The Mad World of William M. Gaines

The Mad World of William M. Gaines
Author: Frank Jacobs
Publisher:
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1972
Genre: Comic books, strips, etc
ISBN:

Humorous biography of the eccentric founder and publisher of "Mad magazine" by a staff writer.

Harvey Kurtzman

Harvey Kurtzman
Author: Bill Schelly
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Total Pages: 645
Release: 2015-05-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1606997610

This biography reveals the true story of Mad creator Harvey Kurtzman―the man who revolutionized humor in America; it features new interviews with his colleagues Hugh Hefner, Robert Crumb, and others. Harvey Kurtzman created Mad, and Mad revolutionized humor in America. Kurtzman was the original editor, artist, and sole writer of Mad, one of the greatest publishing successes of the 20th century. But how did Kurtzman invent Mad, and why did he leave it shortly after it burst, nova-like, onto the American scene? For this heavily researched biography, Bill Schelly conducted new interviews with Kurtzman’s colleagues, friends and family, including Hugh Hefner, R. Crumb, Jack Davis, and many others, and examined Kurtzman’s personal archives. The result is the true story of one the 20th century’s greatest humorists: Kurtzman's family life, the details of the FBI's investigation during the McCarthy Era, his legal battles with William M. Gaines (publisher of Mad), are all revealed for the first time. Rich with anecdotes, this book traces Kurtzman’s life from his Brooklyn beginnings to his post-Mad years, when his ceaseless creativity produced more innovations: new magazines, a graphic novel, and Little Annie Fanny inPlayboy.

Completely Mad

Completely Mad
Author: Maria Reidelbach
Publisher: M J F Books
Total Pages: 208
Release: 1997-10-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781567311273

An illustrated history of the most influential and unique humor magazine in post-war America.

The History of EC Comics

The History of EC Comics
Author: Grant Geissman
Publisher: Taschen
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2020-06-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9783836549769

In 1947, Bill Gaines inherited his legendary father's fledgling publishing company, EC Comics. Over the next eight years, he and a "who's who" of the era including Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, and Wally Wood would reinvent the very notion of the comic book with titles like Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, and MAD. With more than 1,000...

Good Days and Mad

Good Days and Mad
Author: Dick DeBartolo
Publisher:
Total Pages: 289
Release: 1995
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9781560250913

A writer who has written for every issue of "Mad" tells the inside story of thirty years of America's craziest magazine

Totally MAD

Totally MAD
Author: The Editors Of Mad Magazine
Publisher: Liberty Street
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-10-30
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9781618930309

For the past six decades (that's 60 years-we did the math so you don't have to) MAD Magazine has keenly observed the American landscape and promptly made fun of everything in sight. Unwavering in their commitment to high quality stupidity, MAD's legendary artists and writers, long known as "The Usual Gang of Idiots," have brilliantly satirized politics, celebrities, sports, media, cultural trends, and more. Totally MAD (originally titled The New American Cookbook until cooler heads prevailed) is the ultimate collection of MAD's most idiotic material, including such classics as Spy vs. Spy, The MAD Fold-in, A MAD Look At..., The Lighter Side of, Horrifying Clichés and The Shadow Knows, plus modern MAD classics including The MAD Strip Club and The Fundalini Pages. Whether you grew up with MAD in the 50s, 60s, or 70s, reading it with a flashlight under the covers so your parents wouldn't catch you, or in the 80s, 90s and beyond, reading it while watching the MADtv sketch comedy show or the more recent animated series on the Cartoon Network, this book will bring back fond memories and also provide a great introduction to MAD for new readers. Then again, maybe not. SPECIAL BONUS! Includes "The Soul of MAD," 12 classic cover prints, ten featuring Alfred E. Neuman, MAD's gap-toothed grinning idiot mascot. These beautiful reproductions are suitable for framing or wrapping fish.

Collectibly Mad

Collectibly Mad
Author: Grant Geissman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 336
Release: 1995
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN:

Inside the World of Comic Books

Inside the World of Comic Books
Author: Jeffery Klaehn
Publisher: Black Rose Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2007
Genre: Cartoonists
ISBN: 9781551642963

From gutter business to art form, an engaging, provocative look at all things comic book.

EC Comics

EC Comics
Author: Qiana Whitted
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2019-03-08
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0813566312

Entertaining Comics Group (EC Comics) is perhaps best-known today for lurid horror comics like Tales from the Crypt and for a publication that long outlived the company’s other titles, Mad magazine. But during its heyday in the early 1950s, EC was also an early innovator in another genre of comics: the so-called “preachies,” socially conscious stories that boldly challenged the conservatism and conformity of Eisenhower-era America. EC Comics examines a selection of these works—sensationally-titled comics such as “Hate!,” “The Guilty!,” and “Judgment Day!”—and explores how they grappled with the civil rights struggle, antisemitism, and other forms of prejudice in America. Putting these socially aware stories into conversation with EC’s better-known horror stories, Qiana Whitted discovers surprising similarities between their narrative, aesthetic, and marketing strategies. She also recounts the controversy that these stories inspired and the central role they played in congressional hearings about offensive content in comics. The first serious critical study of EC’s social issues comics, this book will give readers a greater appreciation of their legacy. They not only served to inspire future comics creators, but also introduced a generation of young readers to provocative ideas and progressive ideals that pointed the way to a better America.