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Al Feldstein

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Artist

The Resume

    (October 24, 1925-April 29, 2014)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    Artist, writer and editor at EC Comics
    Editor of 'Mad' magazine (1956-84)
    After retiring from 'Mad' became a wildlife painter
    Inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame (2003)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was not a comic book fan growing up, and started drawing them purely for monetary reasons: 'I was a professional prostitute, and my services were writing and drawing comic books.'
    He convinced Bill Gaines to launch the series of horror comics (such as 'Tales from the Crypt') that would land EC in hot water when Congress held hearings about comic books and juvenile delinquency.
    His own suggestion to Congress: 'The way to solve this problem is, if you don't want your kid to read 'Tales from the Crypt,' tell them, 'If I catch you reading that, I'll beat the shit out of you.''
    He considered hiring Lenny Bruce to write for 'Mad,' but chickened out. ('I didn't want to get in trouble again.')
    He complained, 'I was never able to overcome the cult-myth reputation of Harvey Kurtzman [his predecessor as editor of 'Mad'].'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He won a poster contest at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
    He published the first work of Harlan Ellison.
    He guided 'Mad' during its transformation into an American institution.
    He hired most of the writers and artists whose work became 'Mad' trademarks: Don Martin, Dave Berg, Al Jaffee, etc.
    Perhaps more impressively, he managed to keep them at 'Mad.' (As one reviewer noted, 'There is no magazine — not 'Playboy', not 'The New Yorker,' not 'Reader’s Digest' — that had such a consistently loyal talent pool over the decades.')

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 126 Votes: 48.41% Annoying