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The Sensational World of Harvey - A look at Comics

arvey Kurtzman, legendary American satirist and comic illustrator, will always be revered for his spellbinding and burlesque caricatured depictions of post-war America. Well versed in the art of parody and pastiche, Kurtzman orchestrated the resurgence of the American comic enterprise, most notably through the publication of “Mad”, a comic series that would eventually emerge as a penetrating mirror of working-class America and its socio-cultural mores. A meticulous and stringently methodical artist (he hand drew extensive preparatory story boards and drafts before beginning any project); Kurtzman strived for an artistic grandeur that outshone the work of many of his contemporaries.

Being Mad is an Art

In many ways, Kurtzman had invented his own formulaic recipe for humour. The whole ideology of effective parody was first ingeniously crafted by Kurtzman in accordance to a set of principles. These guidelines comprised of aesthetic and content based elements. The design concept of “panelling”; the central device of all comic strips was advanced by Kurtzman. He saw the potential of the comic strip layout as a tool to direct the visual flow of a piece; how the eye ‘reads’ a narrative strung along with images. Humour for Kurtzman was primarily about striking a sense of elegant fluency in meaning; every panel had to justify (through the illustration and accompanying text) its position on the page.

Hey Look! Oops You Just Missed It . . .

Of particular interest was Kurtzman’s mini-comic series, entitled “HEY Look!”. It served as his creative playground for experimenting with various illustrative techniques pertaining to surrealist comedy (see accompanied image). He proved that there is substance even in subjects that perceivably carry little narrative value. His work was testament to the fact that humour is evident even in the most mundane and uneventful surroundings; it is embedded in the cultural fabric of society. Kurtzman had the critical foresight to rework common logic and transform it into something uniquely humorous without it necessarily having substantial rationale or reason.

The opening weeks of November will be exclusively dedicated to the magically ‘mad’ genius that of Harvey Kurtzman.  What is your favourite Kurtzman piece?

 

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