Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Elder do what they do best in the closing feature of "Mad" (THE COMIC BOOK) #13 from July 1954, and that's what every social humorist does. From Will Rodgers to The Marx Bros. to Bob & Ray, they "puncture pomposity".
This time around they aim their guns at that hallmark of class and purity, that comic book that your maiden aunt might buy for you, "Classics Illustrated".
Yes they were well drawn. Yes they might have exposed kids to works of literature that they may not have otherwise picked up on their own.
But damn they were boring.
Kurtzman and Elder did it right.
Dig in.
Talk to you soon.
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ReplyDeleteThis was in, "The Bedside Mad vol6" we had laying around our house when I was a kid. Really funny stuff, thanks for posting. (In color as well)
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me until now, but the content of Bedside Mad must have been originally in color when published in the magazine.
DeleteAnother interesting thing about Bedside Mad is that it seems to be from a transitional period, as Mad wad transitioning from horror/fright based humor to topical satire. Just look at all the early 1950s allusions not only in Robinson Crusoe, but throughout Bedside.
We had a copy of the book as kids in the 1960s, then about 25 years ago I bought another copy which I still have today.
Glad you stopped by!
ReplyDeleteWow - thanks for this treasure. Well-remembered from my childhood in black and white, NOW I get to see the color version, and actually understand most of the jokes this time around. This cannot be said of most of my childhood amusements, but in the case of this comic, I loved it then, and I love it now. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMike from Berkeley, CA
Thank you thank you thank you!
ReplyDeleteMaybe 50 years ago I read this in a secon hand bookstore in South Africa and looked everywhere for it again! Just could never forget it. I think of it every time I am cupping a took of rum!