Harvey Kurtzman was born on October 3, 1924, and became one of the most influential satirists in American comics history. He died on February 21, 1993.
Rusty Comics #21 (1949)
His path into comics led him to EC Comics in 1950, where he wrote and edited two war titles, Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, bringing to both a meticulous researcher's eye and a genuine antiwar sensibility. In 1952 he created Mad, the parody comic book that would define him. Working in a manner comparable to a film auteur, Kurtzman scripted every story and supplied tight layouts that his artists — most often Will Elder, Wally Wood, and Jack Davis — were expected to follow closely. Mad's sharp dissection of pop culture and American social life made it genuinely distinctive. When EC converted it to a magazine format in 1955, tensions over financial control led Kurtzman to leave the following year.
Rusty and Her Family Comics #22 (1949)
He subsequently edited the short-lived Trump and the self-published Humbug, and in 1959 produced Jungle Book, considered the first book-length original comics work aimed at adults. His humor magazine Help! (1960–1965) gave early platforms to Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Terry Gilliam. From 1962 until 1988 he co-created and wrote Little Annie Fanny for Playboy. He also taught cartooning at the School of Visual Arts beginning in 1973.
Jimmy Wakely #4 (1950)
The Harvey Award was named in his honor in 1988, and he entered the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1989.
