Kitchen Sink Press!

The Spirit was popular and well-remembered by fans of the 40's and 50's comic, but its place was cemented by the copious reprints over the decades. Many folks have reprinted Spirit stories, such as Harvey Comics, DC Comics, and Warren Magazines, but no publisher did more to promote the character and in doing so promote the work of Will Eisner than did Kitchen Sink Press operated by Denis Kitchen. Kitchen Sink produced the two "Underground Spirits" in the early 70's and later was on hand to pick up the reins after Warren let go, even maintaining the numbering of the magazine series. Eventually Kitchen Sink became the go-to place for old Eisner material as well as new, and even quite a bit of scholarship about the Spirit by Cat Yronwode. The Spirit was Kitchen Sink's best seller for many years and arguably made the other projects possible. 

But through it all, Kitchen Sink was a publisher of underground and just barely above ground comics such as Snarf, Bizarre Sex, and XYZ Comics among others. The company produced hits such as Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and one of the sexiest comics ever in Omaha the Cat Dancer. It was the publisher of work by Don Simpson with his first hit Megaton Man and his later more personal Border Worlds. Kitchen Sink produced other vintage material such as Steve Canyon and Fearless Fosdick and Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book.  

Here is a brief cover gallery of some of the strange and wild stuff they produced. 

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The Spirit Gets Some HELP!

When The Spirit was going unpublished in the early 60's, the strip still had fans. One early reprint which perhaps triggered others was in the back pages of Harvey Kurtzman's HELP! 

Check out this Internet Archive link to see this particular version of Will Eisner's classic "Sand Saref".  

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Humor In A Jugular Vein Day!

Harvey Kurtzman was born on this date in 1924. Kurtzman was a journeyman artist for much of the Golden Age of comics, learning his craft and looking for an outlet for his wacky imagination. He finally found his footing with EC Comics where he co-created MAD. He also produced some powerful images in titles such as Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales. Kurtzman left MAD and tried to recreate that success with other titles such as TRUMP, HUMBUG and HELP! but despite some high quality failed to find the sales success. Along with Will Elder he co-created Little Annie Fanny and produced that feature for Playboy magazine for many years.  

When Harvey Kurtzman talked William Gaines Jr. into publishing a little humor comic, they changed the landscape of comedy in America. MAD became the template for comedy going forward and bred a host of imitations.  Here are some of those four-color dopplegangers.

EC even imitated MAD itself when they published PANIC, a magazine of humor by EC's other mainstay editor, Al Fiedstein.

Then in an attempt to placate censors and Kurtzman himself, Gaines decided to make the comic book a magazine. With the four colors gone, the increased size made MAD a publication alongside others targeted to an older reader. But the success of that change too sparked imitations, among them magazines by Kurtzman himself for other publishers.

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