~HARVEY KURTZMAN/MAD GENIUS OF COMICS

harvey kurtzman

THE MUSEUM OF COMIC and CARTOON ART – MoCCA – and ABRAMS ComicArts invite you to join them for a celebration of the new book: ‘THE ART of HARVEY KURTZMAN: THE MAD GENIUS of COMICS’ – written by DENIS KITCHEN & PAUL BUHLE.

to-nite – THURS SEPT 24, 2009 at 7 PM !!

at the: MUSEUM OF COMIC and CARTOON ART – MoCCA – 594 BROADWAY, SUITE 410 (bet Houston & Prince) !!

. . . . there will be a discussion featuring co-author DENIS KITCHEN and Harvey’s daughter, NELLIE KURTZMAN,
which will be moderated by Abrams Comicarts editor CHARLES KOCHMAN.
with a reception & signing with refreshments to follow.
admission open & free to all.

see: abramscomicarts.com !!

p.s. our friends over at MoCAA tell us HARVEY KURTZMAN is quite a comics icon !!
He discovered ROBERT CRUMB and gave “GLORIA STEINEM her first job in publishing when he hired her as his assistant.
TERRY GILLIAM also started at his side, met an unknown JOHN CLEESE in the process, and the genesis of MONTY PYTHON was formed.
ART SPIEGELMAN has stated on record that he owes his career to him. And he’s one of PLAYBOY publisher Hugh Hefner’s favorite artists.” !!
. . . as well, most interestingly . . . “Harvey Kurtzman had a Midas touch for talent, but was himself an astonishingly talented and influential artist, writer, editor, and satirist. KURTZMAN, the creator of MAD MAGAZINE and PLAYBOY’S “LITTLE ANNIE FANNY”, was called “One of the most important figures in postwar America” by the NEW YORK TIMES. His groundbreaking “realistic” war comics of the early ’50s and various satirical publications (MAD, Trump, Humbug, and Help!) had an immense impact on popular culture, inspiring a generation of underground cartoonists. Without Kurtzman, it’s unlikely we’d have had Airplane, SNL, or National Lampoon”.

the book includes hundreds of never-before-seen illustrations, paintings, pencil sketches, newly discovered lost E.C. Comics layouts, color compositions, illustrated correspondence, and vintage photos from the rich Kurtzman archives.