Ragged Claws Network » Harvey Kurtzman

Look Here, Read: “Muscle Builders, Part I,” with layouts by Kurtzman, finished art by Elder

RC — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:45:09 +0000

Harvey Kurtzman created the following full-colour layouts for the story “Little Annie Fanny: Muscle Builders, Part I,” which appeared in the December 1977 issue of Playboy:

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The finished art, as usual, was by Will Elder…

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BTW, I have no plans to post part II of that story/episode; I’ve only included the published pages above for the sake of comparison with Kurtzman’s layouts.

If you’d like to read more, you really ought to consider purchasing the full-colour collection, Little Annie Fanny, Volume 2: 1970-1988 (ISBN-10: 1569715203; ISBN-13: 978-1569715208), which was published by Dark Horse in 2001 and is still available for purchase, new, at various online bookstores.

Look Here, Read: LUCKY FIGHTS IT THROUGH by Harvey Kurtzman

RC — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:50:20 +0000

It’s a little known bit of historical comics trivia that Harvey Kurtzman’s first work for EC appeared in a commercial giveaway comic intended to educate readers on the symptoms and treatment of syphilis. Set in the old West, Lucky Fights It Through reveals a talented young artist —Kurtzman was about 25 at the time —who was already in full command of the bold, energetic, appealing style that would carry him through the rest of his career in comics —although the influence of Milton Caniff, so obvious here, would quickly fade —and it is entirely due to Kurtzman’s artistry and irreverence that, unlike most “educational comics,” Lucky has remained a compelling read for anyone who appreciates great performances in comics no matter what the venue or occasion, so compelling, in fact, that the story was not only reprinted, in its entirety, in colour in the EC fanzine Squa Tront #7 in 1977, but also appeared in glorious black and white in the 112-page “trade paperback” comics reprint collection Teen-Aged Dope Slaves and Reform School Girls in 1989, some forty years after its original publication in 1949. If you’re curious to read the comic for yourself, the blog Hairy Green Eyeball II has had the colour reprint available for your viewing/reading pleasure since 25 August 2008, and as of today, RCN has the black-and-white reprint, posted below. Enjoy!

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Here, Read: An interview with Harvey Kurtzman from 1974

RC — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:06:44 +0000

From Inside Comics #2 (Summer 1974), here’s a terrific interview with “the brother-in-law of underground comix,” Harvey Kurtzman:

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Connections: “Mad” vs. “Mystic”

RC — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:15:34 +0000

Notice the dates of the two comics. Kurtzman’s parody was first.

Look There, and Here: “Hey Look!” strips and “Mad” covers by Harvey Kurtzman

RC — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:16:41 +0000

[CLICK IMAGE TO VISIT RECOMMENDED WEB SITE]

ComiCrazys has posted twelve Hey Look! single-page comic strips (in colour) and nine Mad covers (also in colour) by the late, great Harvey Kurtzman for your viewing enjoyment, but they don’t have this one:

Heads Up: “Humbug” by Harvey Kurtzman et al.

RC — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:14:40 +0000

Coming soon to a bookstore near you! You can read the entire first issue of Humbug, beautifully restored, in an EXCLUSIVE 32-page PDF (7.6 MB) available via the link on this page.

Look Here: Two Mermaid Sketches by Harvey Kurtzman (1924 – 1993)

RC — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:23:09 +0000

I don’t own these; I just rescued the scans from ebay.