THROW UP

BLOW-UP (1966)
dir: Michaelangelo Antonioni

THROW-UP
MAD #113, September 1967
w: Arnie Kogen
a: Bruce Stark

A fashion photographer (David Hemmings) works out of his studio in 1960s Swinging London.

He abandons a shoot with two aspiring models (Jane Birkin, Gillian Hills) to go out into town. In the park, he decides to photograph a couple he sees cavorting. The woman (Vanessa Redgrave) notices him, and orders him to stop. She finds out where he lives, asks for the film back and he seduces her.

Later, when he develops the film he shot in the park, he sees a murder. Then the models come back looking for work and they all take their clothes off and romp around in front of a paper backdrop in his studio.

He falls asleep and after he wakes up, goes back to the park to see if the victim is still there. He meets up with his manager (John Bowles) and asks what he should do. He goes back to the park, wandering around aimlessly, and sees a mime troupe playing tennis in the park.

Bruce Stark did only a few pieces for MAD before going on to their imitations and doing lots of magazine illustration. For a long time he was sport cartoonist for the New York Daily News.

BLOWOUT
Playboy, May 1968
w: Larry Siegel
a: Harvey Kurtzman

Blow-Up made a big splash at the time for having nudity, so it was only natural that Playboy would have a fumetti parody with even more nudity.

Kurtzman is credited as director, and I credited him as artist. He drew the strip out fully and had the actors pose directly from his layouts. This was similar to the fumettis he did for Help!