True Action

A tense and hyper-realist original gouache illustration by the highly regarded and prolific illustrator Mort Kunstler, this interior 2-page spread appeared in the May 1963 edition of True Action and possibly as a cover for Male Magazine in 1960. The lurid, defining action-filled image captures the prevailing nihilism associated with the 1960s “sweat magazine” art and envelope-pushing adventure fiction. This large and impacting gouache work takes place at a Korean brothel and plays on the Cold War-era fears which were prevalent in the aftermath of the Korean War.