(1924-10-03)October 3, 1924 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died
February 21, 1993(1993-02-21) (aged 68) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Area(s)
Cartoonist, Writer, Artist, Editor
Notable works
Mad
Little Annie Fanny
Spouse(s)
Adele
Harvey Kurtzman (/ˈkɜːrtsmən/; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book Mad from 1952 until 1956, and writing the Little Annie Fanny strips in Playboy from 1962 until 1988. His work is noted for its satire and parody of popular culture, social critique, and attention to detail. Kurtzman's working method has been likened to that of an auteur, and he expected those who illustrated his stories to follow his layouts strictly.
Kurtzman began to work on the New Trend line of comic books at EC Comics in 1950. He wrote and edited the Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat war comic books, where he also drew many of the carefully researched stories, before he created his most-remembered comic book, Mad, in 1952. Kurtzman scripted the stories and had them drawn by top EC cartoonists, most frequently Will Elder, Wally Wood, and Jack Davis; the early Mad was noted for its social critique and parodies of pop culture. The comic book switched to a magazine format in 1955, and Kurtzman left it in 1956 over a dispute with EC's owner William Gaines over financial control. Following his departure, he did a variety of cartooning work, including editing the short-lived Trump and the self-published Humbug. In 1959, he produced the first book-length work of original comics, the adult-oriented, satirical Jungle Book. He edited the low-budget Help! from 1960 to 1965, a humor magazine which featured work by future Monty Python member and film director Terry Gilliam and the earliest work of underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton. He brought Help! to an end after the success of the risqué Playboy feature Little Annie Fanny began to take up his time. While Annie Fanny provided much of his income for the rest of his career, he continued to produce an eclectic body of work, including screenwriting the animated Mad Monster Party? in 1967 and directing, writing and designing several shorts for Sesame Street in 1969.
From 1973, Kurtzman taught cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His work gained greater recognition toward the end of his life, and he oversaw deluxe reprintings of much of his work. The Harvey Award was named in Kurtzman's honor in 1988. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1989, and his work earned five positions on The Comics Journal's Top 100 Comics of the 20th Century.
HarveyKurtzman (/ˈkɜːrtsmən/; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing...
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist HarveyKurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988...
Little Annie Fanny is a comics series by HarveyKurtzman and Will Elder. It appeared in 107 two- to seven-page episodes in Playboy magazine from October...
showcase for cartoonists such as Jack Cole, Eldon Dedini, Jules Feiffer, HarveyKurtzman, Shel Silverstein, Doug Sneyd, Erich Sokol, Roy Raymonde, Gahan Wilson...
television screenwriter and producer David Kurtzman (1904–1977), American university Chancellor HarveyKurtzman (1924–1993), American cartoonist and editor...
military fiction and crime fiction. His editors, Al Feldstein and HarveyKurtzman, who also drew covers and stories, gave assignments to such prominent...
Quarterly Paper (1992–2012) Online (2012–) Light verse Mad English US 1952 HarveyKurtzman, Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragonés, Mort Drucker Monthly (1952–2009), Quarterly...
fictional character who appears in comics created by American cartoonist HarveyKurtzman. Goodman is a naive and optimistic Candide-like character, oblivious...
issues of Mad not long after the comic book began in 1952. Mad editor HarveyKurtzman spotted the word printed in the Polish language section of a multi-languaged...
is believed that EC had one of the best-selling lines at the time. HarveyKurtzman was one of the key writers for EC, and artists such as Wally Wood or...
1956). Runnemede, New Jersey: Dynamite Entertainment. Dan Barry and HarveyKurtzman, "The Time Pendulum” (12/9/57 to 1/25/58). Trautmann, Eric S.; Indro...
best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped launch HarveyKurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952. Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner said, "He was...
Xmen, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, JLA-Titans, Planetary/Authority HarveyKurtzman – cartoonist, editor, and founding editor of Mad magazine Jason Little...
Meredith Kopit Levien (born 1970/1971), CEO of The New York Times Company HarveyKurtzman (1924–1993), Mad Bruce Levenson, (1949–) co-founder of the United Communications...
cartoonist HarveyKurtzman printed some of Crumb's work in the humor magazine he edited, Help!. Crumb moved to New York, intending to work with Kurtzman, but...
Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover 2018 HarveyKurtzman's Marley's Ghost, by HarveyKurtzman, Josh O'Neill, Shannon Wheeler, and Gideo Kendall...
Contract with God (1978), cartoonist HarveyKurtzman wrote and drew the four-story mass-market paperback HarveyKurtzman's Jungle Book (Ballantine Books #338K)...
satirical edge. Written almost entirely by HarveyKurtzman, the first issue also featured illustrations by Kurtzman himself, along with Wally Wood, Will Elder...
of the Shield and two new characters. The February 1962 issue of HarveyKurtzman's Help! magazine featured his parody of the Archie characters in its...
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