Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Humor Me VIII
Crazy Magazine #1, October 1973, Marvel Comics Group, NYC, NY (40 cents)

Executive Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor: Marv Wolfman
Production: Sol Brodsky
Staff: Don McGregor, Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Murray Friedman
Writers: Vaughn Bode, Gerry Conway, Harlan Ellison, Bob Foster, Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Don McGregor, Stu Scwartzberg, Jean Shepherd, Steve Skeates, Jean Thomas, Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman
Artists: Ross Andru, Vaughn Bode, Bob Foster, Dave Hunt, Vic Martin, Mike Ploog, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, Basil Wolverton, Ned Young
Photographers: Vincent Colletta, Michele Wolfman
Cover: Kelly Freas

Cover: Kelly Freas image of the Crazy nebbish dynamiting the logos of Sick, Mad, National Lampoon (!), and Cracked. Cover lines: Maniacal mirth to mangle your mind; Featuring the way-out humor of Jean Shepherd, Harlan Ellison, Vaughn Bode, Kelly Freas, and the Bullpen that plays for fun; Also in this issue: Crazy rips off the Poseidon Adventure and Kung Fu; Special issue on the future -- or what's left of it

p. 2 Fake ad for Virginia Slim Chances, w/ Stu Schwartzberg, d/ Marie Severin

p. 3 Contents, masthead, and indicia

p. 4 Kung Fooey w/ Stu Schwartzberg, d/ Mike Ploog... TV parody featuring western cliche plot signpost, Buddhist aphorism flashbacks, and the line "Heavy on the spareribs, easy on the burning coals."

p. 12 Breaking and Entering Pandora's Box w/ Harlan Ellison, d/ Basil Wolverton... Cockroaches take over the Earth -- I think I have that right

p. 13 Daily Survivor w/ Tony Isabella, Carla Joseph, Gerry Conway, and Steve Skeates; d/ Dave Hunt, Marie Severin... Post-apocalyptic newspaper parody touching on mutated soldiers, mind tapping, frogs, genetic variations, Holohedral TV, Dennis the Menace, and the Olympics

p. 20 The Lighter Side of Racial Violence w/ Roy and Jean Thomas, d/ Ned Young, et. al. ... Crazy parodies Mad's Dave Berg -- that's crazy! Best line: "One man's rip-off is another man's revolution."

p. 21 Foto Funnies... National Lampoon parody addressing -- or undressing -- the war between the sexes

p. 22 Shush-Ups! d/ Vincent Van Nog... This Cracked parody tackles vampires, the Titanic, and cartoonists

p. 23 Foto Funkies... Another uncredited National Lampoon lampoon taking on -- or off -- feminism and the evident battle between the publishers

p. 24 The Great American Dream w/ Marv Wolfman, p/ Michele Wolfman... A "far-out" fumetti starring Dick Giordano, Neal Adams, and Tony Isabella in a realtor's police-state dream

p. 27 An Independent Survey Today Announced... w/ Jean Shepherd, d/ Herb Trimpe... Adapted from The Ferrari in the Bedroom, this series of clippings from the Daily Disaster isn't very funny. Outside of the comics-panel adaptations, this ran three pages too long

p. 33 Who's Who w/ Marv Wolfman... Other than "A Crazy Editorial," which recounts the dubious origin of humor, this page pokes fun at the need to feature big names to sell magazines. Wolfman calls Ellison a pornographer and claims that he, himself, is married to Michele Wolfman. There's also an ad for the "First and Greatest Name-That-Nebbish Contest."

p. 34 The Upseidown Adventure w/ Len Wein, d/ Ross Andru and Vic Martin... Movie parody recounting how passengers try to save a sinking ship (T-minus 93 issues?). Best line: "I forgot all about yer tattoo!"

p. 40 Evolution and History of Moosekind w/d Bob Foster... So not funny. I can't believe this was ever printed.

p. 43 FOOM-Etti w/ Tony Isabella, p/ Vinnie Colletta... A perved-out Marv Wolfman strives to sell a Friends of Ol' Marvel membership

p. 44 Junkwaffel: Sole Survivor w/d Vaughn Bode... 'Nuff said.

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