It's A Man's World
(2003 - Feral House)

(edited by Adam Parfrey) Subtitled MEN'S ADVENTURE MAGAZINES - THE POSTWAR PULPS, this book was first released in 2004 and with its 8.5-by-11-inch size, 288 pages was almost the ideal thickness. Its size allowed the full-page reproductions to be presented larger than those in its only rival, Taschen's MEN'S ADVENTURE MAGAZINES IN POSTWAR AMERICA. In 2015, Feral House released the book again, this time, trumpeted as the Expanded Edition. The 'expansion' is simply a 24-page section that is made up of a large additional essay by Parfrey (entitled "Manufacturing The Enemy") accompanied by 15 art pieces that are examples of related materials found in the war-time 'slick' magazines before the advent of the postwar over-the-top adventure 'rags'. The thicker edition, with its newly resulting numerical mix of size, weight, art, text & photos, actually moves a bit farther away from the 'ideal' we are seeking. Anyway, even though the earlier edition of this book provides the better experience of the two, it still falls a bit short in a head-to-head scoring comparison with the later edition of the smaller size, but thicker, Taschen title. Well, for comprehensiveness, let's now look at the details of the new Expanded Edition. Out of its 312 pages, you'll find 177 pages of the largest reproductions and then another 73 that each gather together multiple images - most of these presenting four magazine covers, laid out to have one healthy size image on display, leaving the rest to be shrunk & crowded into a single column. The other such pages usually feature some interior illustration painting with another cover. The other text, found in both editions, are trips down Memory Lane with a handful of the creators, then focusing-in on the illustrators, including a specific feature on Norman Saunders. So, where the art is concerned, the following artists were found to be 'well-presented' in this volume: Michael Aviano, Warren Bauggartner, Tom Beecham (2), Sam Berman, Stan Borack (3), Jack Campbell (2), Gil Cohen (2), Sherman Cooke, Charles Copeland, Mel Crair (2), Rafael DeSoto (2)***, Robert Doares, Clarence Doore (4), Norm Eastman (14), Brummett Echohawk, George Eisenberg, Ed Emshwiller**, John Fay, Fernando Fernandez, Basil Gogos (2), Joe Grandee, George Gross (5), Carl Hantman, Hugh Hirtle, Will Hulsey, Mitchell Jamieson, Mat Kauten, Harold M. Kramer, Bob Kuhn, Mort Künstler (33), John Leone, Joe Little, Milton Luros, Anton Mandolini, Charles McBarron, Bruce Minney (2)*, Jack O'Reilly, Taylor Oughton, Walter Popp, Peter Poulton, Vic Prezio (3), Philip Ronfor, Norman Saunders (16)***, Al Schmidt, Robert E. Schulz (5), Syd Shores, Leo Ramon Summers, Joe Styga, Arthur Szyk, Rico Tomaso (2), Doug Weaver, and UNKNOWN (40).

* - Note that Minney's 'well-presented' pieces here can additonally be found so in his own collection on The List.

** - Note that the 'well-presented' pieces here by Emshwiller cannot additonally be found so in his own collection on The List.

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by DeSoto, and Saunders, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in their own collections on The List.