550 – Crazy Mad Crazy

A panel from Crazy #1, September 1953
A panel from Crazy #1, September 1953

Atlas (Marvel) comics “flatters” EC’s Mad comic book by introducing their own satire comedy comic, Crazy #1 (September 1953). Most of the same shtick that’s in Mad is here: crazy antics and pop culture references (Dragnet-inspired narration of Frankenstein).

The Crazy comic didn’t last long, it was later revived as a magazine, once again copying Mad and adding fake ads, mascots, etc. Crazy was basically a footnote on the page of Mad Magazine.