This Thursday, Oct. 3, marks the 100th birthday of Harvey Kurtzman, the genius behind Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat, Mad, Trump, Humbug, Help! and, yes, even Little Annie Fanny.
Kurtzman’s work changed the shape of American humor with his take on the truth. Advertising is lying to you, Hollywood is lying to you, the government is definitely lying to you- but if you find out what’s not true, therein lies the joke. This style of gag informed the themes of the bulk of our comedy culture, ranging from Saturday Night Live to The Simpsons to Strangers With Candy.
To properly honor his centennial, we at The Comics Journal thought it would be a good idea to dedicate the week to examining his work. Thus, apart from the odd review, we'll be running a number of essays, interviews and articles all about Kurtzman, including:
- An in-depth look at his early sci-fi stories for EC
- An examination of his influence on comics journalism
- An unpublished interview with him on the comics crackdown of the 1950s
- Remembrances from those who had Kurtzman for a teacher
- And much, much more
We're kicking things off today with a lovely appreciation of Kurtzman's Hey Look! by Paul Karasik, along with a plethora of classic Hey Look! strips.
And, while you're waiting for all those other stories to appear on our home page, consider perusing some Kurtzman-related pieces that have run on TCJ in the past, such as:
- Harvey Kurtzman: The Man who Created MAD and Revolutionized Humor in America Excerpt by Bill Schelly
- The Anti-War Comics of Harvey Kurtzman by Bob Levin
- The Woes of Working for Hef by John Kelly
- Big “If” by Paul Karasik
