GomerPyleUSMC

Norman Saunders didn't produce many comic book covers (more pulps and paperbacks) but the few that he did are all classic covers in my opinion.

His 70's work were forthrightly aimed at kids, in theory eight to twelve-year-olds. There's no logical pretense or layers of meaning. I just pulled out my OMAC's and picked a random page below. You haven't lived until you've read his OMAC series. Just pure goofy and wonderful Kirby that never fails to bring a smile.

This is a myth. Mad was changed from a comic book to a magazine to appease Kurtzman who was considering leaving EC to start up a satire mag at a competitor. The silly code and the trouble that ensued came much later. Gaines was prescient but not that good.

Unfortunately most of them are gone. Even if the same people that made Mad what it once was, were still there today, they would have a tough time making it a success. I thought WaPo's editorial had a ring of truth when they wrote the times have changed too much for Mad to be relevant: "To be subversive, however, requires a dominant culture to subvert. MAD was the smart-aleck spawn of the age of mass media, when everyone watched the same networks, flocked to the same movies and saluted the same flag. Without established authorities, it had no reason for being. Like the kid in the back of the classroom tossing spitballs and making fart sounds, a journal of subversive humor is funny only if there's someone up front attempting to maintain order. We now live in a time when everyone's a spitballer..."

With that back story, you're not gonna leave us in suspense about the book you got from Angelo...?

I say we implement the Bush Doctrine and preemptively ban him before he signs up for the CGC boards. Theo and his leopard thong can go haunt the CBCS boards. Jiminy Christmas.

As far as classic MAD artists that are still around, Al Jaffee and Mort Drucker come to mind. Jaffee is still active bless him. Not sure about Drucker.

I wish I had the notion of Panic 6 as a utilitarian sketch pad back in the 70's. There's no question which MAD man I would have asked to do an Alfred E. Neuman, if I can go back in time and costs be damned.

I'm still gobsmacked Feldstein did a Alfred E. Neuman sketch on Jerry Weist's Panic....and it was placed on eBay and I missed it! Can anyone here post a detailed scan of this beauty? I pulled this low-res image from eBay's archive site.

Finally catching up to this thread. Tom Bunk would be a great choice for a modern-day Panic cover. His asking price is not that bad. http://members.tripod.com/garbage_pail_kids/BunkArtANS.htm

It won't cost anything to read: https://archive.org/details/ComicsNovel01AnarchoDictatorOfDeath1947

Blondes passing the Buck to Buck with blonde passing out

Do not buy any comic book with the word "pal" no matter how rare it is.

WS 16 has the better stories. Three out of four ("Space-Borne!", "Given the Heir!", and "The People's Choice!") are EC classics: Gaines and Feldstein at their freewheeling prime. Two and a half years later and in the aftermath of the Senate hearings, came WSF 29. Apart from the Frazetta cover, this issue has little to recommend. The stories feel really tired and forgettable, with a cautious editorial not to offend with bad taste. You can really tell the end was near.

2.0

I'm sure another copy will show up.

@comicginger1789 This is your under copy? Glad you upgraded to the copy found on eBay a few weeks back.

I read the seller's feedback and decided the seller was a bit shady. EBay feedbacks do matter.

The bottom edge is trimmed about a half inch also. I have an untrimmed copy and I'm able to see the complete banner "ON SALE MONTHLY" and artist Joe Maneely's signature on mine. IMHO 1.0-1.5 (R). I agree with @rjpb I've never seen anything trimmed this severely. This book mocks me. It pulls its pants down and mocks me.

Bill Everett to Everett Kinstler

Rednecks...mmmm.

Jack Davis is also rumored to have ghost penciled "Blockade!" in TFT #31 when Wood fell behind on his heavy workload. It's hard to see because it's completely buried under the lush Wood inks.

You should also check out the Atlas war titles in the 1951-52 period. Some stories match Kurtzman in their intensity and cynicism.

Gene Colan TFT #30 in "Wake!"

The color design on JIM 5 is also my favorite. The vignettes on the left border also by Everett, are perfect.