From Publishers Weekly
Little Annie Fanny, the buxom blonde who appeared for 26 years in the pages of Playboy magazine, returns in the first of a two-volume reprint. Created by Mad Magazine cofounder Harvey Kurtzman and legendary cartoonist Will Elder, Fanny's comic exploits (in various states of undress and nearly always topless) are set during the swinging '60s. These panels, published from 1962 to 1970, allow few cultural events of the period to escape Kurtzman and Elder's madcap social satire. Psychedelic drugs, the sexual revolution, the Peace Corps, the civil rights movement and the space race all feature as backdrops for Annie's misadventures and almost all of the gags involve Annie shedding her clothes while the men around her turn into fawning idiots. Among her many adventures, the witless actress sprints in the 1968 Olympics, plays football for the Green Bay Packers and gets naked with the Fab Four. The book features inspired caricatures of Marcello Mastroianni, Barry Goldwater, J. Edgar Hoover, Frank Sinatra and other figures of the time. The drawings are striking for their color and detail (other artists assisting Elder include Frank Frazetta, Al Jaffee and Jack Davis), and the backgrounds are filled with hilarious antics in the classic Elder style. Sketches, drawings-in-process, a history of Little Annie Fanny, as well as annotations on each comic segment are also included. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Hugh Hefner
...Some of the farthest-out, most beautifully executed episodes of the zaniest, lushest, most unique cartoon feature ever conceived.


Book Description
Dark Horse Comics and Playboy Enterprises are proud to present for the first time ever the more than 400 pages of the late, great Harvey Kurtzman's Little Annie Fanny, collected in two deluxe volumes. Kurtzman, creator of Mad magazine and godfather of underground comix, teamed with longtime E.C. Comics collaborator Will Elder (and sometimes Frank Frazetta, Russ Heath, and Jack Davis!) to create a Playboy icon second only to the bunny and a risqué comics icon second to none! Each volume showcases over 200 pages of stunningly rendered stories from the sexy strip's 25-year run. Trend setting in its use of color, irreverent in its satirical look at the changing face of America, and a masterpiece of technique, this definitive collection of one of world's most controversial comic strips is long overdue. This first volume takes us through the swinging Sixties with the Beatles, Civil Rights, and the beginning of the Sexual Revolution. Also included, a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the strip's creative process, featuring never-before-seen art and preliminary drawings!

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Dark Horse Comics and Playboy Enterprises are proud to present for the first time ever the more than 400 pages of the late, great Harvey Kurtzman's Little Annie Fanny, collected in two deluxe volumes. Kurtzman, creator of Mad magazine and godfather of underground comix, teamed with longtime E.C. Comics collaborator Will Elder (and sometimes Frank Frazetta, Russ Heath, and Jack Davis!) to create a Playboy icon second only to the bunny and a risqué comics icon second to none! Each volume showcases over 200 pages of stunningly rendered stories from the sexy strip's 25-year run. Trend setting in its use of color, irreverent in its satirical look at the changing face of America, and a masterpiece of technique, this definitive collection of one of world's most controversial comic strips is long overdue. This first volume takes us through the swinging Sixties with the Beatles, Civil Rights, and the beginning of the Sexual Revolution. Also included, a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the strip's creative process, featuring never-before-seen art and preliminary drawings!

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly