Humbug #1

Trivia · 6 facts

• Published August 1957 by Humbug Publications (Humbug, Inc.), edited by Harvey Kurtzman; the first of eleven monthly issues running through August 1958.
• The cover of #1 was by Will Elder, featuring the announcement 'The End of the World Is Coming' set within a border design depicting contemporary life; interior art was contributed by Elder, Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Al Jaffee, and Arnold Roth.
• The first issue contained parodies of the then-scandalous Elia Kazan film Baby Doll and the rigged TV quiz show Twenty-One, as well as satirical takes on cereal boxes, model-making, and Shakespeare, plus a prose piece by novelist/screenwriter Ira Wallach.
• Kurtzman's editorial manifesto, printed in issue #1, declared the magazine's satirical ideals in a list of 'won'ts' — including 'We won't write for morons' and 'We won't sell magazines' — a sardonic statement that proved prophetically accurate.
• Arnold Roth introduced the 'Humbug Award' in issue #1 — a recurring satirical feature skewering controversial public figures of the day, including labor leader Dave Beck, disgraced Miss USA Leona Gage, and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus.
• Fantagraphics published the first-ever complete reprint of all eleven issues in a two-volume hardcover slipcased set (c. 2008–2009), much of it reproduced from original art; a signed limited edition of 600 copies was also produced.

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