Mad Men’s Spurious Comic Strip Origins Further Explored | Vanity Fair

 

 

Mad Men’s Spurious Comic Strip Origins Further Explored

In July, we published what we thought were the only surviving examples of Those Madison Avenue Men!, an unpopular, ill-loved early-1960s comic strip that scholars of the medium believe either was or was not an inspiration for the brilliant AMC television series Mad Men. But last month we were contacted by a collector who, while browsing at a garage sale in Weston, Connecticut, discovered what appears to be original art for a rare Sunday installment of Those Madison Avenue Men! The pen and ink drawing is said to have been found in pristine condition, preserved, along with a vintage copy of Naturists at Play magazine, beneath a stack of old issues of Boy’s Life.

The somewhat racy storyline, with its added hints of alcoholism and poor work habits, suggests why Those Madison Avenue Men! had a hard time finding an audience opposite more wholesome syndicated strips such as Dondi, Little Iodine, and Tex Morgan, Cowboy OB/GYN. Its place in comics history remains problematic, if not illusory. Nevertheless, it is our pleasure, in honor of the upcoming finale of Mad Men’s Season 4, to present yet again … Those Madison Avenue Men! Plus: Complete coverage of Mad Men in the Little Gold Men blog.

via Mad Men’s Spurious Comic Strip Origins Further Explored | Vanity Fair.