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The Comics Journal Library series is the most comprehensive series of lavishly illustrated interviews conducted with cartoonists ever published. To celebrate our republication of the legendary EC line, we proudly present the first of a two-volume set of interviews with the artists and writers (and publisher!) who made EC great. Included in the first volume: career-spanning conversations with EC legends Will Elder, John Severin, Harvey Kurtzman, and Al Feldstein, as well as short interviews with EC short-timers Frank Frazetta and Joe Kubert. Also: EC Publisher William Gaines on his infamous Senate subcommittee testimony, and probing conversations between Silver Age cartoonist Gil Kane and Harvey Kurtzman, as well as contemporary alternative cartoonist Sam Henderson and MAD great Al Jaffee.

Part of what made EC the best publisher in the history of mainstream comics was some of the most beautiful drawing ever published in comic books, and every interview is profusely illustrated by pertinent examples of the work under discussion. The EC artists were renowned for their attention to detail, and the reproduction here takes full advantage of the oversized art book format.

"All the things that are wrong with people in society registered on those [MAD] pages. … I feel my zaniness is based on truth; all really great comedy is based on truth." – Will Elder

"Working for [Harvey Kurtzman] was delightful, it was terrible, it was just — he brought out the best in all of us, and sometimes you’d like to break his damn neck. But by God, he was good." – John Severin

"It was a beautiful science-fiction story. But [the Comics Code Authority] didn’t like mutants. You have to understand. This thing was run by three or four old ladies who were shocked by almost anything. They were the ones who did the censoring." – William Gaines

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