Spanish magazine Monografico fuses art, criticism, politics—and sometimes pulp. One of our friends from Spain sent in a few scans from an issue of the freezine Monografico, an art magazine founded in Burgos in 1987 by Luan Mart and which today is a forum not just for art, but criticism and political commentary. What caught our friend’s eye was the usage inside of the adventure magazine Man’s True Danger from August 1963. The art on that is by Charles Frace, and the boxed text has been changed (see original at right) to describe the action on the cover, but ironically. It says, “While the city sleeps, rat-haired chavalotes, gallant and generous, teach fragile butterflies to defend against evil men using simple house keys.” Chavalotes means something like “lads” or “big boys,” and it also has a sexual connotation we won’t bother with here. The idea of the image is simply to point out the prevalence of using doublespeak to mask misdeeds—i.e., how the state proclaims it wishes to protect you from external threats, but uses that as an excuse to increase its own power by destroying your rights. This is obviously a big issue in Spain, but it’s a problem everywhere. Our friend sent us a few other scans, and though they aren't pulp we decided to share them anyway because they're very interesting. We’ve uploaded those below. And thanks for sending this in—we love it when we check our inbox and find that the day's pulp work has been done for us.
They say change is good, but in the adventure magazine business it was usually a sign of trouble. Man’s True Danger debuted in 1962, offering fiction, humor, adventure reporting and glamour photos in a magazine market crowded with identical competitors. Like many adventure magazines, it switched from art covers painted by well-known illustrators to photographed covers like the one you see above, but in 1970 it made the unusual move of switching back to art covers. In both cases, we assume the impetus for change was shrinking sales. Man’s True Danger stuck with art covers until the magazine’s demise in 1972 (some sources say it folded in 1970, but they’re wrong). Above and below are twenty-four scans from a September 1969 issue of Man’s True Danger (shortened to just True Danger on the cover, but the masthead retains the full name), including images of the amusingly monikered model Tinkle Starr. Enjoy.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1951—The Rosenbergs Are Convicted of Espionage
Americans Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage as a result of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. While declassified documents seem to confirm Julius Rosenberg's role as a spy, Ethel Rosenberg's involvement is still a matter of dispute. Both Rosenbergs were executed on June 19, 1953. 1910—First Seaplane Takes Flight
Frenchman Henri Fabre, who had studied airplane and propeller designs and had also patented a system of flotation devices, accomplishes the first take-off from water at Martinque, France, in a plane he called Le Canard, or "the duck." 1953—Jim Thorpe Dies
American athlete Jim Thorpe, who was one of the most prolific sportsmen ever and won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football at the collegiate and professional levels, and also played professional baseball and basketball, dies of a heart attack. 1958—Khrushchev Becomes Premier
Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the Soviet Union. During his time in power he is responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, and presides over the rise of the early Soviet space program, but his many policy failures lead to him being deposed in October 1964. After his removal he is pensioned off and lives quietly the rest of his life, eventually dying of heart disease in 1971.
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