Mad #22

Mad's "Special Art Issue" arrives with a cover that's equal parts high culture and gleeful mischief — Harvey Kurtzman's bold parody of a Picasso-style cubist painting features a serene, stylized blonde figure gazing at her reflection, only for a wide-eyed, bug-eyed human face to pop out from the abstract forms behind her. The bold red-patterned background and the EC Comics branding frame what is clearly a delightful send-up of modernist fine art, perfectly suited to Mad's tagline: "Tales Calculated to Drive You…" At just a dime, this 1955 issue promises the sharp wit of Kurtzman alongside interiors by Bill Elder and lettering by Ben Oda.