Black Samuria by Marc Olden

Marc Olden was born in 1933 in Baltimore and died in 2003 in New York. He graduated from Queens College with a degree in creative writing and history. He had an affinity of Japanese culture and thus trained in martial arts earning advanced degree black belts in karate and aikido.

His first published works were two non-fiction books. One is a biography of Black Panther political activist Angela Davis and the other a study on cocaine in 1970s New York. Through his investigation work he was introduced to many real world DEA and CIA agents which led him to his first fiction series, Narc.

Narc was written under the pseudonym Robert Hawkes and was a nine-book series which lasted from 1973 to 1975. It was a Men’s Adventure crime series about a white Narcotics Agent named John Bolt who kicks ass, gets ladies and takes on drug dealers.

After the NARC series, I’m assuming that Olden was like, why the hell am I writing about a tough white guy when I could be writing about a tough black guy and throw in all of that wonderful knowledge I have of martial arts and Japanese culture? And thus Black Samurai was born.

Black Samurai had eight entries in a two-year span- 1974-75. There was a movie made in 1977 starring Jim Kelly based on the series installment we are reviewing here today. I have yet to see it but Brandon over at the channel Blaxploitation Fanatic says the movie is pretty terrible, and he has 213 videos on his channel about blaxploitation books, movies and music so I’m going to trust his judgement.

Written review below. Video review here:

Robert Sand is the Black Samurai. His backstory is at the age of 21 he enlists in the army. After his first tour of Vietnam, he is on R&R in Japan when he comes upon some drunk US soldiers harassing an elderly Japanese gentlemen. He steps in to defend the man and is rewarded with two shot gun wounds. While lying there bleeding, on the verge of passing out, he sees the old man go full on Mr. Miyagi on the drunk ruffians.

The old man is actually a samurai warrior who takes the kindhearted Robert Sand under his wing and trains him in the art of the samurai. Once he gets out of the hospital obviously.

After the death of his teacher, Sand works in the vigilante business for the former President of the United States, William Baron Clarke aka The Baron.

Thank you, internet (specifically Spy Guys and Gals), because you are not really given this information in this entry in the series. And to add insult to injury we are immediately thrown into an insane battle.

Let’s set the scene.

Sand quietly enters a dark living room. A saltshaker rolls on the table and falls to the floor. A squeaky shrill voice out of the dark proclaims, “I did it!”

“It could be a phonograph record on high speed.” He thinks. “Could be, but it isn’t.”

He is on high alert. His senses straining to comprehend where the voice came from.

Footsteps on wood. It’s coming from the table where the saltshaker rolled from. Into the dim light comes a small figure. Sand realizes, it’s a dwarf, in red leather jacket, pants and high heeled boots. And he’s ugly. Purple lips. Yellow teeth. “He looks like hammered shit.”

The two have a quick conversation. The dwarf is named Reinhardt. He knows Sand’s name, knows who he is and why he’s there. And the reason Sand is there in Paris, we find out during this brief exchange, is to speak with a man named Aumont. But Aumont is now dead squeaks the dwarf. And with that he screams “Now! Now!”

Doors open and shirtless burly black dudes with leopards on their heads charge at Sand. They have metal claws in their hands. They are swinging and slicing. In a very un-Samurai counterattack, Sand pulls out a .45 and blows one away. They keep coming. Reinhardt pulls out a bull whip and yanks the .45 out of Sand’s hand and then he whips again to wrap around his wrist.

The Black Samuria starts to sweat.

“Unbelievable! The thought flashed back and forth across the Black Samurai’s brain. It’s unbelievable, but the thought was a luxury right now. Unless he acted, he’d die. Killed by a dwarf and leopard men.”

And so begins Black Samurai no 6 The Warlock.

I was completely lost by the time we got to the second chapter but that’s all right. I didn’t pick up this book to hear about the injustice of the human soul in existential dread. I picked it to see shit like this bad ass Black Samurai fight flamboyant gay dwarves and black magic leopard men from Africa.

In chapter two it is all explained anyway. We meet the Baron, who is the former POTUS. He now heads his own vigilante organization, and the Black Samurai is one of his agents. We are briefed on Augustus Janicot aka The Warlock. He is an ex-concentration camp nazi now turned black magic cult leader that uses drugs and his power of persuasion to make good people do terrible things. He video tapes it and then blackmails them to get what he wants.

The video that the Baron has Sand watch is extremely gnarly with violent orgies and humans not old enough for orgies but are there anyway who also get cut up and have their hearts eaten by the drug induced blackmailee. Not cool at all thinks the Black Samurai.

The Baron has gotten intel that the Warlock’s next move is to kidnap a promising Vietnam politician and put him through the videotape ringer. But even worse, this Vietnam politician is married to the Black Samurai’s Japanese ex-girlfriend. They still deeply love each other but for reasons cannot be together.

Sand flips and heads off to Paris which is where we came in in the first chapter.

From here we get lots of back and forth with the Black Samurai and the Warlock. The Warlock is a super villain but with an outer appearance of just being a powerful and rich fun party guy. Not much happens here in the middle. Definitely not nearly enough samuraing.

We meet a woman who works for the Warlock named Synne. She is a very sexy black woman from the US who has matching silver hair and nails.

Also working for the warlock is an albino assassin named Percy Bone who happens to be a pederast. By the way, all of the bad guys are either gay or swing both ways and it is not in a flattering light.

Oh wait! One bad guy is a super macho South American cartel guy who is so straight that he beats women while fornicating. Yeah. Olden really goes above and beyond to make these bad guys, bad guys.

And then besides the gay little people assassins who the Warlock has an array of there is also a giant hairy wolfman guy. I don’t know if he’s really a wolfman or just a giant hairy guy. It’s ambiguous. Which is fun.

There is a big action scene with a pretty decent body count but I have to say, against the Ninja Master, it pales in comparison. Like if this was Brett Wallace there would have been 50 bodies. With Sand we get 30. Still good. Still bloody. Still hacking off body parts and grenades and body pieces flying through the air. I guess I was hoping for a little more blitzkrieg and he was a bit more reserved. Which makes sense because the Samurai were the proper honorable soldiers and the ninjas were shady assassins.

Coincidentally, I was reading Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die at the same time and the similarities did not go unnoticed. The movie came out two years before this book was published so I don’t think it was a coincidence.

The narrative moves pretty quick but there isn’t a lot there. Not that there has to be in a book like this, but it does need a bit more action. It was just ok. It could have used more fight scenes, and I personally would have liked to see Sand using his .45 a little less and sword a little more. The Warlock does zero black magic or occult rituals or philosophical diatribes. He’s just a con artist. Once again, personal preference, I wanted some black magic. He just passes out drugs which hypnotizes people. Imagine the Thugee cult in Temple of Doom but without the atmosphere.

Adventure in the Skies! Aviation Pulp Fiction

Hello friends and welcome to the Book Graveyard, where we talk about all things vintage genre fiction. In this installment I wanted to talk about some pulpy aviation fiction that I’ve read and do a general timeline of the sub-genre in comparison with the history of flying and what was happening in the world. What attracts me most about these stories is that it’s a world of the past. Not only is it exciting adventure pulp but it is historical. The pilots of these first planes became the equivalent of the dime novel cowboy.

Timeline:

December 17, 1903: The Wright brothers become airborne—briefly

“Flying from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft. Each brother flew their wooden, gasoline-powered propeller biplane, the “Wright Flyer,” twice (four flights total), with the shortest lasting 12 seconds and the longest sustaining flight for about 59 seconds. Considered a historic event today, the feat was largely ignored by newspapers of the time, who believed the flights were too short to be important.”- From the History.com website

1914: World War One accelerates the militarization of aircraft

World War I became the first major conflict to use aircraft on a large scale, expanding their use in active combat. Nations appointed high-ranking generals to oversee air strategy, and a new breed of war hero emerged: the fighter pilot or “Flying Ace.” - From the History.com website

The Flying Ace pilot phenomenon is everything in aviation pulp fiction and the first two stories I will be talking about featuring Flying Aces.

The Flying Ace sensation is what inspired many of the war aviation pulps to take the archetype pulp hero character and mixing him with real world figures like Germany’s Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen or as you probably know him - thanks to Snoopy- The Red Baron.

Two of the planes which are featured in the G-8 issue we will be talking about are the Blériot (BLAIR-ee-oh)SPAD S.510 and the Fokker Dr. I. (fock-er dray-deck-er)

The Red Baron flew the Fokker Dr. I triplane which was a German plane based off of the British Sopwith triplane. The first Fokker Dr. I appeared over the Western Front in August 1917. Pilots were impressed with its agility, and several scored victories with the highly maneuverable triplane. Von Richthofen scored 19 of his last 21 victories were achieved while he was flying the Dr. I. By May 1918, however, the Dr. I was being replaced by the newer and faster Fokker D. VII (7). - From the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Since the United States entered World War I without a combat-ready fighter of its own, the U.S. Army Air Service obtained fighters built by the Allies. After the Nieuport 28 proved unsuitable, the Air Service adopted the SPAD XIII as its primary fighter. By the war's end, the Air Service had accepted 893 SPAD XIIIs from the French, and these aircraft equipped 15 of the 16 American fighter squadrons. Today, Americans are most familiar with the SPAD XIII because many of our aces -- like Rickenbacker and Luke -- flew them during WWI. - From the National Museum of the United States Air Force

1918: World War ends and with all of the surplus of planes built for the war governments use the planes to start carrying mail. In the Mitch Mayhew book, Unwanted Passenger that we will be talking about Mitch is a pilot that works for an agency that has an airmail contract.

The now skilled battle pilots with no more use for their fighting flying skills bring the excitement back home with barnstorming daredevil air shows.

May 1927 Charles Lindbergh- solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This is big news in the world and was prime for pulp adventure. One man defeating all odds and in the face of danger comes out at the end a hero.

August 1927 Air Stories is the first aviation pulp published- pulpmags.org

1930s-40s Passenger airlines existed but were only accessible to the wealthy. A trip from New York to Los Angelas cost half the price of an automobile. - From the National Museum of the United States Air Force

1940s-70s non-scheduled airlines first appeared in significant numbers in the United States after the Second World War, as returning pilots purchased discount surplus planes from the government and set up their own uncertificated air services under the non-scheduled charter service exemption in the 1938 Civil Aviation Act. Low overhead and fewer regulations allowed the non-scheduled airlines to offer considerably lower fares than the national scheduled carriers, inaugurating the immensely popular air coach service which attracted millions of Americans unable to afford tickets on the regular airlines. Though the regulatory actions of the Civil Aeronautics Board ultimately extinguished the burgeoning non-scheduled industry, the idea of cheap, efficient air transport endured and by the passage of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act nearly all civil airlines had transitioned to an air coach model. - Wikipedia

This is where our final story comes in with our protagonist working for Air cargo and independent transport service. This is like a wild west time for pilots. Think Han Solo archetype: loner adventurers taking odd jobs that cross the lines between legal and illegal who themselves are morally grey anti-heroes.

The first story we will be talking about is the very first issue of G- 8 and his Battle Aces which was originally published October 1933. The series was a re-imagining of sorts of the aviation pulp series Battle Aces which ran from 1930 to 1932. The publisher was Popular Publications which was created by Harry Steeger and Harold Goldsmith.

In 1931 rival publications Street and Smith had extreme success when it released the first issue of The Shadow. Jumping on the bandwagon Popular Publications came up with its own pulp hero characters; The Spider and G-8. The Spider was a crime fighter similar to the Shadow but G-8 was something different. It took Popular’s literal high adventure excitement World War One Battle Aces and added in the pulp hero element but instead of a vigilante crime fighter he was a Flying Ace super spy.

The series had 110 issues. Each issue was a single contained novel, and each issue was written by Robert J. Hogan.

Hogan was a prolific pulp author who wrote the series G-8 along with the yellow peril pulp title The Mysterious Wu Fang and a vigilante crew pulp series called Secret 6 which I had not heard of until researching this video and looks to be a proto-men’s adventure series that almost sounds exactly like the A-Team. After the pulps he mostly wrote western fiction.

G-8 and his Battle Aces #1 The Bat Staffel (German for squadron)

Our introduction to G-8 is him being held prison in the Freidburg Castle in Germany awaiting his execution. The Germans think he is a common spy but if they knew he was the legendary thorn in their sides, G-8 they would lose their minds. Unbeknownst to them this moderate size young pilot is not only the super spy known as G-8 but he was captured on purpose in order to get close to Herr Docktor Krueger the German’s diabolical idea man.

After some fast talking G-8 gets taken to Herr Docktor where he tricks him into divulging his master plan. And what is his master plan? Well, inside of an enormous mountain that had been sealed off for years, Herr Docktor has found the mythical giant poisonous bats. He intends to dig a tunnel from the mountain to the edges of France where he will send the bats out over the countryside, spraying their poison and killing millions. And from there, world domination. Obviously.

In a scene straight out of Indiana Jones G-8 escapes through a hole in the ceiling after throwing the poison gas that was to kill him against a wall.

He gets to his SPAD and takes off. But what’s this? He spots two other SPADS flying around. He can see from the insignia that they are US forces. No time to think though because a small squadron of German Fokkers are headed their way. We get a great dog-fight scene and the introduction of the two co-stars of the series, Nippy Weston and Bull Martin.

From here we get G-8, Nippy and Bull going up against the Germans. We get some Mission Impossible makeup, costumes and undercover work, tons of sky-high fighting action, and some serious James Bond villainy.

I know it’s been said many times before but everything we love in our post WW2 story telling started in the pulps. I mean just here in this first issue of G-8 we can see the influences on Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, James Bond and even Snoopy.

G-8 is a good title for people who aren’t necessarily into aviation but wouldn’t mind a little of that flavor in the story. It is very much a hero pulp and over the top. I mean, Germans controlling giant bats to rule the world isn’t exactly historical fiction. I think this makes G-8 standout amongst some of the other aviation pulps. Like I have read some stories in the Lone Eagle series, and they are rooted in reality; less fantastical than G-8. In fact, I would say that G-8 is geared toward a young adult audience though still completely enjoyable for old adults, like us.

Next up I wanted to talk about the Mitch Mayhew series written by Terrance Layhew. These are two modern day pulp stories in the tradition of classic adventure pulp fiction. Available for purchase here!

First off, I want to take a second to gush on the look and packaging of these books. They are published by Veritas Entertainment. There are two Veritas Entertainment companies. One did the Bob Dylan movie etc. This Veritas Entertainment is an independent publisher, promotor and film producer out of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

You will notice that they are published in not-dead-at-all mass market paperback size. I love the page count on these. One is 84 and the other is 104. I could read a hundred of these things. They completely nailed the look of pulp adventure. They seem like something from the past. Like I’m going to open it and there is going to be a Babe Ruth baseball card folded up inside a Liberty Bond as a bookmark in there.

Unwanted Passenger is the first in a series starring Mitch Mayhew, former WW1 pilot now turned mail carrier. But not a mailman. Think more like an independent trucker that takes what hauls he can get. So, as you can see per our history lesson, Terrance did his homework also as the history is on point which makes this even more enjoyable.

Mitch is hired by the Chicago DA to fly to Denver to deliver a certified envelope containing the evidence needed to put the Meadows Gang behind bars. Mitch has a bit of curmudgeon in his coffee and is not really thrilled about making the extra flight to Denver but the man who owns the delivery service says tough titties, you’re doing it, and by the way, you’ll be taking a passenger.

The unwanted passenger on this trip is Kathleen Dumont, beautiful and mysterious and nothing that Mitch wants to deal with.

We jump into Mitch’s DH-4 Liberty plane and head to our first stop in Omaha. We get some Han Solo vibes as Kathleen tries to start up a conversation. I like the reluctant romance and it’s no surprise as I know Terrance is a big fan of Romancing the Stone.

Back in the air to Denver Mitch spots a German Fokker headed his way. Strange but not impossible. Some US pilots prefer the Fokker. But then machine gun fire explodes and Mitch has to use evasive maneuvers, putting his WW1 experience to use. Unfortunately, his DH-4 has been converted to civilian use so no more gun turrets.

This has to be the Meadows Gang who got wind of him carrying the evidence to put them behind bars, right? Who else would be taking shots at a mail carrier?

And there is the set up. It doesn’t all take place in the air; we get some exciting action down on the ground in the Rocky Mountains. The pacing is quick and workman like. Terrence did a lot of work to not only get the historical aspects right but terrain detail, flying know-how, and artillery and he writes it all with punch perfect pulp flavor that would have fit right in with any of the Adventure pulps from back in the day.

The sequel or second installment finds us in Denver Colorado. It would seem Mitch makes it out of the first one alive. That’s good news. In this one we lean more into the ground adventure and criminal underworld. Every character is resourceful and it’s not forced. Though this was written in our modern times, I believe, the characters draw heavily from 80s action-adventure movies. Think Marion from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Damsel in distress but not really.

These books are so much fun and a testament to modern day writers still having the pulp chops.

The last book I wanted to talk about is:

The Wrong Side of the Sky by Gavin Lyall

First published in 1961 by Hodder and Stoughton and then published by PAN in 1966. This is the 7th printing.

Gavin Lyall was a British journalist turned author. In 1951 to 1953 he served as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force. Drawing on his experiences in Libya and Greece to write his first novel, The Wrong Side of the Sky. It was a hit and he quit his day job to become a full-time author cranking out aviation flavored action-adventure novels.

The Wrong Side of the Sky starts in Greece. It’s never stated but from the historical aspects mention in the narrative I would say it takes place when it was written in 1961.

The story is written in a first-person narrative told from our man, Captain Jack Clay, a pilot of a Douglas DC-3 who works for the transport service, Aircargo. He has a copilot that is more like a coworker than a blood brother which emphasizes his solo nature.

While on the ground he spots a Piaggio 160 Italian twin-engine plane whose pilot is so slick that it could only be one of a few pilots he knew that had that skill. Later in the bar he walks in and is not surprised to see his friend and former co-pilot from the war, Ken Kitson. Kitson has been working as a private pilot for the Nawab of Tungabhadra. It looks like the job pays well because Clay describes Kitson as “dressed like the inside of a millionaires wallet.” Good line!

After a few drinks Ken spills the beans on what the Nawab is doing in this part of the world. We get a backstory of extreme violence and stolen jewelry. It’s an entertaining story but Clay has other things to worry about. Mikkos the local shipping agent wants Clay to take a shipment to Libya. Tonight. Clay knows when something is rotten, so he requests more money. Flying an illegal shipment of guns to Libya is a risk that he should be paid for.

This book, the narrative, the plot, the writing style is rich; a heavy and thick craft beer. You can’t just chug this like a 12 pack of High Life. It’s tough, colorful and muscular, packed full of verbal protein. The glass is poured to the brim so you have to go slow not to spill it. Sometimes I'd have to read a paragraph twice but it was never a bummer. It was always worthwhile.

There is so much going on in this book that even if I did a regular full-length review, I wouldn’t be able to properly lay it all out so I’ll just list some of the facets of the story. We have obviously lots of sky aviation action. Foxy ladies including a woman described as looking like a middle eastern version of Salma Hayek. We travel from Greece to the Libya and over the ocean to tiny islands. There is treasure hunting. Smuggling. Violent gangsters and corrupt cops. Shootouts. Prison breaks. Murders. History. Conspiracies.

Speaking of Romancing the Stone there is a scene almost exactly like in the movie where they come upon a wrecked plane in the jungle completely taken over by the environment. This book is romantically adventure. It’s hardboiled, tough-talking and full of so much macho that a bullet would bounce off of it’s iron hard nuts.

In a way it reminds me of the 1947 Alan Ladd movie Calcutta where he and his pal William Bendix are pilots whose friend is murdered and it leads the duo into a crime filled underworld of international jewel thieves and nefarious femme fatales. Actually yeah, if you want the film version of these kinds of stories go hunt that down. It’s one of my favorites.

The Hawk Series by Dan Streib

About ten years ago I was in Mesa Arizona at an excellent used bookstore called The Book Maze. I was perusing the action shelf when I came upon one of the greatest covers I had ever seen. Hawk number 13, The Hawaiian Takeover by Dan Streib. The cover had a guy with a savage look on his face. He was holding a giant gun. All around him were scenes of action straight out of an 80s B-movie. I was intrigued!

At the time I had never read a Men’s Adventure novel. I hadn’t even heard the term before.

I read it right away. I was surprised to see that all of that exciting adventure from the cover was actually in the book. Yes, he stabs a shark with a knife. Yes, he drops a man from a helicopter into lava. Yes, there are lots of sexy naked ladies. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The book was packed full of visceral entertainment. Real cave man shit. It was fun and exciting, ridiculous and hilarious. This was the kind of fantasy I’ve been looking for. Sure, we enjoy the exploits of Frodo and his magical ring, but did Frodo ever get attacked by a female assassin with a gun hidden in her vagina?? Hell no. Frodo is probably a virgin. As soon as those pants came down, he’d be passing that ring over willingly in his excitement, hoping to get a taste. But our pal Michael Hawk has seen them all and let me tell you, he isn’t falling for no banana in the tailpipe, if you know what I mean.

As of a few weeks ago I had every book in the series except one. I talk about it all the time on my YouTube channel and one of the pals we made there, Stiv Nagen/Max Dacron wrote me an email and said he has the book I am looking for. He graciously sent it to me and finally the collection was complete. Big hearty shout out for my man, Stiv!

Now that the series was finally complete I wanted to write up this entry and make a video about it. In the video I closely examine the cover art and read off the back synopsis. Here in the blog I will just post pictures of the covers. Check out the video if you’d like more:

The Hawk Series was a Men’s Adventure paperback original series published by Jove that ran from 1980 to 1981 and had 14 entries.

Four in 1980

Ten in 1981

 So, as you can imagine, the Hawk Books probably didn't have a lot of thought put into them, but you know, they're action-adventure books. How much thought do you need put into it?

The star of the show is Michael Hawk. He is a freelance reporter though that profession is abandoned pretty quickly in the series. In book one he half-heartedly tries to save the daughter of a South American dictator/drug cartel Patron. He fails and with her dying breath she curses him with “more wealth than a small nation,” as she gives him the numbers to a secret bank account called, Crusaders International. Which is what gives him the tagline, The Deadly Crusader.

And now with nothing but his extremely good looks, his ability to be the best at everything he does and an endless supply of money, he travels the world, getting into vigilante adventures to take down communists, sadistical human traffickers, organized crime groups, nazis and your random evil mastermind. But don’t worry he still finds time to bag some ladies and live that good life. Unfortunately, he must keep on the move as all the baddies are after his money including the United States Government who simply want him to pay his rich guy taxes which he doesn’t think he should have to pay. I mean, he did earned that money with hard work and perseverance… wait, no he didn’t, it was bloody drug money given to him for failing to save a woman’s life.

Hawk is the man ladies love and the man you wish you were. His name says it all; Michael Hawk. AKA Mike Hawk.

And you are probably wondering what author would have the cojones…the vision to name their leading Men’s Adventure character Mike Hawk??

Well, that man is…

Dan Streib (1928-1996)

There isn’t a lot of info out there about ol’ Dan Streib but I found this obituary from the LA times which I think sums him up perfectly.

Daniel T. Streib, 67, author of children’s stories and action, adventure and romance novels. Born in Rockfield, Ill., Streib earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Iowa and was a combat officer in the Korean War. Originally a reporter and photographer in Iowa, he based his first book, “Code Name: Countdown,” on knowledge about spacecraft he acquired as a communications specialist for General Dynamics in San Diego.

The book was made into a movie in France. Streib, who frequently wrote under his own name, also penned romance novels under the pseudonym Lee Davis Willoughby and adventure books under the names J. Faragut Jones and Jonathan Schofield. His work included three popular illustrated action books for teenagers, “Ride Along,” “Million Dollar Hunt” and “Deadline”; a 10-book (incorrect LA Times! It was 14) series about the single adventure character Michael Hawk, and a six-book series, “Counterforce.” For nearly 30 years, Streib also taught fiction writing in high school and college. He died on Monday in San Diego of a heart attack.

Pseudonym of Dan Streib: (thank you Paperback Warrior)

Paul Ross- Chopper Cop (first two entries of three)

Frank Colter- Death Squad (two entries)

Mark Cruz- Kill Squad (five entries)

And he wrote one Nick Carter- The Night of the Avenger

-Grant Fowler (two entries)

-Counter Force (nine entries)

All of the beautiful cover art for the Hawk books was done by seasoned Men’s Adventure artist Samson Pollen. And honestly, that’s what made me pick up the book in the first place. It totally encompasses that 80s b-movie action level of excitement. If you are looking for more artwork like this, I would suggest checking out The Men’s Adventure Library series of Samson Pollen’s artwork that originally appeared in the Men’s Adventure Magazines of the 50s,60s and 70s.

The model on the cover of every Hawk book is male model Chad Deal.

He graced many genre fiction paperback covers in the 70s and 80s but most folks would probably recognize him from all of the romance covers he did. It recently blew my mind when I stumbled upon his current realtor profile page and saw that he IS Hawk. First off, he lives in Hawaii. A very Hawk place to live. He is a Vietnam Vet. Water Sports and Saftey Instructor. Classical Concert Pianist. Surfer. Sailor. Skier. Outdoor Survival Skills AND check out his martial arts training: Student of Traditional Asian Martial Arts; Shuri Ryu Okinawan Karate Do (4th Degree Black belt), Shuri Te Bujitsu Kai (3rd Degree Black Belt), Okinawan Goju (2nd Degree Black Belt), Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (2nd Degree Black Belt), Hung Gar Kung Fu / Instructor-Member, International Shuri Ryu Association, United States Karate Association, and “White Crane International”

Streib might have thought he was Michael Hawk but it turns out it was no coincidence the universe gave us Chad Deal’s face as the face of Hawk. Could you imagine randomly bumping into the real-world Hawk? My mind would be blown. Anyway. If you are looking to buy a house on the island of Kauai from Michael Hawk go hit up Chad Deal at Kauai Tropical Properties.