Some public place in the murky-memoried past I was looking at some small plastic animals and did a quick sketch of one of them. Today I picked up where I left off, and eventually unicornized the creature, and wrote the acrostic to be just as weird as the equine beast that stood on it.

About “ecch”: the word, an interjection of disgust implying nausea, was popularized by MAD Magazine, my childhood-favorite source of humor, in the 60s and early 70s. The word was appropriated by Stan Lee in his dismissive reference to competing comic books when he was running Marvel Comics back in the day. At the time the term “Brand X” was used generically to deride schlock merchandise. Stan called comic publications who were trying unsuccessfully to mimic Marvel Comics “Brand Ecch.” And in a true Worm-of-Ouroboros later move, Stan launched a new satire comic called “Not Brand Ecch” whose satirical style was modeled on…MAD Magazine. There was even a mascottish guy called Irving Forbush à la Alfred E. Neuman.

Perhaps this is too much information, but now you know the genesis of “Ecch Wean,” which puns Equine.

Ecch Wean

Even magic zebras know

Curiosity’s a foe

Creatures Gestate till they’re Born–

A Human craves a Unicorn.