CRACKED #51

Here are some highlights from Cracked #51, April 1966 with the cover by John Severin.

At this time they started telling people what was going on on the cover in the contents:

”Where there's smoke, there's always SYLVESTER P. SMYTHE trying to do his part to put out the fire. He always wanted to be a fire fighter, but was forever making mistakes. We'll never forget the time the barbershop caught fire. Sylvester was right on the spot with his ax and box of MARSHMALLOWS. The other firemen put the blaze AND SYLVESTER out! Okay, Sylvester! Put yourself together and get on with your job!” Here's the inside front cover dedicate to a photo with a caption. Before their first article is a fake ad for a country music record by Vic Martin (in their words in the contents, “A long-playing hit.”)

This portrait of Moe Howard, from Super Fan Elan(This week's top 40 jokes), is their definition of the composite English Rock and Roller.

The describe him as having “1)The cunning hair style of PAUL McCARTNEY...2)The pop-eyed expression of PETER NOONE...3)The slapping technique of MICK JAGGER...4)The stylish shirt of DAVE CLARK...5)The zany vitality of FREDDY GARRITY...6)The surly mouth of ERIC BURDON...7)The moodiness of THE MOODY BLUES...8)All the flightiness THE YARDBIRDS...9)And all the kinkiness of THE KINKS!”

After that is something by Bill Ward called The Martian Report on Earth (A six-eyed look at us).

Regular readers of this blog know I'm a sucker for beatniks. I also think it's funny that in their eyes such a culture still was vibrant in 1966.

This is from an article by Severin as “McCarty” called Banks Unlimited—Money Does Grow on Trees. Cracked's Do-It-Yourself Cartoons (The smiles are in the middle) was something by Severin where each panel in a three-panel strip was blank, but you would were supposed to put it up to the light and see the panel on the other side of the page.

then there was a one-pager by J.T. Dennett If Comics were Drawn By Famous Movie Directors from Bill Ward was more of an excuse for ethnic jokes than satirizing the works of any particular movie director. Unlike the comic strip parodies Wally Wood did for Mad, no attempt is really made to mimic the style of the artist. There was another strip by Bill Ward, called It All Depends on the Point of View, a recurring feature which would show an object as seen by different people. Story of the Month by Jack Davis is reprinted from #11. By Vic Martin. Cracked Cracks (a casebook on nutty cartoonists) was their page of gag cartoons, this time by Don Orehek, Joe Kiernan (editor), Art Pottier, and George Kesner; The Silents Talk Back (reels of film fun), some photos with captions; then Get Out the Vote! Take the Giant Clod Test (the quiz for foulballs!) is another reprint from an earlier issue; followed by Look Be-Four You Laugh (Read 'em, they're all fun-filled) was another collection of movie stills with captions; after that is Flight 407 (coffee, tea, or large laughs?) Shut-Ups by Charles Rodrigues.

He has a collection this fall and it's about time. The inside back cover was the contest that was mentioned on the cover. Find the Hidden Faces gave away TV sets, transistor radios, and subscriptions to anyone who could find the faces hidden in a drawing of a landscape, accompanied by a comment of 25 words or less on why they read Cracked.

For some reason, the back cover was never in full color.