I believe you're right about it being his first professional gig. Had no idea it was listed in Overstreet in the 80's, how odd that they would take it out.
Help used to be listed in Overstreet and then at some point they took it out as well. Haven't looked at a price guide in a few years so I'm unsure whether or not it's been reinstated. Always wondered why they removed it.
That's so weird. I haven't looked at a new Overstreet guide in years either, but it doesn't really make any sense to exclude titles like this, even if it's to honor Mr. Overstreet's dictum that adult-oriented materials be excluded from his guide. Judging by today's standards, there's nothing particularly subversive about Help, and Powermowerman is (and always has been) utterly benign.
Since Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella and a couple other Warren titles are in Overstreet and Famous Monsters Of Filmland and it's ilk are not, I assumed Help was considered in the latter category by some committee at some later point.
Does anybody know if Overstreet lists Warren's 1984/94? It resembles the comic titles like Creepy, but the content is pretty 'adult' by comparison....and even that label can be argued by those who would just call it "out and out tawdry smut".
I figure if Mad and Cracked are listed, well...why not Help?
I always thought that it was due to the amount of hand drawn comic art inside the book which prevented Help and others like it to be in Overstreet. Also since MAD started as a comic it was always grandfathered in. Kurtzman stuff is always good to read and enjoy. Help also contained some very early Terry Gilliam work, maybe his first professionally published work outside of college.
Do you mean Help didn't make the cut because of the lack of hand drawn comic art and preponderance of photographic material? If so, perhaps you are right, and maybe, like wpbooks suggested, the Overstreet editorial board deemed Help Magazine of the Monsters of Filmland ilk. Still strange that they would at first include it and then decide to cut it. And what about Powermowerman? Was there a decision to remove early promotional work by underground cartoonists?
I took a look at my 2008 Overstreet and they do list Warren's 1984/94 (and even Comix International!). Comix Book is also listed. Crumb is mentioned three times in the market report section and is even praised as the most unique artist of the 1960's, but the only artist credit he has is for Harvey Kurtzman's Strange Adventures. Bode's credits are more or less limited to the contributions he made to Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. So, by and large, I'd say the editorial board was pretty exacting in avoiding the tawdry smut.