Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle have been regaling enthusiastic PulpFest audiences with their takes on the men’s adventure magazines of the late 20th century ever since 2018. Their presentation in 2023 even led to a widely acclaimed book — Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants: When Men’s Adventure Magazines Got Weird.
They’re back at PulpFest 2025 with a look at the “Masters of Men’s Adventure Magazines,” a presentation on the writers, artists, editors, publishers, and models for the men’s adventure magazine era.
Here’s what Bob wrote some fifteen years ago for The Men’s Adventure Magazines & Books Blog:
“Some of the best known writers whose work was published in men’s postwar pulp magazines include: Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Jimmy Breslin, Harlan Ellison, William Faulkner, Bruce Jay Friedman, Harry Harrison, Ernest Hemingway, Elmore Leonard, Mario Puzo, Robert Ruark, Robert Silverberg, Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson, S.J. Perelman, and Alvin Toffler.”
What about the artists? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:
“Artist Norman Saunders was the dean of illustrators for these magazines . . . Charles Copeland and Earl Norem were two other popular artists who worked for the Magazine Management stable of magazines. Many illustrations that were uncredited were done by Bruce Minney, Norm Eastman, Gil Cohen, Mel Crair, Basil Gogos, and Vic Prezio, among others. James Bama contributed over 400 cover and interior illustrations . . . Historical artist Mort Künstler painted many covers and illustrations for these magazines, and Playboy photographer Mario Casilli started out shooting pinups for this market.”
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 2025 on Friday, August 8, at 6:55 pm for “Masters of Men’s Adventure Magazines,” to find out who our “Master Historians of MAMs” believe to be the “Masters” who put together the men’s magazines for the veterans of America’s wars.
Bob Deis has worked as a teacher, artist, musician, logger, magazine writer, and state government bureaucrat. By accident, he fell into a lengthy career as a political consultant. Now retired, Bob spends much of his time collecting, writing, and editing books about men’s adventure magazines. Due to a family emergency, Bob will be appearing in video form only.
In 2009, Bob created MensPulpMags.com, the popular website about the genre. Several years later, Bob and Wyatt Doyle launched the Men’s Adventure Library. In 2021, Bob and Bill Cunningham of Pulp 2.0 Press debuted a new magazine that features men’s adventure stories and artwork. Entitled Men’s Adventure Quarterly, it’s available through MensPulpMags.com, Amazon, and other booksellers, including yours truly.
Wyatt Doyle is a writer, designer, publisher, musician, and photographer from Pennsylvania. For two decades, he earned a living in the Los Angeles film and television industry. He launched New Texture in 2006 and edits and designs most of its publications. He assisted Georgina Spelvin in the publication of her memoir, The Devil Made Me Do It, and served as editor and publisher of Black Cracker, by writer and guitarist Josh Alan Friedman. He curates the New Texture website and Reverend Raymond Branch’s RevBranch.com.
Together, Bob and Wyatt co-edit the Men’s Adventure Library which collects classic stories and artwork from the men’s adventure magazines. Their books include Eva: Men’s Adventure Supermodel; Exotic Adventures of Robert Silverberg; George Gross: Covered; A Handful of Hell: Classic War and Adventure Stories; Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men’s Adventure Magazines; Mort Künstler: The Godfather of Pulp Fiction Illustrators; One Man Army: The Action Paperback Art of Gil Cohen; Pollen’s Women: The Art of Samson Pollen; Weasels Ripped My Flesh! and other titles.
PulpFest 2025 begins on August 7 and runs through August 10 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. We’ll be celebrating the “Masters of Blood and Thunder,” the “Great Pulp Villains,” Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, and more at this year’s convention.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the 2025 Schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the register button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room. The DoubleTree is essentially sold out, but you can click here for nearby hotels. If you’re looking for a roommate, write to Jack Cullers at his email address below.
As of June 8, there were a few rooms available at the convention rate on Saturday night. Click “book a room” on our website and edit your stay for just Saturday night.
Remember, in addition to your membership in PulpFest 2025, you’ll also be a member of Doc Con XXI, ERBFest 2025, and Farmercon XX. That’s four conventions for one price! You can’t beat that deal.
If you’re interested in selling at PulpFest, our dealers’ room is full. However, we are adding a limited number of tables in the pre-function hallway outside of the dealers’ room. These tables will cost $125 each and will be guarded by security overnight. If you are interested, please write to Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com to sign up for a spot. Any attendees who are interested in providing security services, please write to Jack Cullers at his email address above.
Our featured image was excerpted from Vic Prezio’s cover for the October 1960 issue of True Adventures, published by Popular Publications. The magazine got its start as New Detective Magazine — a pulp magazine — in 1941. Interestingly, Prezio’s art was flipped around and used as the cover for the February 1963 Adventure. By then, the classic pulp had been converted to a men’s adventure magazine by Popular Publications.
Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from Thomas Beecham’s cover art for the March 1956 issue of Fury: Exciting True Adventures for Men, illustrating Howard Pyle’s article, “Bloody Buccaneers of the Spanish Main.” We’ll be saluting the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rafael Sabatini — one of the leading writers of pirate stories of all time — and more at PulpFest 2025.
Our final image is the August 1963 issue of Men Today, featuring a cover by Norman Saunders, one of the leading artists for men’s adventure magazines. Of course, Norman Saunders is even better known for his work in the pulp magazine industry. Men Today was launched by Reese Publishing and later published by EmTee Publications. It ran for nearly 100 issues.
