Author:
Title: MAD No. 5
Place Published:
Publisher:EC [Indicia: Educational Comics Inc.]
Date Published: June-July, 1953
Description: CGC certified: VF- (7.5). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: Crease right bottom of front cover breaks color; spine stress lines breaks color; wear all corners of cover.

CGC Census: 204 graded copies (191 Universal, 1 Qualified, 12 Restored).

GPAnalysis: A 7.5 sold for $1197 in 7/23.

Credits: Cover: Bill Elder. Scripts: Harvey Kurtzman, and Jerry De Fuccio? Art: Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, John Severin, Bill Elder.Gaines Goes MAD: When this mag was headed to press, editor Harvey Kurtzman was laid up with jaundice, and Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein, eager to lighten Kurtzman's load, decided to help out. "Kurtzman was sick... and everybody was trying to help him get MAD #5 out. We wrote a lampoon tongue-in-cheek biography of me. We'd done legitimate biographies of everybody else, so we did this thing, and this was supposed to be funny.' When the wholesalers got a look at it, they were outraged."

"It begins, 'William M. (for 'Mad') Gaines, twisted publisher of the perverted EC line, was born on Feb. 30, 1922, in an abandoned cattle-car on a siding outside the Chicago stock-yards. His father was an International Communist Banker.' It went on to say, 'He turned to peddling dope near nursery schools... and finally, seeking the ultimate in depravity and debasement, quite naturally turned to the comic magazine industry. Here he found a home!' Wholesalers took this as an insult to the industry. The piece then reports Gaines's insistence that all his stories include sadism, masochism, pyromania, fetishes, necrophilia and phallic symbols. This sort of talk, even in a parody, was beyond the pale for an American comic book in 1953. 'We thought it would be a funny lark to surprise Harvey with this biography of me,' Gaines recalled. 'Of course, with characteristic bad taste, we offended Harvey, and also offended... a lot of the wholesalers." – Bill Schelly, Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created MAD and Revolutionized Humor in America. Fantagraphics: 2015, pp. 262-263.

To quell the wholesalers' anger, Gaines, Feldstein and Kurtzman put together a butt-kissing brochure apologizing for their gaffe, printed eight copies, and sent them to the bigwigs on the powerful Bureau of Independent Publishers and Distributors (BIPAD) Committee 29, who were considering the matter. The brochure featured a color cover by Kurtzman illustrating the EC staff looking contrite, and it succeeded in pacifying BIPAD, enabling EC to continue selling its wares on the nation's newsstands. Still, the episode wasn't without lasting consequences – as Schelly observed, "This flap wasn't easily forgotten, and contributed to mounting resentment toward Gaines and his horror comics."______________________________________________________________

A limited edition of ten hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a few dozen softcovers. Fun reference, great keepsake, fully illustrated, chockablock with obscure facts, gags, bon mots. Softcovers are $40, deluxe hardcovers with dust jackets and limitation plates are $200. These books always go fast so don't delay. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Summer 2024 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of funnybook fiends. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." – R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.

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