Tag Archives: Harvey Kurtzman

Books Update: Comic Strip Books

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*Comic Strip Books: We’ve added five new books to this compact and bijou section: The Executive’s Comic Book featuring Goodman Beaver (Kurtzman & Elder) and Fiction Illustrated # 1 – 3 (considered to be among the first graphic novels). #1 features Schlomo Raven Public Detective (Preiss & Sutton), # 2 features Starfawn, ‘in the tradition of Star Trek’ (Preiss & Fabian) and #3 features Chandler, ‘a hard-boiled detective’, written and drawn by Steranko. More alert readers will have counted up to four and be wondering what the fifth book is – in addition to the standard version of Fiction Illustrated #3 we also have the Curtis Circulation variant, distinguished by the ‘cc’ logo and numbered 02764 instead of P4078.

Books Update: Up From The Apes (And Right Back Down)!

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50_hkjunglebookw*Comic Strip Books: Harvey Kurtzman’s Jungle Book swings onto our shelves today. This is what the book says about Kurtzman:

“Every morning now he runs up to his attic to think. When he has a good thought he runs over to the window and breathes deeply. Then he gives his Tarzan cry and goes loping off through the trees.”

Between lianas Kurtzman founded Mad, published by EC. The Jungle Book was conceived after he left EC, and taken up by Ballantine after they lost the right to publish Mad collections. It was the first paperback of original cartoons aimed at the US mass-market, with the same satirical outlook as Mad, but with a more adult slant. We’re anticipating a great deal of interest in this ground-breaking book, offered in 1st US PB at £25 in VG.