Harman Patil (Editor)

Major Publications

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Status
  
defunct (1994)

Publication types
  
Comic magazines

Founded
  
1958

Headquarters location
  
Long Island

Founder
  
Robert C. Sproul

Country of origin
  
United States of America

Key people
  
Sol Brodsky, John Severin, Terry Bisson

Fiction genres
  
Humor, Horror, Western, Adventure

Major Publications, also known was Major Magazines, was the publisher of the satirical magazine Cracked, the most durable imitator of Mad magazine. Founded by Robert C. Sproul in 1958, the company generally imitated other publishers' successes in various genres, such as Westerns, men's adventure, and the Warren Publications mid-1960s revival of horror comics. Even as the company chased publishing trends, its long-running flagship title was Cracked, which the company published from 1958–1985.

Contents

The company also published a number of monster-themed magazines, imitating publications like Fangoria and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Editor Terry Bisson recalled:

Cracked

Cracked's first editor was Sol Brodsky. Over the years, Bill Ward and John Severin were regular contributors to most of the company's publications. The production manager throughout the 1960s was Charles Foster.

In addition to the flagship title, Major put out a number of publications under the Cracked umbrella, including Cracked Collector's Edition, Giant Cracked, and Super Cracked. Many Cracked contributors worked on these titles.

Web of Horror

The most notable of Major's black-and-white horror magazines was Web of Horror, edited by Bisson, which published three issues from 1969–1970. Bruce Jones made his professional debut in Web of Horror #3, writing and drawing the six-page story "Point of View." Wayne Howard contributed to issue #1. Syd Shores penciled "Blood Thirst!" in #1 and "Strangers!" in #3. Ralph Reese was a regular contributor to Web of Horror. Other contributors included Bernie Wrightson, Michael Kaluta, and Jeff Jones.

Bisson left after issue #3, leaving the editorial chores to Wrightson and Bruce Jones. As Wrightson recalls,

Sale to Globe Communications

In 1985, founder Sproul sold the company's assets to Globe Communications, which moved the operations to Florida and continued to published Cracked and some of its affiliated magazines under the Major Magazines name. Globe sold the assets to American Media in 1994.

Titles published

  • Cracked titles:
  • Cracked (212 issues, Feb./Mar. 1958 - July 1985) — sold to Globe Communications
  • Biggest Greatest Cracked (21 issues, 1965 – Fall 1986)
  • Cracked Collector's Edition (58 issues, 1973 – February 1985)
  • Cracked Digest (5 issues, Oct. 1986 - Oct. 1987)
  • Cracked Goes to the Movies (1 issue, 1971)
  • Cracked Shut-Ups 2 issues, 1971)
  • Extra Special Cracked (9 issues, 1976 - Winter 1986)
  • Giant Cracked (48 issues, 1965 - Winter 1989)
  • King-Sized Cracked (20 issues, 1967 - Summer 1986)
  • Super Cracked (32 issues, 1968 - Fall 1986)
  • Monster Howls (1 issue, 1966) — Humor-Vision imprint
  • Monsters Attack (5 issues, 1989 - 1990) — Globe Communications imprint
  • Pow Magazine (3 issues, 1966 - 1967) — Humor-Vision imprint
  • Web of Horror (3 issues, Dec. 1969 – Apr. 1970)
  • References

    Major Publications Wikipedia