elder's rampant insertion of background gags set the tone for the comic book, quickly spreading into the panels of his fellow artists and "mad"'s imitators. kurtzman described their collaborative process: "i would write a story, and as if by magic, all the empty spaces would get filled in by sub-jokes... he was an inexhaustible source." in 2004, elder told an interviewer, "in "mad", harvey never rejected any of my little extras in the story. i think he was much harder on the other artists, because my stuff made him laugh. as soon as he laughed i think he forgot that it didn't belong in the story!"