Harvey Kurtzman

Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and editor, born in Brooklyn in 1924, whose satirical instincts reshaped American comics and humor publishing. He created and edited Mad magazine from 1952 to 1956, building it from a horror-comics parody into a landmark of satirical publishing that mocked advertising, politics and popular culture with meticulous visual detail. After leaving Mad he went on to produce the Little Annie Fanny comic strip for Playboy from 1962 to 1988, working with a rotating team of illustrators to render an adult satirical strip with unusual production values for the medium. His editorial voice, mixing parody with pointed social critique, influenced generations of cartoonists. He died in Mount Vernon, New York in 1993.