Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #9
Published February - March 1954
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 36
Editing Harvey Kurtzman
Notes Character appearances, Department names and other miscellaneous info for this issue added by Donald Dale Milne, December 2008.

Cover Details - "The Bad Ones Are Coming, Marshall..."

Genre humor; western
Pencils Harvey Kurtzman (signed)
Inks Harvey Kurtzman (signed)
Colors Marie Severin
Letters Harvey Kurtzman
Notes Character appearances, Department names and other miscellaneous info for this issue added by Donald Dale Milne, December 2008.
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]

1 page E.C. Fan-Addict Club promo (ad from the publisher) "So What? So You, Too, Can Join The E.C. Fan-Addict Club!"

Synopsis House ad for E.C. Fan-Addict Club membership.
Pencils Jack Davis (signed)
Inks Jack Davis (signed)
Notes Inside front cover.

8 page Girl-And-Dog-Type-Story Dept. story "Little Orphan Melvin!"

Characters Little Orphan Melvin; Daddy Peacebucks; Punjoke; Gravel; Ax L. Maxl; The Gasp!; Mommy Peacebucks
Synopsis Daddy is continually too late to save Melvin from danger, and also cannot save himself from Mommy.
Genre humor; parody
Script Harvey Kurtzman
Pencils Wally Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Colors Marie Severin
Notes A parody of the comic strip Little Orphan Annie. Includes a stanza of a poem by Byron.
Reprinted in Utterly Mad (Ballantine Books, 1956 series) #178; Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #3

7 page Classical Type Comics Dept. story "The Raven"

Characters a raven; the narrator; Lenore
Synopsis An adaptation of Poe's poem "The Raven."
Genre humor; parody
Script Edgar Allan Poe
Pencils Bill Elder (signed)
Inks Bill Elder (signed)
Colors Marie Severin
Notes This is the text of the famous poem accompanied by humorous illustrations.
Reprinted in Utterly Mad (Ballantine Books, 1956 series) #178; in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]; Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #3

1 page MAD Mumblings letters page "MAD Mumblings"

Synopsis Letters of comment from Hentry Hartz in Utica, New York; Keith Nutt in Midland, Texas; Ann Salvin in Westfield, Connecticutt; Dick Clarkson in Cambridge, Massaschusetts; Ben Jones in Quinwood, West Virginia; Jerry Schuler in Rochester, New York; Clyde Woddell in Alexandira, Louisiana; Ann Busch in Buffalo, New York; and Raoul D'Arcy
Letters typeset

1 page Panic promo (ad from the publisher) "Yep Kiddies! E.C.'s New Humor Mag, Panic, Is On Sale"

Characters Melvin; Irving
Synopsis A subscription ad for Panic.
Pencils Jack Davis (signed)
Inks Jack Davis (signed)
Colors Marie Severin

6 page story "Bop Jokes!"

Synopsis Five gags using Bop terms.
Genre gags
Script Harvey Kurtzman
Pencils John Severin (signed)
Inks John Severin (signed)
Colors Marie Severin
Notes Includes a 1-page Bop Dictionary, so reader can understand the gags.
Reprinted in Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #3

1 page Cloak-And-Dagger Dept. text story "Operation Under-the-Ground [Chapter 3]"

Characters Five Fingers Jones; Floppova Movova
Synopsis Five Fingers meets Floppova while searching Moscow for the artificial dirt factory.
Genre humor
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #3

7 page Western Dept. story "'Hah! Noon!'"

Characters Marshall Kane; Mrs. Kane; Marshall Floodnick; Killer Diller Miller; Ramona
Synopsis Marshall Kane dithers about leaving town, beats up another marshall, and kills some accomplices of Miller before subduing Miller without violence.
Genre humor; parody; western
Script Harvey Kurtzman
Pencils Jack Davis (signed)
Inks Jack Davis (signed)
Colors Marie Severin
Notes A parody of the Gary Cooper film "High Noon."
Reprinted in Bedside Mad, The (Signet Books, 1959 series) #S1647; in Bedside Mad, The (Signet Books, 1959 series) #D2316; in Bedside Mad, The (Signet Books, 1959 series) #P3520; MAD Special [MAD Super Special] #12 (EC, 1970 series)

1 page National Schools advertisement "Get Shop-Method Home Training"

Synopsis An ad for National Schools vocational training.
Pencils ? (photo)
Inks ? (photo)
Letters typeset

1 page Lonnie And Wayne, Studio advertisement "Play a Guitar"

Characters Lonnie Glosson; Wayne Raney
Synopsis An ad for Lonnie and Wayne Studios guitar lessons.
Pencils ? (photo)
Inks ? (photo)
Letters typeset
Notes Inside back cover.

1 page Spektoscopes advertisement "The New Way To Enjoy Sports, Movies, Plays, Television"

Synopsis An ad for International Binocular Company Spektoscopes.
Letters typeset
Notes Back cover.