Doohickamabob

That must have been sold at this store:

I'm not sure how many episodes I can watch of a live-action TV show that has a major character with a butthole for a mouth.

I was watching that Startling #49 auction. It displays very well for its estimated grade.

I've got 10 copies of it but only 1 each of the books pictured. If you ever feel like parting with one (if it's complete), let me know. It's fun to think of how many of these books ended up passed around in college dorms and such back in the late 1950s. Another compilation book that's of interest to Mad fans is the Humbug Hardback. (Since many of the Mad artists jumped ship with Harvey Kurtzman and wrote/drew for Humbug for several years.) The Humbug Hardback was basically that comic's answer to "Mad for Keeps," but it has a limited print run and is almost never seen today.

And I didn't know of the existence of these books before I read your post! There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad Yep, and it's very tough to find with the slipcover and all the interior goodies intact (it was loaded with stickers, bumper stickers and other stuff similar to what was found in the Trash/Worst/Follies issues). I consider it a somewhat thematically separate collectible from the three books posted because it was printed during a different era of Mad. The three books above are from the late 1950s and the reprint stuff from the earliest magazine issues. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad is from 1969, a decade later. Still a highly desirable Mad collectible of course!

I find that the Russ Cochran box set is the best reprint of the comics. Me too. Since I already had the Russ Cochran color set, which reprints all of the Mad comic books in a very easy-to-read large format, I haven't sampled any of the other Mad archives. (I'd really like to find an edition that faithfully reprints all of the magazine issues from about #24 through the late 1950s, since most of the early reprints of that material were in paperback form that didn't preserve the full-spread magazine formatting.)

It can probably be looked up, and if I have time later I'll let you know. I remember it being a pretty big deal, because Mad also started taking advertising around the same time. As you know, William Gaines wanted the most autonomy possible, and didn't want to be in any way beholden to advertisers who might pressure him to water down the satire or avoid certain topics. He was a purist. However, by the mid or late 1990s, a few years after Gaines had departed this planet, it was clear that young readers -- who grew up in world where nearly everything was in color -- had difficulty getting accustomed to the black-and-white format.

The fold-ins began with issue #86. What was the last issue featuring a fold-in? Al Jaffee is still doing fold-ins for Mad Magazine. I think he's 95 years old or something in that realm, and Mad's writers help him with topical comedy ideas. (May he continue for as long as possible!) Only a few issues since #86 haven't featured fold-ins.

Wonder if any of those friend attendees went on to starving artist status Frazetta's drawing partner, Angelo Torres, went on to a multi-decade career at Mad Magazine among other realms. His other school friends included Bernie Krigstein, Joe Orlando and Wally Wood.

I'll be happy to have a photo tutorial session next time you sell me more cool vintage paperbacks like the novel versions of "Zardoz" or "The Prisoner."

To clarify, the reason I asked is that the image is so perfectly squared, with the comics on top being practically the exact size as the ones on the bottom. It's as if you took the photo while zoomed in from standing on a ladder or something. Anyway, whatever -- cool books.

It stays with me until.

That's an Australian title called Jane -- "the famous 'OOMPH!' girl!". Unfortunately the way I arranged the photos doesn't showcase it very well at all. It's a 1950s-era comic but the interior is printed in black-and-white. Her character is kind of Brenda Starr-ish if memory serves, and might have been based on strips from an Australian newspaper (not sure but if I have a chance I'll look it over again). I've only seen copies once or twice. Maybe 8 years ago (my memory is spotty) somebody eBay-auctioned issues from a large run. I was lucky enough to get one of them. Some of the best ones (that is, the most excellent GGA covers) went for big bucks and I was outbid.

So *that* is why I can't find an upgrade.... Nice... If you're going to hoard one issue, you picked a winner. (I love your Exciting run too.)

Absolutely beautiful copies. Yeah they're all really square and clean and bright and flat looking. Also nice choices from each run. (incidentally, is that a photo and if so how did you take it? Or is it scans cropped and photoshopped over a background?)

Hey Kav, do you ever consider just biting your tongue on a response like this?

Final spammin'

Even more spammin'

More spammin'

Spammin'

My rattiest comic, but it's also pretty hard to find, so I decided to ignore the unsavoriness. Luckily the chews/bites don't affect panel artwork.

Maybe Croatia has Wonkavision.

I would straight-up return that. Make the seller issue a full refund, and if not, file a SNAD claim. I have already initiated a return and filed the claim. Sigh. I hope the seller is being reasonable and apologetic. With any luck he'll be compelled to change his shipping/packaging methods. I'm curious to see what the packaging looked like if you have a pic handy. Anyway, sorry this happened.

I would straight-up return that. Make the seller issue a full refund, and if not, file a SNAD claim.