Artist's Edition #[9]

This oversized Artist's Edition showcases Harvey Kurtzman's original artwork for the early MAD comics in gorgeous reproduction, and the cover sets the tone beautifully — a group of armed, hat-wearing investigators crowds together in a jungle clearing, one declaring via speech bubble that the monster story must be a fake, blissfully unaware of the enormous clawed hand looming in the foreground just below their feet. The raw ink work, visible aging, and Kurtzman's own signature ground the piece firmly in the tactile charm of hand-crafted comics art from MAD's earliest days. It's a treat for anyone who wants to see the wit and draftsmanship behind one of comics' most irreverent publications up close.