The Shadow was enough of a cultural icon in 1953 that Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder thought nothing of bringing a swinging satire of the radio and pulp star to the pages of MAD Magazine. He even rated the cover of the fourth issue of the iconoclastic comic rendered by Kurtzman himself.
Elder was Kurtzman's go-to artist on MAD, the guy who got the highest profile assignments. So the Shadow was seen as a property the fan base of the up-and-coming comic would know and relate to immediately. The story focuses on the relationship between the Shadow and Margot Lane, here redubbed "Margo Pain". The Shadow himself is renamed "Lamont Shadowskeedeebooboom" for what it's worth.
Elder's wonderfully vibrant art filled to the brim with "chicken fat" makes for wonderful reading. To read the rest of this story check out this link. This one like many other MAD parodies has been reprinted many times. I own it at least thrice in volumes I've collected over the decades. These MAD satires are sturdy items that weather the rigors of time quite well.
Enjoy your Halloween Eve and check in at the Dojo tomorrow for an all-day Shadow celebration.
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What a brilliant strip Will Elder ( like all that original "gang of idiots") was a cartooning goliath. I love his work.
ReplyDeleteReading this one makes me want to dig out one of those collections and dive in.
DeleteReally cool original art! Elder was a fantastic cartoonist. Little Annie Fanny was one of his best "strips" ever!
ReplyDeleteI hear a lot of people run down Annie Fanny but I like that strip and wish I had a good collection.
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