With the success of MAD, the mid-Fifties spawn a trove of imitating comic books: Crazy, Madhouse, Bughouse, Eh!, Nuts, Get Lost, Wild, Panic, Riot, Whack...and probably others. By some accounts the second-best of these parody comic books was the short-lived Flip, published by Harvey Comics.
The talents behind the first issue of FLIP were Howard Norstrand and Bob Powell. Norstrand began as an apprentice to Powell six years before. For Flip #1, Norstrand did two stories and Powell did three, but Norstrand's flair for parody soon put him charge of the entire comic book. Unfortunately, the creation of the Comics Code Authority in September 1954 caused Harvey Comics to put the kibosh on their humor and horror comics and basically ended Norstrand's career in the medium. Norstrand came back in 1959 with a noted run doing the Bat Masterton comic strip based on the popular television series. He later did some highly regard work for National Lampoon.
In this issue we have such gems as "Puncho Villa" and "V...for Wampire" by Norstrand and "Alladin's Lamp-oon," "For the Love of Mike," and the one-page "Phony Crime" by Powell. Also included in this scan is the original black-and-white artwork and a bonus story, "Vas You Dere?," revealiong (perhaps) the true story of Christopher Columbus.
Enjoy.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=70655
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