 Kurtzman continued to correspond with Hefner and Playboy executive editor Ray Russell , who was interested in Kurtzman 's idea of a comic strip suitable for the magazine 's audience and suggested " satire ... as an excuse or rationale for a slick magazine to be publishing a comic strip . " Although single @-@ panel cartoons were an established part of the magazine , a comic strip was unprecedented and had to be justified . Kurtzman submitted some Goodman Beaver strips and was surprised to receive a favorable response from Hefner , who liked the " fresh and eager " character . He especially enjoyed " Goodman Goes Playboy " , which featured a boisterous romp in Hefner 's mansion . Hefner nevertheless insisted that the material was not right for his magazine , but requested an explanation of the character with a suggestion : " Maybe there is a way of launching a similar series ... that can somehow be related to Playboy " . Kurtzman replied that Goodman Beaver " could be foolish and at the same time wise , " and that he " innocently partakes of the bad while espousing the good . " He further stated that Beaver 's innocent , restive , and charming nature allotted him especial creative freedom . A week later , Kurtzman wrote to Hefner , " What would you think of a girl character ... whom I could apply to my kind of situations ? " Six weeks later Hefner replied , " I think your notion of doing a Goodman Beaver strip of two , three , or four pages , but using a sexy girl ... is a bull 's eye . We can run it every issue . " 
