''Help!'' was an American satire magazine that was published by James Warren from 1960 to 1965. It was

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 the ...

's longest-running magazine project after leaving '' Mad'' and EC Publications, and during its five years of operation it was chronically underfunded, yet innovative. In starting ''Help!'', Kurtzman brought along several artists from his ''Mad'' collaborations, including Will Elder, Jack Davis, John Severin and Al Jaffee. Kurtzman's assistants included Charles Alverson, Terry Gilliam and

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

; the last was helpful in gathering the celebrity comedians who appeared on the covers and the fumetti strips the magazine ran along with more traditional comics and text pieces. Among the then little-known performers in the fumetti were

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

and Milt Kamen; better-known performers such as Orson Bean were also known to participate. Some of the fumetti were scripted by Bernard Shir-Cliff. At ''Help!'', Gilliam met Cleese for the first time, resulting in their collaboration years later on '' Monty Python's Flying Circus''. Cleese appeared in a Gilliam fumetto written by David Crossley, "Christopher's Punctured Romance". The tale concerns a man who is shocked to learn that his daughter's new "Barbee" doll has "titties"; however, he falls in love with the doll and has an affair. Gilliam appeared on two covers of ''Help!'' and along with the rest of the creative team, appeared in crowd scenes in several fumetti. The magazine introduced young talents who went on to influential careers in

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

as well as the mainstream: among them Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton and Jay Lynch.

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, copy editing, editor and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome ...

and other science fiction writers were regular contributors of prose and scripts to the magazine. Working with a minimal budget, Kurtzman relied on a combination of cheap up-and-coming talent, favors called in to "name" friends (such as cover poses by Jackie Gleason, Mort Sahl or

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

) and inexpensive page-fillers (such as inserting dialogue balloons into news photos and publicity stills). Somewhat more adult and risque than '' Mad'', ''Help!'' was nonetheless less sexually explicit or taboo-breaking than the contemporaneous '' The Realist'' or the later underground comix and '' National Lampoon'' were or would be. The magazine got into some hot water in 1962, thanks to a story in the February 1962 issue called "Goodman Goes Playboy" in which the Archie Comics cast were seduced by the '' Playboy'' lifestyle and sold their souls to Satan (aka ''Playboy'' founder

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

). Archie Comics sued Warren, and settled out of court for $1,000 and a published apology. The spat resurfaced in December when the story was reprinted in a book; another settlement was reached in 1963 with Kurtzman and Elder promising never to reprint the story again, and ceding the copyright to Archie Comics. At some point, Archie Comics failed to renew the copyright. This lapse allowed '' The Comics Journal'' to reprint the story in its entirety in September 2004. A total of 26 issues of ''"Help!"'' were printed before the magazine folded in 1965. Volume one (Aug. 1960–Sept. 1961) had 12 issues, and 14 issues comprised the second volume (Feb. 1962–Sept. 1965). Coincidentally, the magazine’s title was supplanted in popular culture in the same year that it folded:

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

released a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, and a feature-length film all bearing the title “Help!” in the summer of 1965. ( The song was the title track of the album and the opening song of the film.)”Help!” The Beatles Bible. Web. Accessed 13 Dec 2024. https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/help/

Notable contributors

* Charles Alverson * Orson Bean *

* Robert Crumb * Jack Davis * Will Elder * Terry Gilliam * Al Jaffee * Milt Kamen *

* Jay Lynch * John Severin * Gilbert Shelton *

* Heinrich Kley

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Help! (magazine) 1960 comics debuts 1965 comics endings Satirical magazines published in the United States Comics magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1960 Magazines disestablished in 1965 Magazines edited by Harvey Kurtzman Satirical comics Underground comix Photocomics Warren Publishing titles 1960s in comedy