One of his first jobs was developing a comic relief title called "Inferior Man" to run as a backup in Will Eisner's comic The Spirit (soon to be a major motion picture).
He talked about working for Stan Lee at Timely Comics , the company that would eventually become Marvel. & Just prior to World War II, Al wrote and drew cute animal comics as a freelancer. & During the war, he enlisted and ended up working at the Pentagon ("a scary place, then and now") drawing pamphlets designed to help shell-shocked soldiers readjust to civilian life.
He returned to Timely after the war, this time as a staffer. He wrote and drew more cute animal stories, like Super Rabbit , and teen comics designed to capture some of Archie's audience.
He left Timely to work for Hugh Heffner on a humor magazine called Trump . & It lasted two issues. & He also worked on Humbug , another humor magazine aimed at adults. & A few years later he moved to Mad, and has been working there for nearly 50 years!
So, why no real talk of Mad?
Because on Saturday, Al will be on the "MAD in the 60s" panel (3-4pm, Room 8), along with Sergio Aragon es and Al Feldstein.
I am looking forward to it.
