Cracked #13

Looky here. It's the 13th issue of Cracked from March 1960.

cover by John Severin. By this time the entire magazine was written by editor Paul Laikin who had a hand in just about every humor magazine in existence. As he says in the book If You're Cracked, You're Happy:

“I started writing other stuff like a cannibal’s menu with roast shoulder and some other things. When Mad came out at that time, they started to become a hit and sold immensely and then Cracked came out, because Mad made such a splash. Soon as I saw issue #1 of Cracked, I said, 'Wow! This is a phenomenon!' So, I went to Cracked, and I started writing for Cracked. I was in issue #2 and 3. Sol Brodsky was the editor and Bob Sproul was the publisher. So when Mad found out I had put my name in it, they said, 'You can’t be writing for Mad and Cracked. Sorry, but you have to choose one.' So me, which shows you the choices I’ve made in life – that I’m here in West Babylon and not on the Riviera – chose Cracked. Cracked was easier to do. There was a lot of reasons. I don’t remember. Illogical reasons. Cracked took everything I wrote, because there was no one really to edit you.

“About issue #7 or so, Sol Brodsky got a call from Stan Lee to take him over to Marvel Comics. So he left for Marvel, and Bob Sproul called me into his office and said, 'Sol is leaving. Would you like to be editor of Cracked?' I said, 'Great!' 'Crazy' is what I should have said. 'How much do you want?' 'Well, how much do you want to pay?' I came up with a figure like $200, I didn’t care, it wasn’t about the money for my day job. 'I’ll give you $400,' which shows you how far off I was. I could probably live on $400 a month. I couldn’t live on the other, but I didn’t take it to live on. So, I became the editor I think with issue #11, and Sol Brodsky went on to do Marvel Comics. I left Mad because they didn’t want me writing for Cracked even if I used a different name. I used my own name and I must have quit my day job.”

After the contents, letters page, and an ad for “Ignited Airlines”, here was their first article.

Who doesn't love beatniks? If you don't, log off this page immediately. Otherwise, here's all you need to know in The Hip Alphabet Book illustrated by Vic Martin. The obligatory Believe It Or Not parody drawn by Jack Davis: Then there was another Severin article, Modern Appliances Have Overshot Their Function!

And back to Jack Davis with Cartoons of the Year Then after Send Out Your Greeting Cards and 10-Day Posture-Straightening Exercizes from Bill Ward (as Bill McCartney), there's Are You Civilized? from Russ Heath: Here's Don Orehek with Story of the Month. After Sick Unions for Sick People from John Severin and Memorial Tribute, Bill Ward (McCartney) returns with Wild Record Covers Russian Magazines where people like Bill Elder were looking anywhere for work. Fake magazine covers were a Laikin specialty. There's some Be Different Buttons and another Severin article If Different Poets Had Read Cracked, and a Smokey Bear ad parody by Russ Heath, before Jack Davis' parody of Bat Masterson. When It All Started from John Severin. Many of the early issues featured an ad for Horror House, the mail-order company of the publisher similar to how Warren Magazines had Captain Company. They had an article after that called Freezing People by Jack Davis, and another Shut-Ups from John Severin.

Then came this subscription ad on the inside back cover: The back cover was fake book jackets.

Next week: CRACKED #15.