Recently, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the screening of a work-in-progress about one of the foremost artists and writers of Mad Magazine. “The Mad Playboy of Art” by New York director Gary VandenBergh is a feature length documentary covering the career of artist and writer Will Elder.

Will Elder was one of the original cartoonists at Harvey Kurtzman’s MAD comic book. Elder has often been hailed as the source of the MAD visual sensibility. Packing the panels with gags upon gags was Elder’s style and it became the foundation for MAD. William Gaines, the first publisher of Mad, once described Mr. Elder as “our only contributor who lived a life as crazy as our magazine.”

It was Elder’s story in the first issue of EC’s PANIC comic book that pushed Congress to investigate the influence comics had on the rise of Juvenile Delinquency in our society. As David Hajdu, author of “The 10-cent Plague”, says, “If you trace the Hurricane back to the flutter of the butterfly, it’s Will Elder’s Visit to St. Nicholas that was the cause.”

Will Elder stayed with Kurtzman when he left MAD and brought his unique perspective to TRUMP, Humbug, Help and Playboy’s Little Annie Fanny; all culture bell-weathers. To say that Elder and Kurtzman were the influences of the turmoil of the sixties is not an understatement, they enabled the youth of America to question authority with their exposure of advertising and corporate hypocrisy in MAD and beyond.

To trace the story of Will Elder from the streets of the Bronx to the newsstands of the world, director Gary VandenBergh has assembled an amazing cast of comic book creators and experts. These include: Mad Magazine’s founding editor Harvey Kurtzman; Bill Gaines, Mad Magazine and EC publisher; Nick Meglin, Mad Magazine editor and writer; cartoonist Arnold Roth; Gary Groth, publisher and editor of Fantagraphics, and author David Hajdu.

The Mad Playboy of Art is a work-in-progress documentary. To contribute or for more information visit www.TheMadPlayboyOfArt.com

Fine Print Press Administrator,