Swipe File: "Surf Pack Assassins," "Hell Surfers," and CAPTAIN SAVAGE

First, there were the Surf Pack Assassins, in the August 1967 issue of Male magazine. Story by Walter Kaylin, writing under his frequent nom de plume Roland Empey. Male was published by Magazine Management Company.

"Mag Mang" was also the birthplace of Marvel Comics. So perhaps it's not too surprising that a little over a year later, Marvel swiped the idea of surfing savages for their war title, Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders in October, 1968.

Both illos were predated in print by another group of savage surfers, this gang with significantly less firepower, but no shortage of outrageousness. Of course I'm talking about Mort Künstler's equally jaw-dropping illustration for "The Hell Surfers," published in For Men Only in July 1967.

And, good news for fans of surf gang pulp: Mort Künstler's website offers prints of Mort's classic illo in two different sizes. You can order from the Mort store HERE.

 "Surf Pack Assassins" and its unforgettable Norem illustrations are included in the Men's Adventure Library's Walter Kaylin collection, He-Men, Bag Men, & Nymphos, available now.

Get Nymphos as a deluxe color hardcover from Amazon HERE.

Get Nymphos as a color softcover from Amazon HERE.

Get Nymphos as a deluxe color hardcover from co-editor Bob Deis HERE.

Get Nymphos as a color softcover from co-editor Bob Deis HERE.

Kaylin's NYMPHOS: Now in Color, Expanded Hard- and Softcover Editions

He-Men, Bag Men, & Nymphos collects highlights of Walter Kaylin's work for MAMs. It is now back in print from The Men's Adventure Library in bold new color editions, expanded from the out-of-print monochrome first edition. We are proud to present the book for the first time in color and celebrate the book's deluxe hardcover debut. 

But who was Walter Kaylin? Simple. Walter Kaylin was the MAM writer other MAM writers wanted to be.

Kaylin had an innate understanding of the highly specific needs of MAM fiction, and his work in the field across decades would help define the unique genre. But that once-in-a-career symbiosis came at a price: For decades, those musty, obscure magazines—most now well over half a century old, with copies hard to come by—have provided the sole portal to the majority of Kaylin’s prodigious output. 

Our priorities for the He-Men, Bag Men, & Nymphos collection were to present a selection of some of Kaylin’s most memorable stories, while also covering as many MAM obsessions and sub-genres as could reasonably fit between covers. You’ll read Kaylin takes on hard-boiled crime, Westerns, dark historical fiction, tropical adventure, revolutionary battle, alarmist non-fiction, a WWII “death trek” saga, reality-based survival, varied approaches to international espionage and intrigue, bogus biography, gangsters, humorous tall tales with a wartime theme and a sexy bent, and, in the new expanded hardcover edition, a highly unconventional animal attack story.

Our initial edition of this collection suffered from spotty distribution, making it less accessible to readers of what would become our acclaimed, multi-volume Men’s Adventure Library series. We also didn’t previously issue a hardcover, as has since become standard for the Library. We’re glad to put those issues right with these new, color editions, which include supplementary illustrations and commentary that further illuminate the range and quantity of Kaylin’s work in MAMs.

Includes a reminiscence by Kaylin's editor at Magazine Management Company, Bruce Jay Friedman.

Excerpted from "The Right Man for the Job" by Wyatt Doyle in He-Men, Bag Men, & Nymphos

Get Nymphos as a deluxe color hardcover from Amazon HERE.

Get Nymphos as a color softcover from Amazon HERE.

Get Nymphos as a deluxe color hardcover from co-editor Bob Deis HERE.

Get Nymphos as a color softcover from co-editor Bob Deis HERE.

...Just get Nymphos!