Man and Superman and Other Stories by Harvey KurtzmanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Man and Superman is a collection of EC Comics stories featuring the art, and sometimes writing, of Harvey Kurtzman.
Wally Wood is my favorite EC Comics artist. At one point, he was lightyears ahead of the competition. After two Harvey Kurtzman books, the race is much closer.
While Kurtzman is primarily known for war comics and Mad, this collection is primarily science fiction, crime, and horror stories. In these tales, Harvey Kurtzman explores the dangers of shrinking to subatomic size and beyond, atomic bombs, giggling killers, and syphilis. The usual EC reversal of fortune ending is in full effect.
The stories are in publication order so it's interesting to watch his style evolve from the EC house style to something remarkable. Sans color, a lot of Kurtzman panels resemble woodcuts, with stark blacks and sometimes grotesque figures. As much as I love '60s Marvel books, Kurtzman's art was way ahead of them ten years earlier.
While the stories in Man and Superman lack the emotional impact of the stories in Corpse on the Imjin, they illustrate the evolution of a master storyteller. 4.5 out of 5 faked alien invasions.
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