Radar Magazine Parodies 1968 Muhammed Ali Esquire Cover

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Radar magazine's Maer Roshan has brought legendary adman and cover designer George Lois out of retirement to design the issue's September/October issue, on sale August 16th. The cover will be a riff on the 1968 Esquire cover Louis did with Muhammed Ali.

When Lois saw Radar writer Kim Masters' investigative piece on Tom Cruise and his relationship with Scientology, he was reminded of the April 1968 Esquire cover which showed Ali as Saint Sebastian. Louis convinced Ali to pose as a martyr, wounded and near death but still holding on. Back then, Esquire's editor Harold Hayes was deluged with angry letters and the cover was denounced on the Senate floor. But now, with everything a parody of its former self, a new parody will grace the cover of Radar with Tom Cruise appearing as Ali did on the April 1968 cover.

Sounding like the old codger he probably is, Lois said of today's magazines, "Magazines don't even try to do covers with actual ideas any more. I get calls from these big magazine conferences -- always some big goddamn deal -- and they're always the same thing: 'Could you come down, George, and make a speech about why all magazine covers suck?' Screw that! Everybody knows that already! You can't just slap a picture of Nicole Kidman on your cover and expect people to say, 'Wow! What a cover!' It's just another picture of Nicole. Who gives a shit?"

Well we sure don't Lois but if copying an old 1968 cover is supposed to be some sort of original idea, we just don't get it.

Written by Steve Hall    Comments (8)     File: Magazine     Aug- 9-05  
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Comments

Bad remake. I don't remember Ali with a pink shirt on that cover.

Posted by: Blake on August 9, 2005 04:47 PM

Mort Zuckerman is quietly sobbing as he sees $25 million being poured down the drain.

Posted by: Bucky on August 9, 2005 06:15 PM

But everything began from this old (1570) painting:

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/imgs_Ru/03/artwork/r3_3_1_1d_west_euro_art.jpg

Saint Sebastian

Posted by: mikhail on August 9, 2005 10:31 PM

Ah, yes. Further proof there are no new ideas.

Posted by: Steve Hall on August 9, 2005 11:07 PM

Stupid cover. Tom Cruise is a pretty cool guy. Radar Magazine must be trying to up sales.

Posted by: Frank on August 10, 2005 07:07 AM

Tom Cruise is NOT a cool guy. He's the epitome of stupidity and a sad excuse for what some pass as a human being. Join us at http://www.24flinchin.com and check out the June and July archives for our fun couple of weeks defaming Tom Cruise!

Posted by: Brent on August 10, 2005 12:38 PM

This "new" cover comes a few months after Men's Health ripped off lois's idea for their Tim Robbins cover.

Radar. Yesterday's ideas at tomorrow's prices today.

Posted by: growler on August 10, 2005 01:09 PM

I'd cut Lois a little slack on this "un-original" cover. I had the opportunity to interview him a few years ago. This guy is a friggin genius. Some of his Esquire covers were pure gold. Ever seen Sonny Liston in the Santa hat? Sonny Liston a not very well liked man (black man) who was heavyweight champion. Classic. Drove people batty when it came out.

What about predicting the Floyd Patterson fight down to the color of trunks he'd be wearing. Something like two weeks before the fight happened.

There was a cover he wanted to do (I believe it was the only one that never got used) for Vietnam with the picture of the first american GI killed over there. He used his military photo for the mock-up.

Plus, in the interview, I seem to recall some harsh words about Cruise. Something to the effect of "who da fuck is Tom Cruise"

Check out his stuff if you kind some info on it. The man is fascinating. Also as is obvious by a good portion of covers, could entertain you for days with boxing stories from the good old days.

Posted by: Chris on August 11, 2005 07:07 AM

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