MAD competitor CRACKED magazine (or "mazagine" as it was later called) was aimed at a slightly younger audience than MAD. CRACKED #13 is notable because it uses artists like Jack Davis, Will Elder and a classic page by Russ Heath, along with CRACKED regulars Bill Ward ("McCartney"), John Severin, Don Orehek and Vic Martin. Harry Chester did production, and some pages look like HUMBUG, for which Chester also did production.
Paul Laikin was the editor during this period, and has his detractors amongst fans of humor magazines, but for me this is a good issue of CRACKED.
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There is something incredibly seditious, radical and wildly rebellious about Heath's "Pokey" page that easily rivals the very best counterculture stuff ever seen in mad. It seems designed to make children gasp and run crying to their mothers. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteToo bad they didn't do it in color; it would have made a great poster. Can you imagine the heads spinning when they spotted what they thought was the usual Smokey the Bear warning, and saw this?!
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