When I was in college I took a Medieval art history class. We had to write a big paper about some work or idea or artist. I decided to write about the idea of "monstrous races," these were illustrations of far-out savages thought to dwell in the uncharted lands of the East. Crusaders and missionaries took these depictions seriously, as these were the people they expected to either convert or kill. While these drawings carry the taint of some pretty extreme xenophobia, they are still endearing to me. One of my favorites has always been the guys with faces on their torsos:

I had the idea recently to use Photoshop to recreate some of my favorite monstrous races. I decided to start with the torso-face guys. Without even trying, my search for a good photo of a shirtless man led me to Mr. Matthew McConaughey, the most unapologetically shirtless man of all time. If torso-face men ever to evolve, I believe they will come from Mr. McConaughey's seed.