| Will Elder | |
|---|---|
 Will Elder self-portrait | |
| Born | Wolf William Eisenberg September 22, 1921 Bronx, New York, United States |
| Died | May 15, 2008 (aged 86) Rockleigh, New Jersey, United States |
Notable works | Mad Little Annie Fanny |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (2000)[1] |
William Elder (born Wolf William Eisenberg; September 22, 1921 – May 15, 2008)[2] was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952.
Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner said, "He was a zany, and a lovable one."[3] Longtime Mad writer-cartoonist Al Jaffee called Elder "Absolutely brilliant... he was the star from the beginning. He had a feel for the kind of satire that eventually spread everywhere."[3]
Elder was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2018, the Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon described Elder as "an amazing artist, a sneaky spot-holder on the top 20 of the 20th century".[4]
- ^ "Inkpot Award". Comic-Con International: San Diego. December 6, 2012.
- ^ Haber, Matt (May 15, 2008). "Illustrator and Prankster Will Elder Dies at 86". The New York Observer. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
- ^ a b McLellan, Dennis (May 17, 2008). "OBITUARIES/Will Elder, 1921 – 2008: Cartoonist at launch of Mad magazine". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011.
- ^ "The Comics Reporter".