Men’s Adventure Quarterly Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021): ALL ESPIONAGE

If you’ve followed this blog for any real length of time, then you know by now that I am an espionage junkie. And nothing gets me going more than the espionage books, movies and television shows of the Golden Age of spies, the Cold War 50s, 60s, and 70s. Of course, this explosion in popularity at that time was tied directly into the superstardom of a single source—James Bond, Ian Fleming’s indomitable British spy for Her Majesty, and his exploits in novels and the wildly successful film series that started in 1962 (and remains a cash-cow today).

Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham created Men’s Adventure Quarterly (MAQ) as a way to preserve and celebrate the Men’s Adventure Magazines (MAM) of a bygone era. That MAM era was a post-war phenomenon that ran from the late 40s through the early 70s. In their earlier heyday, there was a huge emphasis on so-called “true stories” of manly men at war (or post-war), rescuing buxom ladies while crippling the Nazi war machine (or its attempts at resurfacing). These stories were interspersed with pictorial spreads of nearly naked females that offset the action-packed illustrations that accompanied the articles themselves.

To quote the editors/publishers themselves: “MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY is the only magazine dedicated to reprinting and discussing stories, artwork, articles, and photographs from men’s adventure magazines published in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.” Within this edition you will find a copious amount of information, all painstakingly investigated to ensure that everything is properly identified for the author or illustrator and its original source. To simply call it a labor of love is to vastly undersell the undertaking; it is a labor of intense and fervent love that burns with the white-hot intensity of a billion suns!

I can’t even begin to describe the stories contained with the pages without acknowledging that no MAM ever existed that is as well-designed and printed as these editions of MAQ. This issue, just like all of them, is simply a gorgeous example of prestige formatting, with beautiful scans of full color artwork and photos that present this material in a way that outclasses the cheap MAMs from which they originated by an incalculable measure. If it were hardbound, this would qualify as a coffee table book. The graphic design and layout work throughout by Bill Cunningham is big, bold, brash, and colorful, leading one’s eyes effortlessly through the entire publication. This truly is a thing of beauty!

Now, on to the contents. While it would seem logical that these stories would all try and copy the tropes of the James Bond movies of the day, much like the Euro-spy movies from the same era, with megalomaniacal super villains and suave master spies, the truth is much more grounded in cold war reality. In that respect they aren’t terribly far removed from the classic post-war stories that populated the earlier, more traditional MAMs; hard-edged men of grit and determination willing to risk all to take down the Communist agents pitted against the interests of the US and outwitting female enemy agents whose sexy wiles are thrust upon them over the course of their missions.

In addition to the supposed true-life spy antics, we get a gallery of spy-centric MAM covers that made me wish I could track down every issue, a portfolio of the main actress contenders in the 60s to take on the mantle of “Jane Bond,” including Diana Rigg (TV’s The Avengers and Tracy from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), Monica Vitti (Modesty Blaise), and Ursula Andress (Dr. No, The 10th Victim).

All of the articles (fictional stories?) are entertaining and fun in their own retro way and, as stated earlier, mostly shy away from the more outlandish spy-fi elements that dominated the genre in the late 60s and through into the 70s. However, there are a couple of deviations in that regard, first with “Detective William Clive: Is He the Real James Bond?” (MALE, January 1966) by Walter Kaylin, writing as Roland Empey. This one serves as almost a compendium of Fleming/Bond moments all regurgitated through a supposed “real world” filter as we’re introduced to the exploits of William Clive, a British detective for Scotland Yard who we’re told was the real-world inspiration for Ian Fleming’s famous spy with a license to kill.

What follows is a firsthand recap of adventures that serve as slightly modified scenes lifted straight out of Bond novels, tweaked slightly to make them plagiarism-proof, but with enough connective tissue for even casual fans to make the connection. But even that effort is unnecessary as Kaylin connects those dots for the reader, calling out specific scenes and naming the associated Fleming title that Clive’s adventures “inspired.” This one was preposterous but great fun.

The other tale that approaches the heights of the 60’s Bond spy-craze is one entitled, “Operation Maneater” (FOR MEN ONLY, February 1969) by Dan Honig. This one is featured on the cover of its original issue, memorialized by the great Mort Kunstler with a depiction of the climax with our hero and a blonde babe trussed up and being lowered into a pool of piranhas while a bald supervillain looks on, standing on a leopard-skin rug. Clearly, we’re in the realm of the Bondian superspy here! Our hero is Brackett, a freelance agent who narrates the story of a villainous Fascist trying to destroy the European economy through counterfeit currency.

Brackett’s mission sends him to Brazil where he must contend with neo-Nazis and the villain’s deadly pets before being captured and dangled over those piranhas featured on the cover. And that scantily clad blonde being threatened with Brackett on the cover?  That would be the villain’s hot blonde Canadian girlfriend, who by this point has been turned by our hero into an ally through some skinny dipping and lovemaking. Things look grim for our stalwart freelancer, but in true Bond fashion, Brackett has hidden spy gadgets including a rocket belt that comes in quite handy. While the first-person narration undercuts the suspense—after all, we know Brackett has to survive to tell us this story—this is still a load of fun and a great time capsule of the era!

Honestly, there’s not a dud to be found in this collection. If like me, you’re a fan of those spy antics of the cold war-era, this a must-buy. I personally can’t wait to dive into more issues of the Men’s Adventure Quarterly. Highest recommendations!

All issues of Men's Adventure Quarterly can be purchased here.

Reviewed by Steve Carroll