I'm not sure if Kurtzman looked down on comics per se. I sometimes wonder if Kurtzman developed a lack of confidence in his storytelling skills, and therefore relied heavily on articles that don't tell stories, as well as leaving the finished art to other talents. Maybe all Hefner's talk of Kurtzman's genius gave him a complex, and made him shy of exposing what he feared were his limitations?

As much as I love Kurtzman, if I'm being perfectly honest I must admit that I find his post-Mad stuff not quite satisfactory.

Wow, I don't think I ever committed that thought to words before! Feels at once heretical and liberating.