Mad #5

Credits:
Cover dated June/July 1953
Cover by Bill Elder

"Outer Sanctum!" - Art by Bill Elder/Story by Harvey Kurtzman
"Black and Blue Hawks!" - Art by Wally Wood/Story by Harvey Kurtzman
"Miltie of the Mounties!" - Art by John Severin/Story by Harvey Kurtzman
"Kane Keen!" - Art by Jack Davis/Story by Harvey Kurtzman

Today I cover my first issue of Mad, EC's most famous publication. Elder's cover for the issue was the only one he did for EC. The insider front cover features a parody of the "EC Artist of the Issue" features that were appearing throughout EC's various publications at the time, covering publisher Bill Gaines. This fake biography stated he was a thief, peddled dope, worked around burlesque houses, couldn't read and other various things. The bio was put together by Gaines and others while editor Kurtzman was ill. What was thought initially to be just a funny joke ended up in quite the big controversy for EC with their wholesalers due to offending another publisher for whom parts of the biography were true. EC had to prepare an apology to the wholesalers as a result. Overall the bio is by far the most notable part of this issue. Only the first story is particularly good, at least story wise (art is generally strong throughout) and the other stories are generally uninteresting to me. Although I'll admit that the EC humor comics were always the genre of theirs I was least into.

"Outer Sanctum!" - This story initially takes place in a crypt where a character named Ramon
hosts the rest of the tale. In the Louisiana swamp a scientist works on a mixture to create
life, which he dumps into the swamp due to its bad smell. The mixture combines with the swamp
to form a trash-like monster called Heap. Heap robs a Bank for the scientist then falls in
love with a female garbage heap in the back. The scientist sets the female heap ablaze, which
enrages the Heap, causing it to destroy the shack they live in. It runs off, never to be seen
again, but sometimes during the full moon it can be found, with little heaps following it. Our
host, Ramon, reveals that the whole story was made up, but the Heap does show up. The controversies with this issue continue. The statement of "Nice Fat Errand Boy Wanted"
(presumbably to be eaten) was taken by the wholesalers to mean that he was wanted for sexual
perverse acts.

"Black and Blue Hawks!" - The Black and Blue Hawks head to the country of Panazonia upon
hearing from one of their colleagues whose plane crashes that there is a revolution there. Upon
arriving they encounter the leader of the revolution, a beautiful woman who tricks them and
steals their plane. The last remaining Blue Hawk (having ordered the others back to their
island) follows her and eventually makes it back to Black and Blue Hawk Island where its
revealed that the woman and the other Black and Blue Hawks were the revolutionaries.

"Miltie of the Mounties" - A series of mounties report to Chief Mountie, Scott Yardland.
Yardland receives orders from his superiors to capture the criminal Nanuk the Canuk and sends
Miltie the Mountie after him. Miltie initially starts following his own footprints in a circle,
but does come across the heavily covered Nanuk the Canuk whom he chases. Nanuk is revealed to be a woman by opening her coat, shocking Miltie enough so she can shoot him.  Not that great a story in my eyes, it takes a while to get going and I don't understand why Nanuk being a woman was supposed to be so shocking to Miltie like it was. A similar type ending was used in the first story of the Panic #1.

"Kane Keen! Private Eye" - Kane Keen of the title is a private eye hired by a beautiful woman
who claims that her uncle is in danger. Her uncle, Rollover Rover, is a retired vaudelville
actor who had an act with a talking dog, Shlep. Upon arriving at his mansion they find Rover
dead and Shlep missing. Keen is faced with a variety of suspects as well as a mysterious thug
who keeps warning him to keep off the case and hits him in the head. In the end the killer is
revealed to be Shlep, who was disguised as the butler. Shlep gets away however by taking
hostage of a dumb cop who came to the scene.