Yeah, this guy went to extremes in his retouching (and didn't do such a hot job of it), but for the most part he was covering for a lousy photography job. If the photographer had been better, you wouldn't have needed that much retouching.

world of publication any more
What makes you think this is anything new? Retouching has been around since darn near the beginning of photography. I have a photographic portrait of my great-great-grandfather with his wife and daughter that was heavily manipulated. That print was old before digital was even a concept.
And before digital made it so easy to retouch, they used makeup artists (and still do) to change the model's looks for photo sessions. I've got a makeup book from the 1920s that tells how to make the lips appear fuller, cheeks thinner, etc.