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Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book
“A Kurtzman you say something true, but high-minded-preferably a couple of things true, but high-minded, to set up the rhythm. Then you deflate the whole lofty mess by saying something really true, but base and down-to-earth. You point out that the Emperor is nekkid, that mortals are driven by greed and lust. And preferably, you do it with a vaguely self-deprecatory Yiddish cadence so that nobody gets too made at you for telling your truths. And, of course, if you’re Harvey Kurtzman, you do it with impeccable timing and a tight sense of structure that leaves the reader with not just a laugh, but Insight…Nowhere else is there such a larger body of Kurtzman’s drawings, and Jungle Book was an important step toward making comics Adult Entertainment…This is one book I’d even pay for.” – from the introduction by Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 26, 2015
Important primarily as a historical/cultural artifact. Could be seen as one of the early examples of "graphic fiction" as it is a book collecting four short stories Kurtzman pitched as an alternative format to comic mags and strips. It is also one of the examples of work that features both his writing and drawing, which is filled with caricatures, stereotypes, and all the things you loved about his work at Mad Magazine.
So this is work from 1959, and it is seen by comics collectors and scholars as one of the 100 most significant artifacts in comics history. But even Kurtzman said it wasn't great stuff, in an interview in 1986. He only still liked two of the stories at the time he was interviewed. Robert Crumb, who with Peter Poplaski does an interview/dialogue afterword, says a lot of isn't all that good, though he loves Kurtzman's work overall. It isn't as funny as the best of MAD, though.
The four stories featured include "Thelonius Violence" a private eye among. . . well, mostly strippers, it would appear; "The Organization Man in the Grey Flannel Executive Suite," which is a send up of corporations/big business/the comics biz, and two comics set in the south and west, "Compulsion on the Range," and "Decadence Degenerated" which are in part meant to reflect how southerners and westerners talk, their funny dialects, but eh. The silly (but often accomplished) drawing style was influential, for sure.
So this is work from 1959, and it is seen by comics collectors and scholars as one of the 100 most significant artifacts in comics history. But even Kurtzman said it wasn't great stuff, in an interview in 1986. He only still liked two of the stories at the time he was interviewed. Robert Crumb, who with Peter Poplaski does an interview/dialogue afterword, says a lot of isn't all that good, though he loves Kurtzman's work overall. It isn't as funny as the best of MAD, though.
The four stories featured include "Thelonius Violence" a private eye among. . . well, mostly strippers, it would appear; "The Organization Man in the Grey Flannel Executive Suite," which is a send up of corporations/big business/the comics biz, and two comics set in the south and west, "Compulsion on the Range," and "Decadence Degenerated" which are in part meant to reflect how southerners and westerners talk, their funny dialects, but eh. The silly (but often accomplished) drawing style was influential, for sure.
March 28, 2017
I'd read this in the Ballantine paperback, muddy art and all, but the material looks much better here and the introductory material helps put it in the context of Kurtzman's career. Unfortunately, I'm inclined to agree with Crumb's assessment in the the afterward/interview that closes the volume. Kurtzman isn't very funny here and the material feels considerably less sharp than his work for Mad and Trump. There is an air of weary desperation about some of it and time has rendered even the edgy bits a little pale.
Having just read a bunch of Terry Southern's short stories, which share a similar satiric disdain for the rural South, the Rottenville story here is an expression of the horror that east coasters especially felt watching the parade of regional bigotry and ignorance that emerged in the fight for integration in the 50s and 60s. It was tough on all sides accepting that we are all Americans.
Good thing we've gotten past that, right?
Having just read a bunch of Terry Southern's short stories, which share a similar satiric disdain for the rural South, the Rottenville story here is an expression of the horror that east coasters especially felt watching the parade of regional bigotry and ignorance that emerged in the fight for integration in the 50s and 60s. It was tough on all sides accepting that we are all Americans.
Good thing we've gotten past that, right?
April 14, 2021
Yes, some parts seem outdated after all those years but the man was clearly ahead of his time, even with his late 50s work.
March 28, 2015
Back in 1958 Harvey Kurtzman wasn’t doing so well. The creator of Mad had been turfed out of his own creation and several other projects had either failed or just failed to materialise. However, there was a glimmer of hope because the company responsible for packaging up old Mad strips into pocket paperback collections was willing to take some original material direct from Kurtzman and print it in what would essentially be the USA’s first graphic novel. The title, Harvey Kurtzman’s Jungle Book, was a last minute change for the project, as the original title, Harvey Kurtzman’s Pleasure Package, was perhaps a little too suggestive.
Kurtzman created four tales for the book, each very different in subject but utilising his quick wit and punchy dialogue. Not so much innuendo but outright lasciviousness in places, this was a book not aimed at the market who purchased the Mad paperbacks and so, sadly for Kurtzman, it was a financial disaster. However, it is a really good book, and is just as entertaining now as it was then, with the Comics Journal ranking it number 26 in the top 100 comics of the 20th Century.
Due to the quick turnaround Kurtzman was told he could get away with creating the artwork on lined paper and lines wouldn’t show up on the final print (they clearly do) and as the book developed his painted tones can be seen to change considerably as he learns how best to use them, something that troubled him immensely once the book came out as he didn’t like the results.
Because, at the time, the book failed Kurtzman was forced to seek work via Hefner’s Playboy, and although he was never comfortable with the way he was pressured to be more sexual over and above the humour in Little Annie Fanny, it was paying work.
Kurtzman created four tales for the book, each very different in subject but utilising his quick wit and punchy dialogue. Not so much innuendo but outright lasciviousness in places, this was a book not aimed at the market who purchased the Mad paperbacks and so, sadly for Kurtzman, it was a financial disaster. However, it is a really good book, and is just as entertaining now as it was then, with the Comics Journal ranking it number 26 in the top 100 comics of the 20th Century.
Due to the quick turnaround Kurtzman was told he could get away with creating the artwork on lined paper and lines wouldn’t show up on the final print (they clearly do) and as the book developed his painted tones can be seen to change considerably as he learns how best to use them, something that troubled him immensely once the book came out as he didn’t like the results.
Because, at the time, the book failed Kurtzman was forced to seek work via Hefner’s Playboy, and although he was never comfortable with the way he was pressured to be more sexual over and above the humour in Little Annie Fanny, it was paying work.
September 4, 2009
One of the best comic satires of society and pop culture by the venerable Harvey Kurtzman, creator of Mad Magazine. Fans of Mad Men will enjoy this book as it closely parodies the buisnessmen in grey flannel suits.
March 17, 2018
Originally published in 1959, the author had soared to great success with the creation of Mad, then plummeted after he left the magazine in a huff. He had demanded 51% controlling interest from Mad, was offered 10%, and he rejected it outright. Had he stayed, he would have been set for life. So now he was drifting, and when Mad reprint books shifted from Ballentine Books to Signet, he approached the company with creating an original work of Mad-like material. Leaping for the big bucks, they agreed and produced this text. It was a commercial failure and, in my ever ever ever so humble opinion, a creative failure as well.
There are four stories presented here, all of which feel rushed. He was up against the wall and needed to produce material, so he did. Just not refined material. These all come across as half-digested ideas from his Mad days. They are satirical, but it feels tired and deflated. As if he was trying too hard to recapture the magic.
Two of the stories are parodys of TV shows at the time. “Thelonius Violence”, a takeoff on Peter Gunn (which the only memorable part of the show it Mancini’s opening score), where he tackles the TV private eye genre. He comments on its mindless violence, where the participants never seem to actually get hurt, the reliance of the protagonist on sheer luck, and a style over substance approach. The best part of this parody is the use of sound effects, a jazz type riff, to punctuate the action of the script. VA-VOODL-DE BLAH DAAaaaa. What I found the funniest was the use of slang in the script, which formerly hip, is now so dated its makes the story actually funnier.
The second TV inspired story is also extremely dated. “Compulsion on the Range” is a send up of all those TV westerns which dominated the airwaves (26 of them were being produced over the three networks in 1959). It makes the same points about violence with no consequences as “Theolodius Violence”, and has an appearance as Zorro, demonstrating that the TV western hero is essentially an unmasked Zorro with the same morals. Otherwise it generally falls flat with the same tired jokes made over and over.
“Decadence Degenerated” is apparently based on Kurtzman’s reflections of Paris, Texas, where he was stationed during his bit in the war. He dubs the town Rottenville and describes a lynch-mob who goes haywire after an attractive girl was murdered. It has a few good moments, but again it has aged badly. An old story, told ad nauseum with a few interesting twists.
The last story is the most interesting. “The Organizational Man in the Grey Flannel Executive Suite” is derived from the author’s own disappointments and frustrations from dealing with the publishing industry. Its protagonist Goodman Beaver comes in full of dreams and hopes, only to have them squashed under the daily grind and quantity over quality mentality of the bosses, eventually turning him in a cynical wreck of a human being. Goodman Beaver actually had a life after this publication, eventually morphing into the Little Annie Fanny strip which appeared in Playboy magazine. As this is the most personal it has much more depth to the overall story and is an interesting read.
The art is definitely not Kutrzman’s best, ugly grey and poor shading, which may have been to the cheap production values of Ballentine, rather than Kutrzman’s skill at the time. Many of those writing introducing the work, all big art knobs, praise it, but I feel it’s more due to nostalgia than actual appreciation. They all cut their teeth on his work, were inspired by it, and many were first published by Kutrzman, so they praise him. But I feel their admiration of the man overrides their critical analysis. They want it to be good, so they act as if it is.
While the original was a cheap paperback, badly printed, and stuck together with Elmer’s glue, the Dark Horse edition is a beautifully bound large edition book. Well-crafted and very attractive looking.
There are four stories presented here, all of which feel rushed. He was up against the wall and needed to produce material, so he did. Just not refined material. These all come across as half-digested ideas from his Mad days. They are satirical, but it feels tired and deflated. As if he was trying too hard to recapture the magic.
Two of the stories are parodys of TV shows at the time. “Thelonius Violence”, a takeoff on Peter Gunn (which the only memorable part of the show it Mancini’s opening score), where he tackles the TV private eye genre. He comments on its mindless violence, where the participants never seem to actually get hurt, the reliance of the protagonist on sheer luck, and a style over substance approach. The best part of this parody is the use of sound effects, a jazz type riff, to punctuate the action of the script. VA-VOODL-DE BLAH DAAaaaa. What I found the funniest was the use of slang in the script, which formerly hip, is now so dated its makes the story actually funnier.
The second TV inspired story is also extremely dated. “Compulsion on the Range” is a send up of all those TV westerns which dominated the airwaves (26 of them were being produced over the three networks in 1959). It makes the same points about violence with no consequences as “Theolodius Violence”, and has an appearance as Zorro, demonstrating that the TV western hero is essentially an unmasked Zorro with the same morals. Otherwise it generally falls flat with the same tired jokes made over and over.
“Decadence Degenerated” is apparently based on Kurtzman’s reflections of Paris, Texas, where he was stationed during his bit in the war. He dubs the town Rottenville and describes a lynch-mob who goes haywire after an attractive girl was murdered. It has a few good moments, but again it has aged badly. An old story, told ad nauseum with a few interesting twists.
The last story is the most interesting. “The Organizational Man in the Grey Flannel Executive Suite” is derived from the author’s own disappointments and frustrations from dealing with the publishing industry. Its protagonist Goodman Beaver comes in full of dreams and hopes, only to have them squashed under the daily grind and quantity over quality mentality of the bosses, eventually turning him in a cynical wreck of a human being. Goodman Beaver actually had a life after this publication, eventually morphing into the Little Annie Fanny strip which appeared in Playboy magazine. As this is the most personal it has much more depth to the overall story and is an interesting read.
The art is definitely not Kutrzman’s best, ugly grey and poor shading, which may have been to the cheap production values of Ballentine, rather than Kutrzman’s skill at the time. Many of those writing introducing the work, all big art knobs, praise it, but I feel it’s more due to nostalgia than actual appreciation. They all cut their teeth on his work, were inspired by it, and many were first published by Kutrzman, so they praise him. But I feel their admiration of the man overrides their critical analysis. They want it to be good, so they act as if it is.
While the original was a cheap paperback, badly printed, and stuck together with Elmer’s glue, the Dark Horse edition is a beautifully bound large edition book. Well-crafted and very attractive looking.
October 3, 2019
3rd printing: August 1989
Another insufferable Art Spiegleman introduction- every one I've read has gotten on my nerves in at least two ways. His humor is always lame and he has a given away plot in most that I've read while his insight tends to go off on tangents and he loves talking about himself. His type of windbags are a main reason why people don't read introductions that would have enhanced their reading pleasure!
Make sure to read the second introduction ("Outro") by the publisher because he puts the themes and limitations of the era (late 1950s) in context and the other half of it is Kurtz's own words about his inspirations and the execution of each story. I wish he had explained WHY he put the art on ruled paper that seemed to be the accountant or teacher variety- all he said was that it he was experimenting with it. The crowded feel caused by the densely lined paper is profound and distracting but the blame goes to the printer, who thought he could make them invisible.
I shamelessly enjoyed his use of joke names but Seymour and Mednick, used together and separately, were strangely overused throughout the whole book.
The only thing I didn't like about Kurtz's work in this book was his rendition of pretty women. His wonderfully cartoony style, these days used by Sergio Aragones, is funny and expressive but loses all potential sexiness because of the bulbous under-bellys that he puts below such thin waists which makes them all look bizarrely pregnant when he's trying to make them look very "available".
Don't forget to closely examine the back cover!
my copy has an interesting indented stamp:
Library of
HMK
Harry N. Kapician
Another insufferable Art Spiegleman introduction- every one I've read has gotten on my nerves in at least two ways. His humor is always lame and he has a given away plot in most that I've read while his insight tends to go off on tangents and he loves talking about himself. His type of windbags are a main reason why people don't read introductions that would have enhanced their reading pleasure!
Make sure to read the second introduction ("Outro") by the publisher because he puts the themes and limitations of the era (late 1950s) in context and the other half of it is Kurtz's own words about his inspirations and the execution of each story. I wish he had explained WHY he put the art on ruled paper that seemed to be the accountant or teacher variety- all he said was that it he was experimenting with it. The crowded feel caused by the densely lined paper is profound and distracting but the blame goes to the printer, who thought he could make them invisible.
I shamelessly enjoyed his use of joke names but Seymour and Mednick, used together and separately, were strangely overused throughout the whole book.
The only thing I didn't like about Kurtz's work in this book was his rendition of pretty women. His wonderfully cartoony style, these days used by Sergio Aragones, is funny and expressive but loses all potential sexiness because of the bulbous under-bellys that he puts below such thin waists which makes them all look bizarrely pregnant when he's trying to make them look very "available".
Don't forget to closely examine the back cover!
my copy has an interesting indented stamp:
Library of
HMK
Harry N. Kapician
October 1, 2020
Harvey Kurtzman was the original mastermind of Mad Magazine, and after an acrimonious split and a couple of other failed magazine ventures, this was his first stand-alone book of original material as a solo writer-illustrator. The results, across four stories that start off as genre parodies of the late 50s but sometimes jump off into weirder places, are uneven but fascinating - Kurtzman is a master of form and timing, and his carefully sketchy drawings pack a lot of punch. Though compromised (as the great introductory material of this edition attests), this is still an essential look straight into a hugely influential comics mind.
December 18, 2017
This was quite the reading experience. I’ve been aware of this book for years, but I didn’t read it until now. I’m glad I waited, so I can truly appreciate what Harvey Kurtzman did with this book. The satire is sharp, the art is truly expressive, and the book is outstanding.
Read
October 2, 2019All the satirical targets tax the memory, but it's good fun nonetheless
April 14, 2021
Εξαιρετική σάτιρα της τηλεόρασης και των ηθών της εποχής και μάλιστα φαίνεται πως ο Kurtzman ήταν αρκετά μπροστά από την εποχή του.
April 22, 2021
Odd, but that's the point. Very different from today's "comics", but that's also the point.
March 11, 2017
via NYPL - The awkward truth is that I've never enjoyed Kurtzman's humor work (LOVE his EC war stuff though). A lot of my dissatisfaction certainly comes from cultural references and growing up on cartoonists who drew so much inspiration from Kurtzman, but there's the truth - his humor work, mostly MAD, bores me.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Some of it shows its age, but the best stuff - particularly "Decadence Degenerated," hit on timeless themes that still resonate today. Not all the gags land, but it's definitely worth a look for anyone who likes Kurtzman or wants to track the development of comic book humor. Also, I love Kurtzman's expressive, lively drawing style. It's a real shame his work was so often handed off to excellent, but less vivid illustrators.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Some of it shows its age, but the best stuff - particularly "Decadence Degenerated," hit on timeless themes that still resonate today. Not all the gags land, but it's definitely worth a look for anyone who likes Kurtzman or wants to track the development of comic book humor. Also, I love Kurtzman's expressive, lively drawing style. It's a real shame his work was so often handed off to excellent, but less vivid illustrators.
March 2, 2016
I was torn about how to rate this. On the one hand, it is one of the relatively few examples of pure Kurtzman cartooning out there--actually drawn as well as written by Kurtzman. The energy and fluidity of Kurtzman's line is always a joy to see, and there is some great cartooning here. Despite the relatively small original size (this was formatted as a paperback original, so was designed pretty small by comics standards), Kurtzman is a master of page design and layout, not to mention pacing. And it was an ambitious, trail-blazing book, a very early example of pure comics work created for a mainstream adult audience. On the other hand, it isn't really all that funny. Two of the four stories are just variations on the sort of media parody Kurtzman had already done in Mad--in fact, the parodies of Gunsmoke and Peter Gunn hew pretty closely to specific parodies of the western and detective pulp Kurtzman had already done, albeit with slightly more racy content. The satire on the publishing industry breaks more ground and is in my opinion probably the strongest piece in the book, especially in the context of its time, as a jaundiced corrective to the generally benign view of corporate America that tended to predominate in media. The final piece takes a run at southern gothic and seems as well to be a bit of a poke in the eye to the "socially relevant" stories Gaines had been running in titles like Shock suspenStories or Crime SuspenStories, but by the time Kurtzman did this book, those stories were ancient history--at least in the context of the ephemeral world of 1950s comics publishing--so it makes for a kind of belated satire. All in all, I am delighted to see this book back in print, especially in such a nice over-sized hardback edition and with some contextualizing editorial materials. I just wish it were a work of genius, rather than a solid work by a genius. Robert Crumb's commentary in the afterword, in which he expresses similar ambivalence, is worth considering.
December 29, 2014
This is a high quality reprint of a paperback book Kurtzman wrote in 1959. Like his earlier MAD work, we have pastiches of popular culture (in this case, takeoffs of Peter Gunn and Gunsmoke). Unlike most of his earlier MAD work however, Kurtzman does everything --- not only the writing and the layouts, but the finishes as well. The timing, the drawing, and the humor are top-notch, but I still prefer to see Will Elder doing the final penciling and inking with his "chicken fat" approach.
Two stories (besides the ones mentioned above) stand out. The first is "The Organization Man in the Grey Flannel Executive Suite" --- it's the introduction of Goodman Beaver (a continuing character in Kurtzman's post-MAD world) and a great satirical look at magazine publishing. The second story is "Decadence Degenerated" --- based in a small town called Rottenville, it's Kutrzman's take on his time in Paris, Texas. The Texan in me recognized a lot of what Kurtzman was going for, and it's also the most political of all the pieces.
If you are new to Kurtzman and want to read his humor work, I wouldn't start here --- take a look at something like The MAD Archives Vol. 1. But if you know his MAD work, this is a good book to follow up with.
Two stories (besides the ones mentioned above) stand out. The first is "The Organization Man in the Grey Flannel Executive Suite" --- it's the introduction of Goodman Beaver (a continuing character in Kurtzman's post-MAD world) and a great satirical look at magazine publishing. The second story is "Decadence Degenerated" --- based in a small town called Rottenville, it's Kutrzman's take on his time in Paris, Texas. The Texan in me recognized a lot of what Kurtzman was going for, and it's also the most political of all the pieces.
If you are new to Kurtzman and want to read his humor work, I wouldn't start here --- take a look at something like The MAD Archives Vol. 1. But if you know his MAD work, this is a good book to follow up with.
September 3, 2016
Someone once said" When I travel to other countries I get on the boat walk quickly to my destination -(perhaps a cultural exchange or to meet a talented powerhouse) and get back quickly -hmm maybe to celebrate ! This vision of traveling, along with my inner desire to someday lead me to own a school and expand my passion for communication, teaching which to a life long learning adventure entitled - What is business? More specifically how do we insure successful business mergers? Is business ventures dangerous? Fun ? Can we expand opportunities with out fall out? Explore cultural possibilities yet teach young aspiring entrepreneurs what it takes to work on, connect to or run a media business or gateway jobs to headliners with humor, glamor geo-realities in competitive demands and with less pathos-Kurtzman's rather short, sweet and simple language tactics seduce us into rather rich visual images, dialogue and characterization. -I would introduce Thelonius Violence -Like Private eye ! Harvey Kurtzman's Peter Gunn is perhaps a modern day end result of geo-treasure hunting for the best talent. Favorite auxiliary text , rhetorical appeals in visual images for College Board's SpringBoard series "Perception is Everything" can be aligned to real world urban dilemmas in politics, economics and how our younger generation values success and quick cash versus traditional pathways of media ethics .SAHNBCT2018 A personal favorite and part of my personal collection .
March 25, 2021
Kurtzman es uno de los verdaderos “monstruos sagrados” del cómic estadounidense. Tanto Robert Crumb como Terry Gilliam se declaran admiradores suyos. Era dibujante, guionista y editor. Fue el verdadero creador de la revista “Mad”. Pero, para sobrevivir, tenía que realizar todo tipo de trabajo para editores que terminaron haciéndose ricos con su obra. Este libro es una de sus producciones más propias y originales, pues contiene cuatro relatos escritos y dibujados especialmente para el volumen. En su momento fue un verdadero fracaso. Actualmente las cuatro historias se publican y republican obsesivamente en distintas revistas y antologías, los ejemplares de la edición original son objetos de colección, y el conjunto tiene algo de obra arquetípica, constantemente imitada. Algunos consideran incluso que viene siendo la primera verdadera “novela gráfica”. Esta edición contiene mucho material adicional, con textos de Gilbert Shelton, Denis Kitchen, Art Spiegelman, Robert Crumb y Peter Poplaski, además de una reproducción muy cuidada de los dibujos originales. Creo que mi relato favorito es la parodia del programa de “Peter Gunn”, con música de Henry Mancini incluida (para saber cómo hace eso Kurtzman, necesitan leer la historia).
August 20, 2015
THIS IS FOR THE HARD COVER PUBLISHED BY DARK HORSE IN 2014
3.5/5
First the good: quality is top notch, there's some great essays in here, paper and covers are all sturdy. The art looks better than ever. There's still the annoying lines from the paper Kurtzman used, but they aren't as pronounced as in the previous Kitchen Sink paperback. If you're thinking of revisiting this, you wont do any better, and if you've never read it, for gosh sake get on it! This is about as "pure" Kurtzman cartooning as you'll get, aside from the future "Hey Look!" collection.
So why 3.5 out of 5? As R. Crumb says in the afterword, it's just not that funny. It doesn't work as well as the old MAD material did, and it reminded me of the beautiful "HUMBUG" set that came out a few years ago that was impressive, but not hilariously entertaining by any means. Don't get me wrong, this one is good, I can't help but think that if it was drawn by Will Elder with all his chicken fat added in it would of been better.
Still, it's Kurtzman, so you should check it out if you're fan of comics or it's history.
3.5/5
First the good: quality is top notch, there's some great essays in here, paper and covers are all sturdy. The art looks better than ever. There's still the annoying lines from the paper Kurtzman used, but they aren't as pronounced as in the previous Kitchen Sink paperback. If you're thinking of revisiting this, you wont do any better, and if you've never read it, for gosh sake get on it! This is about as "pure" Kurtzman cartooning as you'll get, aside from the future "Hey Look!" collection.
So why 3.5 out of 5? As R. Crumb says in the afterword, it's just not that funny. It doesn't work as well as the old MAD material did, and it reminded me of the beautiful "HUMBUG" set that came out a few years ago that was impressive, but not hilariously entertaining by any means. Don't get me wrong, this one is good, I can't help but think that if it was drawn by Will Elder with all his chicken fat added in it would of been better.
Still, it's Kurtzman, so you should check it out if you're fan of comics or it's history.
March 1, 2013
Arguably this is Kurtzman's masterpiece. The story goes that in 1958 Bill Gaines, the publisher of Mad magazine, decided to switch from Ballantine Books to Signet for their paperback reprints. Ian Ballantine decided to remedy the situation by hiring Mad's original creator, Harvey Kurtzman, to produce a paperback of all new cartoon parody and satire in the mold of Mad. Kurtzman had recently had to shut down Humbug, a short lived satire and parody magazine that featured stellar work by Will Elder, Jack Davis, Wally Wood and Al Jaffee. In spite of this Humbug was a financial disaster for everyone involved and apparently out of necessity he decided to this new book by himself. So in the end we get an entire book of pure, unfiltered Kurtzman at his best. Unfortunately, sales must have been below expectations because there was never a follow up. Well worth tracking down.
January 25, 2015
We discuss this book on The Comics Alternative for the Jan. 21st show. I enjoyed this well enough, but I appreciate it more as a historical/cultural artifact than as a cohesive work of comic art. This isn't the best of Kurtzman's work, but this book is important in comics history. What's more, this is the first of the new Essential Kurtzman series from Dark Horse/Kitchen Sink.
May 21, 2015
As I write this, I'm the only person to give this classic 1 star. There aren't even many 2 star reviews. I don't understand why. Every joke is completely obvious. One of the most unfunny books I've ever read.
July 11, 2015
Time has taken the edge off these satirical stories by the great Harvey Kurtzman, but this book is still an important link in the development of the modern graphic novel.
Read
September 23, 2016Satire that will make you believe!
October 14, 2016
I liked it. I know that people find it to be a classic. I'll likely need another reading.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews