7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was plesantly surprised, June 28, 2008
This review is from: Harvey Kurtzman: TCJ Library Vol. 7 (The Comics Journal) (v. 7) (Paperback)
The Comics Journal Library Vol. 7: Harvey Kurtzman (Comics Journal Library) (Purchased on 05/28/2008) by Greg Sadowski.
This book was a shocker! I had never seen it before I ordered it, and it was much more lavish than I expected. A large size with nice paper, high quality printing and reproduction of the art inside.
The interviews with Kurtzman were awesome, and the design and layout of the book was beautiful. There was lots of art to look at throughout.
If you are a Kurtzman fan, this book is well worth the money.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
KURTZMANIA!, June 6, 2011
This review is from: Harvey Kurtzman: TCJ Library Vol. 7 (The Comics Journal) (v. 7) (Paperback)
As a lifelong MAD reader, I was always aware of the name Harvey Kurtzman. I knew his work very well as the prime architect of the earliest MAD Comics from the 1950s, but I knew absolutely nothing about the man himself.
So I was surprised, and very intrigued, when a wonderfully oversized art book bearing his name suddenly appeared in 2006. I hadn't known, for example, that Kurtzman had passed on in 1993, and so this was a long overdue tribute.
What knocked me out was the sheer density of this book, how generous it is, giving you equal parts Harvey (via lengthy but always fascinating interviews) and terrific examples of everything he did, from Hey Look to Two-Fisted Tales to MAD to Trump to Humbug to HELP to Little Annie Fanny and beyond.
The art reproductions are excellent, well-chosen, and, Kurtzman makes a wonderful interview, reminding me of John Lennon in his blend of wit and wisdom.
Everything you need to know about Harvey Kurtzman is here, everything about his career is dissected; the pros and cons of leaving MAD, the disappointments of Trump and Humbug, even the artistically superb but perpetually misunderstood Little Annie Fanny strip, which Harvey and MAD colleague Will Elder famously toiled on for about 25 years for Playboy Magazine.
Harvey's definition of what Playboy Magazine is really about is quite profound, saying something to the effect that people who put Playboy down are really trying to protect others from confusing fantasy with reality, while simultaneously congratulating themselves (critics of Playboy) for being morally superior and way too intelligent to fall for Playboy's exaggerated depiction of sex.
Harvey theorizes that fantasies in general are good for everyone's sanity, and that the Playboy fantasy, in and of itself, is relatively harmless compared to, say, the fantasy that war is OK. Cool.
Other highlights include E. B. Boatner's playful color photo study of Harvey at work in his attic studio (Harvey was an attractive man even in middle age, resembling Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau), plus some loving tributes from comic book greats Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb.
The one curio is an essay by R. Fiore which basically says, "He wasn't THAT great!", which seems an odd inclusion in what is otherwise a deluxe Harvey Kurtzman love-fest of an art book!
Perhaps it was intended to provide a fresh or alternative perspective, perhaps it's there as food for thought, or perhaps it's not meant to be taken seriously at all, rather like the grotesque, Don Martin-like face Harvey pulls on the book's back cover portrait!
All in all, this is terrific reading about a great and NICE man and cartoonist, one of the best, most satisfying books I have ever read.
Thank you, Editor Greg Sadowski, for caring as much about Harvey Kurtzman as I do; this is a PERFECT tribute.
If you love Harvey Kurtzman, this will please you no end.
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