Harvey Kurtzman was born on this date in 1924. Kurtzman was a journeyman artist for much of the Golden Age of comics, learning his craft and looking for an outlet for his wacky imagination. He finally found his footing with EC Comics where he co-created MAD. He also produced some powerful images in titles such as Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales. Kurtzman left MAD and tried to recreate that success with other titles such as TRUMP, HUMBUG and HELP! but despite some high quality failed to find the sales success. Along with Will Elder he co-created Little Annie Fanny and produced that feature for Playboy magazine for many years.
When Harvey Kurtzman talked William Gaines Jr. into publishing a little humor comic, they changed the landscape of comedy in America. MAD became the template for comedy going forward and bred a host of imitations. Here are some of those four-color dopplegangers.
EC even imitated MAD itself when they published PANIC, a magazine of humor by EC's other mainstay editor, Al Fiedstein.
Then in an attempt to placate censors and Kurtzman himself, Gaines decided to make the comic book a magazine. With the four colors gone, the increased size made MAD a publication alongside others targeted to an older reader. But the success of that change too sparked imitations, among them magazines by Kurtzman himself for other publishers.
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