satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
and humormagazine that was published by Marvel Comics from 1973 to 1983 for a total of 94 regular issues (and two ''Super Special''s (Summer 1975, 1980)). It was preceded by two standard-format comic books titled ''Crazy''. The magazine's format followed in the tradition of '' Mad'', '' Sick'', ''
Cracked
Cracked may refer to: Television
* ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV
* ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC
* "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...
artists and writers contributed to the effort in the early years. These included Stan Lee,
Will Eisner
William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was not ...
,
Vaughn Bodé
Vaughn may refer to:
Places in the United States
*Vaughn, California, former name of Bodfish, California
* Vaughn, Montana
*Vaughn, New Mexico
*Vaughn, Oregon
* Vaughn, Pennsylvania
* Vaughn, Virginia
*Vaughn, Washington
Name
* Vaughn (surname), ...
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing t ...
Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) at the
Marie Severin
Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awa ...
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'', ...
and
Art Buchwald
Arthur Buchwald (October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007) was an American humorist best known for his column in ''The Washington Post''. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspapers ...
also contributed. Lee Marrs supplied a few pictures. In addition to drawn art, ''Crazy'' experimented with
fumetti
Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling that uses photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to ...
.
History
Marvel Comics (then known as Atlas Comics) first published a ''Crazy'' comic book in 1953. It ran for seven issues, through mid-1954, and was focused on popular culture parodies and humor. The second comic title, as ''Crazy!'', ran for three issues in 1973, and reprinted comics parodies from Marvel's late-1960s '' Not Brand Echh''. Later that year, Marvel repurposed the title for a black-and-white comics magazine. Marv Wolfman edited the first ten issues from 1973–1975 and the first ''Super Special'', and created the magazine's first mascot, a short, bug-eyed man in a large black hat and draped in a black cape. Initially unnamed, the mascot was dubbed "The Nebbish" in issue #9 (Feb. 1975) and later "Irving Nebbish". Wolfman recalled, " Stan Lee wanted it to be more '' Mad''/''
Cracked
Cracked may refer to: Television
* ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV
* ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC
* "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...
'', where I wanted it more '' Lampoon''. We sort of split the difference."
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include ''Man-Thing'', '' Omega the Unknown,'' '' Marvel Spotlight ...
, who served as ''Crazy''s editor from issues #11-14, and wanted it to be distinctive from the archetypal ''Mad'', said that the goal was to present work that implied the creators were themselves insane.Scott Edelman interviews Steve Gerber (1975) YouTube. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011. Gerber's own contributions were often prose stories with a handful of illustrations, such as the "Just Plain Folks" series of bizarre biographies. The last issue of his run as editor included a darkly comic short story he wrote in college, "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!", about high-school kids who make a suicide pact.
Paul Lamont edited issue #15 (Jan. 1976) and
Paul Laikin
Paul I. Laikin (1927 – May 12, 2012) was an American comedy writer-editor for books, television, recordings, trading cards and magazines, including '' Mad'' and ''New York''. Satirist Jay Lynch commented, "He was an important figure in the world ...
edited #16-60 and #62 (May 1980).
By 1979, ''Crazy'' was struggling in sales. In 1980, the Irving Nebbish mascot was replaced with the belligerent Obnoxio the Clown, who made his first appearance in issue #63 (June 1980), the first regular issue edited by
Larry Hama
Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows ''M*A*S*H' ...
, who had also edited issue #61 (April 1980).
''Crazy Magazine''s last issue was #94 (April 1983).
Recurring features
* The Kinetic Kids—two pages flipped back and forth to create an illusion of motion
* The Teen Hulk—teenager who becomes a Hulk-like character played for laughs
* Retread Funnies—classic Marvel Comics stories presented with new dialogue
Cultural references
The publication was referenced in ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' episode "
Separate Vocations
"Separate Vocations" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 27, 1992. In the episode, Springfield Elementa ...
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' ...
some of the confiscated contraband in a storeroom at
Springfield Elementary School
Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...
Cracked
Cracked may refer to: Television
* ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV
* ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC
* "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...