Promiscuous Pick-Up" (from ENTER WITHOUT DESIRE) by Ed Lacy. |
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November 1965 - "Valley of Chained Blondes" <detail
December 1965 - title-page and second page >
illustrations for "Nude Redhead in Murder Trap 212" (from FIND THIS WOMAN) by Richard S. Prather. |
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January 1966 - "I Supply Beautiful Girls to Millionaires" (not shown) |
February 1966 - cover and two interior illustrations for "The Sins of Sally Brown" (THE MAGICIAN'S WIFE) by James M. Cain.
Later small drawings are by an unknown staff artist.
Title-page illustration shown here. |
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March 1966 - "Vendetta on the Street of Lonely Frauleins" by Mario Cleri (pen name of associate editor Mario Puzo).
Second-page illustration (not shown) is by Earl Norem.
Introducing Scarlet Tracy. Not everyone can support a bra holster. |
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May 1966 -
cover and two illustrations
for "The Black Bra Caper" by James McKinney.
Second-page illustration>
And - |
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May 1966 title page - art was redrawn (no guns) for ACTION FOR MEN March 1969. |
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June 1966 - two illustrations for "Counter Nymph" by James Leasor. |
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July 1966 - bikers and Green Berets cover by Copeland
- plus interior "Golden-Legged Girl at Call-Doll Motel" (from MAKE MY BED SOON) by Jack Webb - detail
(second-page and other small drawings by staff artist) |
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September 1966 - two illustrations for "Killer's Love Slave" (THE HUNGRY ONE) by Gil Brewer.
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January 1967 - cover
February 1967 - two illustrations for "Passion Trap at Counterkill House" (MAID IN PARIS) by Frank Kane.
Title page illustration is reused in ACTION FOR MEN September 1969. |
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Second-page illustration for Feb 1967. Later small drawings for this story are by a different artist. |
October 1967 - "The Body Hunters" by Frank Kane.
Small back-pages drawings for this article are by a different artist.
December 1967 - "The Thrill-Kill Pack" (not shown) |
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MEN ANNUAL #1
Says 1966-67 on the cover, just 1967 inside.
Copeland cover and b&w interior "Nymph Blonde at the 'Oasis of Bayonets'" reused from
MALE May 1965. |
January 1968 - "That Party in Shack-Up Mansion" |
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March 1968 -"'Come and Take Me' Nude" April 1968 - "Pure No More" (Both illustrations use mirror images.)
June 1968 - "Castle of Strange Passions"
July 1968 - "Buried Alive - - 36 Days in a Cong Hell Bunker" (not shown) |
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August 1968 - "Bayou Girl" used again in STAG ANNUAL #9, 1970 (and shown there below).
<September 1968 - "Let's Make Susan"
October 1968 - "Encore With a Tease"> |
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November 1968 - "One Hot Weekend". This b&w 2-pager reuses color art from STAG November 1965, where it was used to illustrate a different story
December 1968 - "Pillow Girl" detail |
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MEN ANNUAL #2, 1968 -
two illustrations: "Captive Females of Passion House" (THE BOMBSHELL) by Carter Brown >
and "Hot Afternoon With Nora" reused from MAN'S WORLD February 1966 & used again in TRUE ACTION March 1969. |
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January 1969 - "The Surrender of Linda Rawlings"
February 1969 - "Sleep-In Nurse" |
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March 1969 - "Nude Blonde in Hangar 10". Like his fellow MEN artist Bill Ward, Copeland was one of the all-time best at drawing gorgeous women wearing black bras and panties.
July 1969 - "Billie Mae's Love Cabin" reused for 1971 STAG ANNUAL. (not shown) |
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August 1969 - "The Body Traders" by Theodore Taylor. |
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October 1969 - "Wild Harvest" by Stephen Longstreet. |
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November 1969 - "Greetings From a Nude Blonde" |
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December 1969 - "Louise's Love Pit" > |
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MEN ANNUAL #3, 1969 - cover (reused from MEN January 1967 cover) and
interior illustration for "Backyard Nymph" (reused from MALE Feb 1967).
May 1970 "The Love Teacher" reused in MALE ANNUAL 17, 1973. |
August 1970 - "Weekend with a Wild Tease" |
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MEN ANNUAL #4, 1970 - b&w splash page for "The Marriage - The Seduction - The Peeping Toms" by Erskine Caldwell.
MEN ANNUAL #14, 1973 - "The Body-Lock Blonde" reused from MALE Feb 1968. |
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Men's Pictorial
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