Mad #16 (Harvey Kurtzman) - Newspaper Issue - 1954

Kurtzman used his brilliant newspaper parody to satirize his (and publisher Gaines's) problems with the Comic Book Code.  The cover shows three cartoonists being arrested and a publisher selling banned comic books on the street corner.  Mad's legal battles were well-documented in the Mad World of William Gaines (Jacobs) and Completely Mad (Reidelbach).  The "newspaper" article was the first that departed from the comic book format.  Mad was already starting to look like a magazine.

Will Elder did double-duty in issue number 16 with a second Shermlock story and the restaurant parody.  Kurtzman's favorite artist was the most prolific contributor for both Mad and Panic during the comic book era. [PSA1]

Pru said the magic word.  ("Shermlock Shomes") - page 8

Departments:
Crime - Shermlock Shomes (Elder)
The Press - Newspapers! (Davis)
The American Scene - Restaurant! (Elder)
Poetry - Wreck of the Hesperus (Wood)