I remember reading Mad magazine (a satirical magazine that started to publish, as a horror comic book, the year I was born) all through my childhood and teen years. The man I met in college and ended up marrying also loved Mad magazine, and his youngest sibling (12 years younger than he is) loved Mad also. The YA section of our local library still carries the magazine. If my son (who is in his late 20's now) ever got into it, he never told us.
Eventually, my spouse and I stopped reading Mad, but we spent part of yesterday afternoon reminiscing. It can't be. Perhaps we thought Mad would always be there.
Tell me this ain't so. For so many of us, it was part of our formative years, even Weird Al.
It makes me wonder about Al Jaffee - still cartooning for Mad at age 98. What will he do now?
Yes, age 98.
MAD (as many of us called it) was the fountain of youth to many of its artists. Mort Drucker (who is "retired") is 90. Sergio Aragonés is 81. Some others now deceased (Dave Berg, for example) drew for Mad for over 50 years. But Al Jaffee is the iron man of the lot.
I don't even know how to begin to list Al Jaffee's accomplishments. Perhaps what he is most noted for, though, is inventing (and still designing!) the Mad Fold-In . How many of us got our latest Mad magazine, and tried so hard to do the fold in without mangling the magazine.
This video from Beck shows fold ins if you don't know the theory, and one mentions Al Jaffee.
When Al turned 85, comic Steven Colbert had a cake made for him. When the center portion was pushed out, making it a kind of fold in, the cake read...well, look for yourself.
Al, you are inspiring all of us.
But, back to the demise of this satiric magazine. In our world gone mad, perhaps we don't need a magazine called Mad any more.
Perhaps our entire daily lives are an entire Mad magazine.
I have one remaining question: what sound should I use in mourning Mad magazine?
Are you a former (or present) reader of Mad? I'd love to know your memories of Mad in the comments.
I can't say that I've actually looked at "Mad" for many years, but in my younger days, I used to look forward to every issue. The satire was brisk, relentless, and on point, and I loved its skewering of the self-important powers that be. I'm sad to see its demise.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling many bloggers read it at one time or another. I'll miss it although I haven't read it in years.
DeleteI had the thought when I read the news story that our world has gone mad and what is there left for a magazine to say. As a kid reading it I thought it was way out there. Now, it seems pretty tame.
ReplyDeleteI picked up the April issue at the local library yesterday and - the satire is still there. But in other ways the magazine has passed me by. Still...
DeleteSpy vs. Spy ...
ReplyDeleteSigh.
I guess I saw this coming when Trump called Buttigieg “Alfred E. Newman”, and Mayor Pete had to use Google to understand the reference.
So many magazines have folded, people get their news and entertainment on line now. I like The Onion for satire.
But I will miss MAD.
You are right - so many magazines have folded. And do I have a defective memory, but do I remember The Onion being like a tabloid you could get for free on some Manhattan streetcorners? I'll have to look that up.
DeleteI grew up in the 50s and early 60s. MAD magazine was a staple of my reading but it eventually took a back seat to marriage/divorce/remarriage/kids/career. I have to admit I didn't know it was still being published. So much I enjoyed in it...
ReplyDeleteAll good things come to an end, alas.
DeleteI also recall Mad..and folding the back page and see a political statement.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
I read it as a kid. It was funny but it also made you realize there were ways to turn a news story upside down and think about it in creative ways.
ReplyDeleteI was sad to hear this. Of course, I haven't picked up a Mad in at least 30 years, so I'm probably partly to blame.
ReplyDelete