Doc Savage - Part 1 Bronze Skin & Torn Shirts

Back in April 2010, DC Comics was about to launch a new DOC SAVAGE comic book series. I asked my readers if they were wondering..."who is Doc Savage?"

The character, Doctor Clark Savage Jr., first appeared in 1933 in a series of pulp magazines from publisher Henry W. Ralston, editor John L. Nanovic and author Lester Dent.

Doc has often been noted as being one of the possible inspirations that led Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to create Superman.

After all, Doc was called a "superman," his name was Clark, he was dubbed "the man of bronze" and he had a secret headquarters called The Fortress of Solitude. Coincidence? I think not,

Unlike the last son of Krypton, Doc was an Earthling whose only "costume" was his khakis and torn off-white shirt.

Doc somehow managed to always appear either shirtless or in a terribly mangled shirt that emphasized his bulging biceps.

 

 And sometimes Doc even appeared...well, you know...

...naked! Talk about pulp fiction!

Things got a little creepy at times for Doc,

but this Savage always knew how to get his man.

Mystery on Happy Bones? I'm not even touching that one! Come back tomorrow when I take a look at the swinging, sexy paperback novel covers that made Doc a sensation and pop culture icon all over again in the 1960s.

Sex! Hypnosis! Chaplin! Commies! Gays! Mansfield! Tits! Fluoride! Hitler! - My Favorite Magazine Cover Ever

Foodsploitation: The TV GUIDE Cook Booklet

Remember how those Kraft-sponsored TV specials of the 1970s used to tell us to check the "recipe section in this week's TV GUIDE magazine"? Well, who know there was an actual TV GUIDE Cook Booklet?

Now you know.

Man's Magazine

One has to wonder does this cover illustration goes with "the great search for sexual adjustment" or  perhaps "Poison in Your Pork?".Either way, it's clear what audience this magazine was marketed to–ME.

Spring is in Vogue

Let's welcome in the season with this VOGUE magazine cover from March 1960 -  FIFTY YEARS AGO!!!

THE ADDAMS FAMILY on Broadway

Continuing the trend of turning everything from my childhood into a Broadway musical, here's a first look at the cast of THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Looks pretty awesome to me, especially Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia, Nathan Lane as Gomez, and Jackie Hoffman as Grandmama. Joing them are Adam Riegler as Pugsley, Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday, Zachary James as Lurch and Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester. Photo by Mark Seliger for Vanity Fair magazine. Wow, they still publish VF? With all the recent mag deaths (Gourmet, Metropolitan Home, Modern Bride, The Advocate, etc.) I wonder how long till that mag folds?

Bad Men

With the excellent AMC serial MAD MEN returning tonight for a third season, I thought I'd take a look at some awful advertising from the decade after the golden age of advertising. The 1970s.

"I was flat till I went fluffy, but I still looked like a serial killer".

"Hi Hal, this is Neil from Maybelline. We couldn't decide which tagline to go with for the Fresh Lash campaign, so we decided to go with all of them. Now just slap 'em in an ad with lotsa pretty pictures and we'll be done with it, Okay?"

"Can we make encyclopedias look sexy? We sure can! How about a pleasantly attractive older woman dressed like a stewardess rubbing her right breast on the back of a teen-age boy's head while she straddles his shoulders? His smile alone will sell about a million sets!"

People Who Read People

Inspired by my friend Laura over at A Touch of Tuesday Weld, here's a couple of tasteful fashion ads from People Magazine circa 1977.

It's more like "Lynda Carter wants you to rescue her from the wilderness and take her shopping for something that does not look like a goth version of a Holly Hobbie quilt."

What the hell is she wearing on her head? She must have fallen off the marble pillars earlier. I hope that wrap stopped the bleeding, because I would not want any blood to get on his lovely white blouse. What an attitude!

Trashy Old Magazines: Uncensored

This is the last one in my file, not very scandalous - but interesting.Is Hollywood going goofy over goofballs?

Trashy Old Magazines: Confidential

The granddaddy of all of today's trashy tabloids - you can see why.

Trashy Old Magazines: Behind the Scene

I wanna read about Bing and the amateur stipteasers!

Trashy Old Magazines: Exposed

Joan Fontaine and her Negro Screen Lover!

Trashy Old Magazines: On The QT

I'll be running a bunch of these over the next few days while I catch up. Notice Dorothy Kilgallen's name on the lower left hand corner. Marilyn, Dorothy, JFK, pills, suicide...

I'm just saying...

Tomcat & Wildcat

Going through my "miscellaneous images" files I came across these two feline-themed vintage mens' magazine covers. Meow!

"You'll PURR with PAGAN PLEASURE!" Love it!

"Death Orgy of the Leopard Women!" How did they come up with this stuff?

How to Beat Your June Gloom...

It's not that I don't have plenty of important things  to blog about...it's just this crazy "June Gloom" that makes me want look at colorful old advertising that I've had it my design  "swipe files" for years. For example:

Wow - these colors are already cheering me up!  I've always wanted my outfit to match my furniture and my artwork. Who knew it was such "Effortless Ease"?

Talk about colorful! These PSA flight attendants not only "pop" - but all their uniforms are unique, but compliment each other's. How hot is that? If flight crew still dressed liked this, I'd be flying a whole lot more often.

And finally, The Cologne of the Future. I clipped this ad from an old French fashion mag from the 1960s. Not only did the perfume have a "futuristic" name, but the packaging and the ad imagery looked like they could be from another time and place as well. I'd love to have that box sitting on my bathroom shelf.

Wine...Women...Song...Satan!

Another crazy old magazine cover while I catch my breathe.

Santas Revealed -We Have a Winner!

Reader Andrew Kane correctly identified all 8 celebrity Santas.Andrew-to claim your prize (a Dougsploitation Christmas music cd) email me at douglasprinz@gmail.com with your contact info. Thanks for playing!

Guess Who's Playing Santa! (a little contest)

From the December 1963 Issue of Good Housekeeping, the tantalizing Miss Tammy Grimes and her eight St. Nicks.I'm particularly fond of Santa #7. Any guesses to whom these famous fellas might be?

The first reader to correctly identify all 8 guys gets an extra special prize.
Here's some clues: 

Number 1 is a Broadway Legend. 

Number 2 is very popular this time of the year. 

Number 3 is famous for playing a character that is mentioned throughout my blog. 

Number 4 was a comic genius. 

Numbers 5 & 6 are a couple of rats. 

Number 7 is still alive. 

Number 8 is probably best known by today's audiences in animated form. 

I'll publish the answers in a few days, or after I get a correct submission. The prize? Perhaps a home-made Dougsploitation Christmas cd featuring my top rare & unusual Christmas favorites! Happy guessing, kids!

Where the kisses are hers and hers and his...

hmm....what was really going on in this photo? My guess: Suzanne Somers is thinking "if those fuckers The Goddamn Ropers can get their own dumb spinoff, imagine how much money I can get to stay on this shitty show. After all, I'm the only reason people tune in to watch. They'd never dare replace me!"Oh no they didn't!

Remember when TV GUIDE magazine DIDN'T suck?

Well, another new TV season is here - and a another year of the putrid excuse for a magazine called TV GUIDE. I remember when the Fall Preview issue was an EVENT. Page after page of well-written profiles of new shows and actual accurate TV LISTINGS! Not just an impossible-to-read grid for primetime, but LISTINGS for 24 HOURS A DAY/SEVEN DAYS OF THE WEEK with episode descriptions and cast lists! Wow - imagine that. Luckliy I have my collection from the 1970s-2000s to reflect on from time-to-time, as the weekly magazine continues its downward spiral into an unreadable throwaway (recyclable) piece of crap.