- Trump (magazine)
"Trump" was a glossy
magazine ofsatire and humor, mostly in the forms of comic-strip features and short stories. It was edited byHarvey Kurtzman and published byHugh Hefner , with only two issues produced in1957 . The magazine's mascot was a trumpeter or herald in the style ofJohn Tenniel 's "Alice in Wonderland" illustrations.Kurtzman began work on "Trump" shortly after leaving "Mad" following a break with its publisher
William M. Gaines . "Mad" also lost two of its top cartoonists in the dispute's aftermath, whenWill Elder and Jack Davis chose to follow Kurtzman.Wally Wood was also recruited for the "Trump" team in the form of an either-or option, but he chose to stay at "Mad". Other notable artists, includingAl Jaffee andArnold Roth , appeared in "Trump"'s pages.Sales were reportedly good for "Trump", especially for a new title with a 50-cent cover price, then considered high. But the project was ill-fated.The magazine featured glossy (and costly) production standards, and had the misfortune of debuting at the same time that a financial crunch forced publisher Hefner to scale back his non-"Playboy" publishing interests. This put an end to "Trump" before the magazine ever got the chance to develop a steady readership.
Harvey Kurtzman would spearhead more humorous publications such as "Humbug" and "Help!", but "Trump" was his last best chance. He never again succeeded in recapturing the magic that he'd fostered and enjoyed as the editor of "Mad". Kurtzman and Elder continued to work at "Playboy" for another three decades, chiefly producing the sumptuously-colored and sight-gag loaded
Little Annie Fanny strip. Jack Davis became a top freelancer for advertising agencies and various magazines, including a return to "Mad" in 1965.External links
* [http://www.time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,633658,00.html Richard Corliss: "That Old Feeling: Hail, Harvey!"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.