Harvey Kurtzman
Articles
Remembering Playboy & Hef
R.C. Harvey first encountered Playboy in 1955, two years after it started publishing. Today, in 2022, he eulogizes what the magazine used to be, and laments what it eventually became.
Of the Old Guard and the New Kids
Author Brian Doherty’s forthcoming narrative history of underground comix, “Dirty Pictures”, is a big one – so big, an entire chapter had to be deleted for space. Today, we present to you that lost chapter as a standalone reflection on the generation gap (or lack thereof) between the underground cartoonists and their older, straighter inspirations.
Al Jaffee At 99
Recently retired at the age of 99, Gary Groth catches up with Al Jaffee on his career, his comics, and the things he left behind.
Bill Schelly Tributes
Bill Schelly’s collaborators, compatriots and friends describe what it was like working with him, reading with him, and sharing his friendship.
“He Was an Odd Individual Who Really Pushed the Boundaries”: An Interview with Bill Schelly about James Warren
The comics scholar talks at length about his career and his new book on publisher James Warren.
Seeking Salivation! Food in Early Comics
University of Washington professor José Alaniz invited me to prepare and deliver a guest lecture on early comics for his class on food-themed comics. You could say I hoped the project would turn out to be something I could sink my teeth into. I was not disappointed.
The Woes of Working for Hef
Cartooning legends from Jack Cole to Harvey Kurtzman drew for the deep-pocketed, wannabe cartoonist Hugh Hefner, but there were some significant downsides.
Pushing the Limits: Comics and Creators That Stretch the Form
Comics as a self-aware form.
Big “If”
A review, in comics form, of Bill Schelly’s new biography Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America.
Harvey Kurtzman: The Man who Created MAD and Revolutionized Humor in America Excerpt
In this excerpt from Bill Schelly’s forthcoming biography Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America, the author chronicles the lifespan of the magazine Humbug. Rebounding from the abrupt cancellation of Trump (the magazine he had left Mad to produce) after only two issues, Kurtzman rallied an all-star cast of cartoonists for their next endeavor.
The Anti-War Comics of Harvey Kurtzman
The politics of Harvey Kurtzman’s war comics.
The Literaries
Since the Invasion of these literaries, I have been observing a tendency to ask the question: if this weren’t a comic would it stand up? Would the story be any good if it were prose and in competition with the rest of the world’s prose? If we take away all these damn pictures, would the stuff that is left be worth a hoot?
Entertaining Comics
Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth on what EC accomplished and what it didn’t.
Harvey Kurtzman Estate and Al Feldstein File to Regain Copyrights to 1950s Comics
The Journal has learned that legendary EC writer/editor Al Feldstein and the estate of Mad editor/cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman have filed notices to reclaim the copyrights on their work.
An Interview with Victor Moscoso
A career-spanning conversation on design, comics, Zap, and the politics of art. Originally published in TCJ 246, 2002.
The Will Elder Interview
The greatest Mad-man on a lifetime of funny drawing. Originally published in TCJ 243, 2003.
