I’ve got a long-standing appreciation of men’s magazines. I’m not talking about Playboy and such, but those men’s magazines from the 1950s – before my time – and 1960s – barely my time – that featured outlandish stories about men and women in dangerous or war-torn settings and featured even more outlandish covers.

I grew up peeking at these titles at the supermarket magazine rack while my dad shopped for groceries. There was a real allure to these mags. Not just the “torn blouse” women often depicted but the bizarre nature of the situations.

Of course, artist Will Hulsey’s cover illustration for the September 1956 cover of Man’s Life magazine is probably the most famous example, in no small part because rocker Frank Zappa appropriated the name for a 1970 Mothers of Invention album.

I’m far from an expert on the topic, but you can find a lot of info about this genre of magazines at menspulpmags.com and through the Twitter feed @PulpLibrarian.

Fun stuff.