NatLamp!

[zilch]

For some reason, this came into discussion with my son (17) and i figured he was old enough to start reading some of them. He's fairly knowledgeable about history (*sigh* and thats what the 70's is, kids...), so he should get a lot of the humour.

I've got nearly a complete run, including some of the suppliments like the High School Yearbook and Sunday Paper (probably the funniest thing they ever put out).

Any memories, thoughts and comments???

[MDG]

I read NatLamp on and off from about '74 to '80 (high school and college), and remember it mainly for graphics and comics, which were usually top notch. I think the earlier stuff was very dry and low-key, but funny.

As much as I hate his movies, John Hughes' aritcles (Vacation, My Penis, etc.) were really funny. Doug Kenny has some good stuff too, though it probabaly doen't date as well.

Nuts, Dirty Duck, and Trots and Bonnie were always good.

As a 17-year-old boy, your son will probably really enjoy the Foto Funnies.

MDG

[Cei-U!]

I don't have anything like a complete run but I have dozens of NatLamp issues, plus The Very Large Book of Comical Funnies, a devastatingly funny parody of Maurice Horn's early comics histories. I love this stuff (even though much of the topical humor requires annotation these days), especially the comics parodies ("Sgt. Nick Penis and His Brassball Battalion" being my personal favorite), "Mrs. Agnew's Diary," the series of short stories that eventually evolved into Animal House and *anything* by Charles "Aesop Brothers" Rodriguez. Also, watch for Roy and Jean Thomas' (tastefully) nude cameo in an early Foto Funnies!

Cei-U!
I summon the cultural touchstone!

[MDG]

...and *anything* by Charles "Aesop Brothers" Rodriguez.

Really? I never was a big fan of Rodriguez--thought his style was ugly and never found him very funny (or, more accurately, his funniest stuff was his most tasteless, which isn't really a strength in my book). I was surprised that he was the one who got a regular newspaper strip--Casey, which appeared in the NY Sunday Daily News.

Lots of good Mary Kay Brown and B Kliban in the earlier issues, though.

MDG