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.

A cartoon that hypnotizes you. A cartoon that goes through puberty. A cartoon that covers the history of the universe in a few dozen panels. A cartoon that is a crossword puzzle.

For the entire run of National Lampoon, Ed Subitzky bent, broke, and reimagined what a cartoon could do, creating some of the funniest and most lasting work of the era.

In this first-ever collection of his work, Subitzky’s range as a cartoonist and humorist is on full display, including not just his cartoons and his writing, but also glimpses of his work in television and advertising: collaborating on a humor album with John Belushi, appearing as “The Imposter” on The David Letterman Show, and acting as a spokesperson for an Atari video game. In these pages, Subitzky can finally be seen for what he is: a cartoonist who makes you laugh.

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.