CRAZY #16

Another of the Paul Laikin issues of Crazy. He must not have been very proud of his run since he barely mentioned them in a video interview he did.

This was the March, 1976 issue.

Last of the covers by Nick Cardy. The inside covers were usually “posters”, like this one of Gerald Ford by Jack Sparling. Their second parody of Good Times by Len Herman and Marie Severin, possibly inventory. Article illustrated by Murad Gumen. The last installment of History of Moosekind Here was Crazy Guide to Body Language illustrated by Michael Ricigliano This ad was the inside back cover. Next Monday, Crazy #17.

CRAZY # 15

Marvel decided not to use the staffers of the other comics for this and recruited editor Paul Laikin (he uses the name Paul Lamont for this issue, maybe due to some other contractual obligation). Having edited Cracked and Sick and written for Mad before this, he wasn't able to afford A-list artists like he did there, as we shall soon see. Most likely he wrote most of the issues himself under various pseudonyms, since most of the articles credited to other writers are similar to the articles he wrote for other magazines and were sometimes names of relatives and anagrams of each other. Though Laikin's run is derided by many, some issues from this time are fairly valuable because of the paintings of celebrities on their covers, as we shall see in future posts.

Here are some excerpts from #15, the January 1976 issue.

They continued to use cover artist Nick Cardy.

The inside front cover had an “International Swindlers' Certificate”

There was some inventory left over from previous issues, since the first few issues of the "new" Crazy had a few articles by Marvel staffers, like this Jaws parody from Stu Schwartzberg and Marie Severin. Here's another example of the one-page "poster" fillers that were now a trademark of the magazine. Here's what was probably left over from the previous regime from Vance Rodewalt interspersed throughout. Note what looks like an editor's mark in one panel, an example of the sloppiness the magazine occasionally had because of its grueling monthly schedule needed to outdo the frequency of its competitors. Another article that was probably left over from previous editorships. Good News/Bad News was a page of jokes with clip-art written by “Frank Wail”, Most likely a Laikin pseudonym.

They continued to serialize excerpts from Will Eisner's books.

Then this. Another example of articles meant for previous issues.

The magazine now had marginal jokes similar to the one-liners on Laugh-In An artist from the earlier issues was longtime Warren editor Bill DuBay. Then the rest of Lee Marrs' Crazy Lady, and a new recurring feature of one-liners called Crazy News of the Month.

They needed to use the last of the recurring History of Moosekind The back cover had Crazy Record Labels, an example of the "fake-out" parodies they would do which you could paste over the real thing.

Next Monday: Excerpts from CRAZY #16.

CRAZY #13

Here are some excerpts from the October 1975 issue of Crazy.

Cover by Nick Cardy Inside front cover continued throughout the magazine. Parody of Tommy by Steve Skeates and Marie Severin Another excerpt from Gleeful Guide to Astrology. Daniel Azulay By Bruce Carlin and Lee Marrs Recurring (for two issues) parody of pulp magazines by Steve Skeates and Marie Severin. Another installment of Bob Foster's History of Moosekind If you recognize some of these names you can tell this was done in California. Next is a mostly-text piece called How To Hang Up on Your Hang-Ups by Steve Skeates, Steve Gerber, Martin Pasko, and Mary Skrenes.

Parody of the Chuck Wagon Dog Food commercials.

CRAZY #10

Here's another issue I have of Crazy from April 1975.

Cover by Nick Cardy Here's some of the Marvel staff. Stu Schwartzberg and Vance Rodewalt parodying Death Wish The first page of Steve Gerber and Robert Graysmith's running feature Just Plain Folks After this was another Consumer Confidential from Bob Foster and Willie Ito, credited to “Oona LaGorpe”.

For a few issues Lee Marrs did a regular feature. Then another excerpt from Will Eisner's Gleeful Guide to Astrology

Street Gang Illustrated by Michael Ricigliano Installment of Bob Foster's History of Moosekind Second parody they did of Westworld, opening parody of their first one here. Another installment of their original mascot, The Nebbish, by Marv Wolfman and Marie Severin. Two probably well-meaning, but nevertheless racist TV parodies of Good Times and Chico and the Man, which were both racist in their own right.