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Help! (and other Kurtzman mags)
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26 posts in this topic

Just got these two in today, giving me the whole run, albeit in reading copy condition only.  The early issues, in particular, have spines on the cover that are fragile to the point where it almost seems like they're designed to come apart.  Anyway, I couldn't resist showing off the run; I think it's horribly underrated for any number of reasons.  It's one of the earliest Warren magazines. It has some of the first nationally distributed work by several major underground artists, most notably Shelton and Crumb.  It's where John Cleese met Terry Gilliam.  It deserves to not be so little known these days:

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12-16 have the Goodman Beaver stories by Kurtzman and Elder, the closest thing to an outright classic the run produced.  13 has the infamous "Goodman Goes Playboy" story that got them sued by Archie.

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24 features John Cleese in the fumetti story; which is where he met Terry Gilliam, who was the assistant editor on the book at that point.  And now you know the secret origin of Monty Python.

I hope to have some other Kurtzman books in hand to show off in a few days, but others are encouraged to share any of his work they have in here as well.

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Onto another Kurtzman edited book.  Humbug was, until the last two issues, printed at slightly smaller than comic book size.  But in terms of content it's very much a magazine in the vein of Mad or Help.  Unlike Help, I've only got a couple issues, and my copy of #1 is in storage in who knows which box.

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Very cool. Personally, I like Humbug better than Help. More art and less photos. I always thought of it as a more adult MAD magazine. 

Here is a cool find I made a couple of weeks ago at a flea market. This enabled me to complete both my Help and Humbug runs. Along with it came an amazing stash of MAD starting with #25.  Of special note was the first issue of Trump (only two issues also by Kurtzman) and the first issue of the Wonder Warthog magazine by Gilbert Shelton. 

 

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29 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Very cool. Personally, I like Humbug better than Help. More art and less photos. I always thought of it as a more adult MAD magazine. 

Here is a cool find I made a couple of weeks ago at a flea market. This enabled me to complete both my Help and Humbug runs. Along with it came an amazing stash of MAD starting with #25.  Of special note was the first issue of Trump (only two issues also by Kurtzman) and the first issue of the Wonder Warthog magazine by Gilbert Shelton. 

 

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I think I liked this over in the other thread, but I still like it.  If I'm not mistaken, the Mads include 25 and 28, both Kurtzman edited, and 29 and 30, which were edited by Feldstein but still had some inventory material Kurztman either wrote or edited before he left.

I think Help actually got a lot stronger as a book as it went on; 68 pages a month was a bit too much.  The last year, when it was 44 pages every other month, were really quite good.  I need to keep looking for the Humbugs.

Mad remains a long term project, and as for Trump... well, I said I was hoping for more books in hand soon, so we'll see where I stand on that title in the next few days or so.

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Sorry, I didn’t mean to krap your thread...  I guess you just want Kurtzman here. If that is the case, I can provide these other Kurtzmania items. I have the Help pbs as well I think. I also now have the run of Humbug and both the Trump issues. If you want me to post ‘em, just let me know other wise I will refrain.   :foryou:

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Edited by Robot Man
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2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Sorry, I didn’t mean to krap your thread...  I guess you just want Kurtzman here. If that is the case, I can provide these other Kurtzmania items. I have the Help pbs as well I think. I also now have the run of Humbug and both the Trump issues. If you want me to post ‘em, just let me know other wise I will refrain.   :foryou:

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Oh, I have absolutely no problem with the other books here!  Please don't think had any problem, and I apologize if it sounded like I did.  What I was trying to do was discuss when Kurtzman's involvement with MAD actually ended; it wasn't a sharp line when he left as editor.  I'm trying to make sure I know to look for any of the humor books he worked on.

I've never even seen the Fun and Games book before; what sort of content does it have?  I do have the 2nd Help paperback somewhere.  What I really need to find is a copy of the Jungle Book...

 

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Fun and Games is a real obscure Kurtzman effort. It is full of mazes, dot to dot, crossword puzzles and a lot of Help like photo gags. Not one of his best efforts but real scarce.

While I have it handy, I’ll post this undercopy of Trump #1. Very art heavy with great art by Elder, Davis, Jaffee and others. It includes one of Elder’s best pieces. A full color fold out spread of “Our own epic of Man”. If you look close, Alfred E Neuman is pictured with a woman’s bra as an ear warmer!

Published by Hugh Hefner at 50 cents it only ran two issues. A very quality and lavish book, it cost what two issues of MAD or one issue of Playboy cost at the same time. Too bad it failed because it is Kurtzman at his prime.

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