Poor Helpless Comics!: The Cartoons (and More) of Ed Subitzky

The first-ever collection of comics by Ed Subitzky—comedy writer, National Lampoon legend, Atari spokesperson, “The Impostor” on The David Letterman Show, and an enduring influence on an entire generation of cartoonists and humorists.

For the entire run of National Lampoon, Ed Subitzky bent, broke, and reimagined what a cartoon could do: A cartoon that hypnotizes you. A cartoon that goes to prison. A cartoon that folds up and flies away. Framed by an interview with Mark Newgarden, this first-ever collection of Subitzky’s work is a portrait of one of the funniest, most prolific humorists of the ’70s and ’80s.

Ed Subitzky is a cartoonist, humor writer, and performer. A contributing editor at National Lampoon for nearly two decades, he also wrote and performed for The National Lampoon Radio Hour. He went on to write and perform for several seasons of The David Letterman Show. His art and writing have appeared in The New York Times, American Bystander, and The Journal of Consciousness Studies, among others. He lives in New York City.

Mark Newgarden is a cartoonist and illustrator. He is the author of Cheap Laffs: The Art of the Novelty Item; a collection of comics and stories, We All Die Alone; with Megan Montague Cash, the Bow-Wow series of children’s books; and, with Paul Karasik, How to Read Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels.