Hey Look

by Harvey Kurtzman

Book by Kurtzman, Harvey

Genres: Comics, Humor, Fiction

Hardcover

First published July 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Culled from various long-forgotten Timely titles from the late 1940's and very early 1950's, the one-pagers (plus occasional longer stories) collected here trace the roots of an outrageous kind of humor that would soon - in the form of a little magazine called Mad - revolutionize America's cultural landscape.

I found it absolutely fascinating to watch Kurtzman develop his comedy techniques by experimenting with the medium's formal properties, while his characters appear to take on a life of their own, gradually becoming aware of the fact that they merely inhabit a comic-book page. Later contributions already read a lot like Mad-style parody: "This is not a story for women, children or sissies! As a matter of fact, we don't really know who this story is for..."

Sadly, this little gem has been out of print for more than two decades, which feels increasingly absurd considering all the junk that has been reprinted by now. I mean, without Hey Look no Mad, without Mad no underground comix, without underground comix no alternative comics...

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just smacks of 'sale book' in my library: I have little interest in Harvey Kurtzman, almost no respect for MAD or Two-Fisted Tales, and the humour herein is not really to my taste. Taking all that into consideration, this is a pleasant and amusing collection of (previously) rare early Kurtzman strips, collected from various sources from the late 1940s to the mid-60s. It is plain to see Kurtzman growing as an artist and storyteller through this span: the early actual 'Hey Look!' strips tend toward the strained and drawn-out single joke, reliant upon two main characters (think your usual Lenny-and-George comic pairing) and mostly minimalist backgrounds; the later 'Hey Look!' strips, 'Genius,' 'Egghead Doodle' and 'Pot-Shot Pete' are actually comic stories, with more fully-realised characters and filled in surroundings. That's not to say the latter are better. Often, 'Hey Look!' strips are excellent examples of simple cartooning, while 'Genius' and 'Egghead Doodle' are just painful sellout-looking Sunday-comics pandering. 'Pot Shot Pete,' though, is a clear hint of what was to come with Kurtzman's best-know contribution to comicdom, the original MAD magazine. He plays fast and loose with the conventions of traditional Western stories and films, and portrays it with a well-balanced compromise between his simpler style and the more elaborate art of which he's capable.
I suspect this book would appeal to most fans of newspaper strips, as there's nothing highbrow or sophisticated about the humour or its depiction. As an historical artifact, at least in comics history, it's a beautiful condensation of the evolution of the form during the 1950s. Overall, it's harmless fun, and not a book I mind having and rereading occasionally, but not something I'd miss if it were gone.