Humbug

Author:   Jack Davis ,  Will Elder ,  Al Jaffee ,  Harvey Kurtzman
Publisher:   Fantagraphics
Edition:   Special ed.
ISBN:  

9781606991794


Pages:   476
Publication Date:   21 April 2009
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Humbug


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Overview

You know MAD. Do you know Humbug? Harvey Kurtzman changed the face of American humor when he created the legendary MAD comic. As editor and chief writer from its inception in 1952, through its transformation into a slick magazine, and until he left MAD in 1956, he influenced an entire generation of cartoonists, comedians, and filmmakers. In 1962, he co-created the long-running Little Annie Fanny with his long-time artistic partner Will Elder for Playboy, which he continued to produce until his virtual retirement in 1988. Between MAD and Annie Fanny, Kurtzman's biographical summaries will note that he created and edited three other magazines--Trump, Humbug, and Help!--but, whereas his MAD and Annie Fanny are readily available in reprint form, his major satirical work in the interim period is virtually unknown. Humbug, which had poor distribution, may be the least known, but to those who treasure the rare original copies, it equals or even exceeds MAD in displaying Kurtzman's creative genius. Humbug was unique in that it was actually published by the artists who created it: Kurtzman and his cohorts from MAD, Will Elder, Jack Davis, and Al Jaffee, were joined by universally acclaimed cartoonist Arnold Roth. With no publisher above them to rein them in, this little band of creators produced some of the most trenchant and engaging satire of American culture ever to appear on American newsstands. At last, the entire run of 11 issues of Humbug is being reprinted in a two-volume slipcased hardcover deluxe format, much of it reproduced from the original art, allowing even owners of the original cheaply-printed issues to experience the full impact for the first time. This limited edition of Humbug includes a tri-fold signature plate signed by Jaffee, Davis, and Roth.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jack Davis ,  Will Elder ,  Al Jaffee ,  Harvey Kurtzman
Publisher:   Fantagraphics
Imprint:   Fantagraphics
Edition:   Special ed.
Dimensions:   Width: 20.10cm , Height: 6.10cm , Length: 26.90cm
Weight:   4.750kg
ISBN:  

9781606991794


ISBN 10:   1606991795
Pages:   476
Publication Date:   21 April 2009
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Reviews

At long last, a handsome, two-volume, slipcased set brings back into print a pivotal, neglected portion of the oeuvre of Harvey Kurtzman and that of a cadre of gifted pranksters bent on smart satire. --Rich Kreiner


[I]ncludes so many all-time great cartoonists (Kurtzman, Jaffee, Elder, etc.) at the peak of their powers and ambitions. -- Timothy Hodler


[I]ncludes so many all-time great cartoonists (Kurtzman, Jaffee, Elder, etc.) at the peak of their powers and ambitions.--Timothy Hodler Robot 6 [T]he artwork is uniformly mind-blowing. ... This collects the whole ill-fated run in a luxurious hardbound package including top-notch background material. Worth it for the mammoth Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee interview alone.--M. Ace Irregular Orbit At long last, a handsome, two-volume, slipcased set brings back into print a pivotal, neglected portion of the oeuvre of Harvey Kurtzman and that of a cadre of gifted pranksters bent on smart satire.--Rich Kreiner The Comics Journal It's a really impressive collection of work... and the production design here is nothing short of stunning. Fantagraphics really knocked this one out of the park in restoration.--Chris Mautner Robot 6 In a way, Humbug almost feels like a goof-humor version of The New Yorker or something. There's a lot of fairly serious political/social commentary, cloaked in wry rainment. It's a blend as interesting as any cocktail, and it's goddamn great to have this stuff easily available. Hats away!--Byron Coley and Thurston Moore Arthur Magazine Kurtzman and company aimed high for a more sophisticated humor mag than the competition...Fantagraphics' package for it is bar none--handsome, sturdy and restored with great care...I was most interested in the behind-the-scenes story of Humbug and the creative process that went into it--not to mention doomed it--and the book's introduction and exclusive interviews more than satisfy on that count.--Rod Lott Bookgasm This omnibus of all eleven issues of Humbug is equal parts giddy genius and period piece. The satire is razor-sharp... [T]here are such subtleties here and such rapier wit that the line is clearly visible from the Algonquin Round Table to Kurtzman to Crumb to Ralph Bakshi to Mr. Show to The Colbert Report.--Byron Kerman PLAYBACK: stl Unparallel parodists Kurtzman and Elder ran rampant for themselves when they published these 11 exceptional issues of comic art anarchy. This two-volume hardcover box set has been reproduced from the original art and digitally restored to make everything look even better than when it first came out in 1957. This long-overdue definitive edition of Humbug is an essential slice of satire from the masters of the genre.--Jeffrey Morgan Detroit Metro Times


[I]ncludes so many all-time great cartoonists (Kurtzman, Jaffee, Elder, etc.) at the peak of their powers and ambitions.--Timothy Hodler [T]he artwork is uniformly mind-blowing. ... This collects the whole ill-fated run in a luxurious hardbound package including top-notch background material. Worth it for the mammoth Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee interview alone.--M. Ace At long last, a handsome, two-volume, slipcased set brings back into print a pivotal, neglected portion of the oeuvre of Harvey Kurtzman and that of a cadre of gifted pranksters bent on smart satire.--Rich Kreiner It's a really impressive collection of work... and the production design here is nothing short of stunning. Fantagraphics really knocked this one out of the park in restoration.--Chris Mautner


Kurtzman and company aimed high for a more sophisticated humor mag than the competition...Fantagraphics package for it is bar none handsome, sturdy and restored with great care...I was most interested in the behind-the-scenes story of Humbug and the creative process that went into it not to mention doomed it and the book 's introduction and exclusive interviews more than satisfy on that count. --Rod Lott


Author Information

"Jack Davis (1924-2016, b. Atlanta, Georgia) was a founding cartoonist of Mad and one of the most in-demand caricaturists and cartoonists in the world throughout his 60-plus-year career. Among many other honors, he was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2003. Will Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2003. In addition to his pioneering work on the ""serious"" EC war comics, Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993) created the all-time greatest satirical comic (with Mad), the most widely-read adult comic strip (with ""Little Annie Fanny"" in Playboy), and one of the earliest graphic novels (with the 1959 The Jungle Book). Arnold Roth's cartoons and illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, and Esquire. He lives in New York City."

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