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The Mad Archives #2
The Mad Archives, Vol. 2
Vol. 2 originally published in single magazine form as MAD 7-12
224 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 23, 2024
Fantastic artists but a lot of the humour just didn't hit for me. I enjoyed the DC parodies - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman. There's basically paradies of everything you can imagine, and it is interesting how so many of them are still recognizable. Maybe there's stuff like Prince Valiant that I really only know because I'm a comics fan - and perhaps there's a lot of little references I missed.
Each page is full of chicken fat, little gags on every square inch. They really gave the reader their money's worth each month.
Fantastic stuff, I just with the humour hit with me. As it is, I can appreciate the cleverness and the artwork. Stuff like the gags on the novelty ($$$) of 3d comics was great.
Each page is full of chicken fat, little gags on every square inch. They really gave the reader their money's worth each month.
Fantastic stuff, I just with the humour hit with me. As it is, I can appreciate the cleverness and the artwork. Stuff like the gags on the novelty ($$$) of 3d comics was great.
April 5, 2018
The humor, for the most part, doesn't age terribly well. There are some great gags - "Bat boy and Rubin," for example, coming just a few issues after the "Superduperman" strip that got MAD sued by National, has the line, "Do you want to get us sued!?" Ha!
But the art - wow wow wow. MAD was still part of the classic EC line at this point, and look at the artistic roster there. Amazing stuff, and almost worth the cost alone.
But the art - wow wow wow. MAD was still part of the classic EC line at this point, and look at the artistic roster there. Amazing stuff, and almost worth the cost alone.
July 14, 2017
I remember liking MAD comics as a kid, but I wasn't expecting to give this book more than 4 stars. Instead, I found the parody zany, wacky, and completely delightful! Anyone walking into the room as I was reading saw a smile on my face. With characters like Bat Boy and Rubin, Starchie, and Flesh Garden, it's time to join the fun!
June 21, 2013
While volume one seemed to build up to being good, this one is ripping right out of the gate. Everyone is hitting their prime art and story wise, Kurtzman knocks it out of the park. Even the text pages that are usually skippable are fun little reads. A must own for classic comic fans. Will Elder might be the greatest humour cartoonist ever.
April 17, 2014
“If I had to pick one single comic book that was the best comic book ever, it would be Kurtzman's Mad.” — Alan Moore
January 7, 2024
I wasn't really connecting with the 50s humor, but the art is excellent, especially Basil Wolverton's gnarly drawings.
December 5, 2019
I remember when I was reading Mad Magazine as a youth, one issue contained a colour insert reprinting stories from the old comic book from which the magazine evolved. One of those stories was Shermlock Shomes! which opens this volume. I don’t know whether it gained some extra power by infiltrating my subconscious at a young age, but in re-reading it it struck me as the masterpiece of the collection. Such a pointed take on the know-it-all detective I love, and filled by artist Bill Elder with a spirit of anarchic absurdity. Why is Dr. Whatsit repeatedly tearing small strips off of things? I don’t know. But it’s hilarious.
This collection brings together issues 7-12 of Mad, originally published in 1953 and 1954. Mad Magazine was always famous for its film parodies, and they really began with Hah! Noon! in issue No. 9. They had done a King Kong parody - Ping Pong - in issue No. 6, but that was of an older movie and didn’t stick closely to the story. Hah! Noon! mocks the central plot and such details as the film’s memorable theme song and the close-ups on clocks and the caricature of Gary Cooper is spot on. Other movie parodies in this collection are Sane! (Shane) and From Eternity Back to Here (From Here to Eternity).
According to Frank Jacobs’ introduction, the magazine was threatened with legal action as a result of their earlier comics parody Superduperman! It took a while to legally establish their right to parody other’s work. It didn’t stop them, but they worked in some tongue-in-cheek disclaimers when they presented Bat Boy and Rubin! in issue No. 8.
Here we also see Mad becoming more experimental. The Bop Dictionary presents a series of gags based around beatnik lingo. Murder the Husband - Murder the Story takes a three page murder story, similar in style to the contents of the E.C. crime and suspense comic lines, which is presented seriously and then we get to see the exact same art work with different words in the word bubbles turning it into something comically absurd. But the most daring experiment is 3-Dimensions! which begins with a red and blue double image as used in 3-D comics in which the characters mock the reader for not having been given any 3-D glasses. The story progresses through an account of how 3-D comics are drawn, turns into black and white and then has a character tearing through to the next page and wrecking the comic.
In issue No. 11 we are introduced to the work of legendary artist Basil Wolverton - he provides the cover and six full page caricatures of typical Mad readers - all in his shockingly grotesque style. And issues No. 7 and 8 contain some reprints of the Hey Look! strip that Harvey Kurtzman had drawn for another humour magazine before coming to E.C.
Whether you are looking to sample an important part of U.S. cultural history or to laugh at what your grandparent’s laughed at, this is a collection to treasure.
This collection brings together issues 7-12 of Mad, originally published in 1953 and 1954. Mad Magazine was always famous for its film parodies, and they really began with Hah! Noon! in issue No. 9. They had done a King Kong parody - Ping Pong - in issue No. 6, but that was of an older movie and didn’t stick closely to the story. Hah! Noon! mocks the central plot and such details as the film’s memorable theme song and the close-ups on clocks and the caricature of Gary Cooper is spot on. Other movie parodies in this collection are Sane! (Shane) and From Eternity Back to Here (From Here to Eternity).
According to Frank Jacobs’ introduction, the magazine was threatened with legal action as a result of their earlier comics parody Superduperman! It took a while to legally establish their right to parody other’s work. It didn’t stop them, but they worked in some tongue-in-cheek disclaimers when they presented Bat Boy and Rubin! in issue No. 8.
Here we also see Mad becoming more experimental. The Bop Dictionary presents a series of gags based around beatnik lingo. Murder the Husband - Murder the Story takes a three page murder story, similar in style to the contents of the E.C. crime and suspense comic lines, which is presented seriously and then we get to see the exact same art work with different words in the word bubbles turning it into something comically absurd. But the most daring experiment is 3-Dimensions! which begins with a red and blue double image as used in 3-D comics in which the characters mock the reader for not having been given any 3-D glasses. The story progresses through an account of how 3-D comics are drawn, turns into black and white and then has a character tearing through to the next page and wrecking the comic.
In issue No. 11 we are introduced to the work of legendary artist Basil Wolverton - he provides the cover and six full page caricatures of typical Mad readers - all in his shockingly grotesque style. And issues No. 7 and 8 contain some reprints of the Hey Look! strip that Harvey Kurtzman had drawn for another humour magazine before coming to E.C.
Whether you are looking to sample an important part of U.S. cultural history or to laugh at what your grandparent’s laughed at, this is a collection to treasure.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews