3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
SO WHAT?!, March 31, 2010
This review is from: My Life As a Cartoonist: My Life As a Cartoonist (Paperback)
This was a disappointment as far as Kurtman books go, especially considering the abundance of other really good books on the subject that are around nowadays. I didn't check the description too closely when I bought it (3rd Party Seller/Used), since I automatically scoop up anything remotely related to HK when I can find it. It turned out to be nothing more than a pamphlet more or less than an actual bio-book. A scant 100 pages of cheap quality with low quality artwork scans, about the size of a small dime novel but half the thickness, but not bad for someone who was an avid fan of MAD in the good old days but not sure who Harvey was - a good introductory overview of the artist. But even considering the fact that the copyright date says 1988, and a lot of good material has surfaced on the artist since then in terms of artwork scans and biographical info, you would have expected something better on the subject of a powerful influential artist/writer/innovator like Kurtzman even at that date, when the retrospective realization of how great MAD was and Harvey's contribution to it was being fully realized. Anyone interested in the subject would be much better off with the recent oversized volume by Abrams Comicarts (Kitchen & Buhle), with great illustrations and everything else good about Kurtzman. Also, the Comics Journal Library (softcover/oversized book)is good for reading the interviews - sometimes history seems more interesting spoken in the words directly from the artist's mouth. Also, when I got this book from the seller, it had a sticker on it that priced it at 50 cents still on it! It would have been a good score at that price, but why not take the trouble to remove that before selling it through Amazon for about ten bucks inc. shipping? It sort of killed the effect of finding a rare Harvey Kurtzman book when opening it in the mail. HK fans would also like the Chickenfat Blog ([...]) as well as some other ones, which also have downloadable hi-res scans. I have amassed a file of all the old EC comics covers (Two-Fisted Tales/Frontline Combat/etc.)from these sites. But this book is still good to throw on the shelf with the rest of your library if you are an obcessed HK bug like me! "I had one grunch but the eggplant over there!" -AEN/2010
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Original MAD Man - In His Own Words!, June 5, 2011
This review is from: My Life As a Cartoonist: My Life As a Cartoonist (Paperback)
My all-time favourite cartoonist, Harvey Kurtzman created MAD Magazine, so that makes him important.
Harvey Kurtzman also wrote and basically designed and edited the first twenty-eight issues of MAD, by himself, so that makes him a genius.
In the late 1980s, this important genius was asked to write his professional life story for Minstrel Books, aimed at the elementary school level.
The result is a slight, small, but absolutely delightful book that does indeed tell Harvey Kurtzman's story from his early days at Timely (later Marvel) Comics with Stan Lee, up through the ground-breaking MAD to his other satire classics, Trump and Humbug, to his final years as freelancer and as a much-respected and sought-after cartooning teacher.
Best of all, easily the crown jewel of the book, is the chapter on How To Put Together A One-Page Joke, from the idea to rough sketching to final inking. I absolutely love glimpses like these into the creative process, and so I absolutely love this book. Harvey's modest, down-to-earth way of telling his story is easy to love, too.
Significantly, there is no mention of his long-term work with Will Elder on the Little Annie Fanny strip, which is probably appropriate anyway, given the target audience here.
Other people have criticized that omission as well as the digest size of the book, but I disagree. This is the only full-length work we have of Harvey Kurtzman's story and of his specific working methods - told entirely in his own words, photos, and art samples - and, as such, it is gold.
Hoo-Hah!
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