You knowMAD. Do you knowHumbug? "We won't write for morons. We won't do anything just to get laughs. We won't be dirty. We won't be grotesque. We won't be in bad taste. We won't sell magazines."--Declaration of editorial principles,Humbug#1 Harvey Kurtzman changed the face of American humor when he created the legendaryMADcomic.

As editor and chief writer from its inception in 1952, through its transformation into a slick magazine, and until he leftMADin 1956, he influenced an entire generation of cartoonists, comedians, and filmmakers. In 1962, he co-created the long-runningLittle Annie Fannywith his long-time artistic partner Will Elder forPlayboy, which he continued to produce until his virtual retirement in 1988. BetweenMADandAnnie Fanny, Kurtzman's biographical summaries will note that he created and edited three other magazines,Trump, Humbug, andHelp!, but, whereas hisMADandAnnie Fannyare readily available in reprint form, his major satirical work in the interim period is virtually unknown.Humbug, which had poor distribution, may be the least known, but to those who treasure the rare original copies, it equals or even exceedsMADin displaying Kurtzman's creative genius.Humbugwas unique in that it was actually published by the artists who created it: Kurtzman and his cohorts fromMADWill Elder, Jack Davis, and Al Jaffee, were joined by universally acclaimed cartoonist Arnold Roth. With no publisher above them to rein them in, this little band of creators produced some of the most trenchant and engaging satire of American culture ever to appear on American newsstands. At last, the entire run of 11 issues ofHumbugis being reprinted in a deluxe format, much of it reproduced from the original art, allowing even owners of the original cheaply-printed issues to see the full impact of these creators' artistry for the first time. "Man--We're Beat! Satire has got us beat.

1953--We started MAD magazine for a comic-book publisher and we did some pretty good satire and it sold very well. 1956--We started Trump magazine.and we worked much harder and we did much better satire and we sold much worse. 1957--We started Humbug magazine and we worked hardest of all and turned out the very best satire of all, which of course now sells the very worst of all. And now.as they throw rocks at Vice President Nixon.as space gets cluttered with missiles.and as our names are carefully removed from our work in MAD pocketbooks--a feeling of beatness creeps through our satirical veins and capillaries and we think how George S.

Kaufman once said, 'Satire is something that closes Saturday night.'"--From the editorial toHumbug's final issue.