81-484: Mad (stylized as MAD ) is an American humor magazine first published in 1952. It was founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines , launched as a comic book series before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media, as well as the cultural landscape of the late 20th century, with editor Al Feldstein increasing readership to more than two million during its 1973–1974 circulation peak. The magazine, which
162-432: A Dr. Seuss parody called "Free Speeches On The Beaches"). Distribution to newsstands stopped, with the magazine initially becoming available only through comic-book shops and by subscription, although in 2022 distribution expanded to Barnes & Noble via a series of compilation issues dubbed The Treasure Trove of Trash . Though there are antecedents to Mad ' s style of humor in print, radio and film, Mad became
243-416: A Justice Department lawsuit and discontinued its business. Atlas was left without distribution and was forced to turn to its biggest rival, National (DC) Comics which imposed draconian restrictions on Goodman's company. As then-Atlas editor Stan Lee recalled in a 1988 interview: ... [We had been] turning out 40, 50, 60 books a month, maybe more, and ... suddenly we went ... to either eight or 12 books
324-536: A gap-toothed smile, and the perennial motto "What, me worry?" The original image was a popular humorous graphic for many decades before Mad adopted it, but the face is now primarily associated with Mad . Mad initially used the boy's face in November 1954. His first iconic full-cover appearance was as a write-in candidate for president on issue No. 30 (December 1956), in which he was identified by name and sported his "What, me worry?" motto. He has since appeared in
405-448: A radio show . At the end of 1941 Donenfeld's comic businesses took in $ 2.6 million. Max Gaines , future founder of EC Comics , formed All-American Publications in 1938 after successfully seeking funding from Harry Donenfeld., As Gerard Jones writes of Donenfeld's investment: Harry had agreed on one condition: that [Gaines] take [Detective Comics partner] Jack Liebowitz on as his partner. ... Jack would be tempted to leave and form
486-447: A boisterous 1930s humor publication that made an editorial point of mocking its own sponsors. Feldstein went so far as to propose an in-house Mad ad agency, and produced a "dummy" copy of what an issue with ads could look like. But Bill Gaines was intractable, telling the television news magazine 60 Minutes , "We long ago decided we couldn't take money from Pepsi-Cola and make fun of Coca-Cola." Gaines' motivation in eschewing ad dollars
567-460: A comic book, Mad had run the same advertisements as the rest of EC's line. The magazine later made a deal with Moxie soda that involved inserting the Moxie logo into various articles. Mad ran a limited number of ads in its first two years as a magazine, helpfully labeled "real advertisement" to differentiate the real from the parodies. The last authentic ad published under the original Mad regime
648-401: A competing company if there was nothing to hold him. And it may well have been a way for Harry to keep Gaines under control; since Jack was still drawing a salary and significant bonuses from Detective Comics and [self-distributorship] Independent News, he wouldn't let Gaines take off on his own or act against the interests of the other companies. ... Gaines became the principal and Jack Liebowitz
729-453: A distributor, he came to rely more on Liebowitz to ensure that the company ran smoothly. Liebowitz ensured bills were paid on time and began to build trust with clients that Donenfeld's enterprises had never experienced. In 1935, writer/entrepreneur Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson approached Independent News in a bid to relaunch his comic book New Fun , having lost his previous backers due to poor sales and debts. Donenfeld accepted to distribute
810-439: A few rival publishers, such as Marvel Comics from 1957 to 1969, in addition to pulp and popular magazines. The company was founded in 1932 and operated until 1970. In 1929, as a favor to an old client, pulp magazine publisher Harry Donenfeld gave work to the client's son, Jack Liebowitz . Donenfeld and Liebowitz had little in common, but Liebowitz soon emerged as a man who could run finances. Whereas Donenfeld would promise
891-523: A formulaic sameness, although there is little agreement on when the magazine peaked or plunged. Humor magazine A humor magazine is a magazine specifically designed to deliver humorous content to its readership. These publications often offer satire and parody , but some also put an emphasis on cartoons , caricature , absurdity , one-liners , witty aphorisms , surrealism , neuroticism , gelotology , emotion-regulating humor, and/or humorous essays. Humor magazines first became popular in
SECTION 10
#1732783794302972-532: A general culture of censorship prevailed in the United States, especially in literature for teens. Activist Tom Hayden said, "My own radical journey began with Mad Magazine ." The rise of such factors as cable television and the Internet has diminished the influence and impact of Mad , although it remains a widely distributed magazine. In a way, Mad ' s power has been undone by its own success: what
1053-585: A godfather: this same generation later went on to give us the sexual revolution, the environmental movement, the peace movement, greater freedom in artistic expression, and a host of other goodies. Coincidence? You be the judge. Pulitzer Prize -winning art comics maven Art Spiegelman said, "The message Mad had in general is, 'The media is lying to you, and we are part of the media.' It was basically ... 'Think for yourselves, kids. ' " William Gaines offered his own view: when asked to cite Mad ' s philosophy, his boisterous answer was, "We must never stop reminding
1134-485: A legal precedent that only a song's composers retained the right to parody that song. Judge Charles Metzner of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled largely in favor of Mad in 1963, affirming its right to print 23 of the 25 song parodies under dispute. However, in the case of two parodies, "Always" (sung to the tune of " Always ") and "There's No Business Like No Business" (sung to
1215-483: A letter weeks earlier from Lucas himself, expressing delight over the parody and calling artist Mort Drucker and writer Dick DeBartolo "the Leonardo da Vinci and George Bernard Shaw of comic satire." Publisher Bill Gaines made a copy of Lucas' letter, added the handwritten notation "Gee, your boss George liked it!" across the top, and mailed it to the lawyers. Said DeBartolo, "We never heard from them again." Mad
1296-633: A maker of venetian blinds. Around 1964, Premier sold Mad to Independent News , a division of National Periodical Publications , the publisher of DC Comics . In the summer of 1967, Kinney National Company purchased National Periodical Publications. Kinney bought Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in early 1969. As a result of the car parking scandal, Kinney Services spun off of its non-entertainment assets to form National Kinney Corporation in August 1971, and it reincorporated as Warner Communications, Inc. on February 10, 1972. In 1977, National Periodical Publications
1377-460: A month, which was all Independent News Distributors would accept from us. American Comics Group , another comic book publisher from the era (also with ties to Harry Donenfeld), was distributed by Independent News, as were such popular magazines as Playboy and Family Circle . Jack Liebowitz stayed with Independent News until 1965, eventually becoming a co-owner. Irwin Donenfeld , who
1458-516: A signature example of it. Throughout the 1950s, Mad featured groundbreaking parodies combining a sentimental fondness for the familiar staples of American culture—such as Archie and Superman —with a keen joy in exposing the fakery behind the image. Its approach was described by Dave Kehr in The New York Times : " Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding on the radio, Ernie Kovacs on television, Stan Freberg on records, Harvey Kurtzman in
1539-684: A single corporate entity, National Periodical Publications ". Donnenfeld was also minority owner in pulp magazine distributor Leader News Company, who started it in 1939 until 1956, during that time the company distributed magazines by Trojan, as well as EC Comics . The biggest magazine distribution company of this era was American News Company , which had a virtual monopoly on all comics except DC's. From 1952 to 1957 Atlas Comics publisher Martin Goodman distributed his company's comics to newsstands through his self-owned distributor, Atlas. He then switched to American News — which shortly afterward lost
1620-481: A slew of guises and comic situations. According to Mad writer Frank Jacobs, a letter was once successfully delivered to the magazine through the U.S. mail bearing only Neuman's face, without any address or other identifying information. The magazine has been involved in various legal actions over the decades, some of which have reached the United States Supreme Court . The most far-reaching
1701-407: A third of this figure by the end of his time as editor. In its earliest incarnation, new issues of the magazine appeared erratically, between four and nine times a year. By the end of 1958, Mad had settled on an unusual eight-times-a-year schedule, which lasted almost four decades. Issues would go on sale 7 to 9 weeks before the start of the month listed on the cover. Gaines felt the atypical timing
SECTION 20
#17327837943021782-460: A world of bomb shelters, brinkmanship and toothpaste smiles. Mad ' s consciousness of itself, as trash, as comic book, as enemy of parents and teachers, even as money-making enterprise, thrilled kids. In 1955, such consciousness was possibly nowhere else to be found. In a Mad parody, comic-strip characters knew they were stuck in a strip. "Darnold Duck," for example, begins wondering why he has only three fingers and has to wear white gloves all
1863-420: Is almost in a competition with itself." Mad ' s satiric net was cast wide. The magazine often featured parodies of ongoing American culture, including advertising campaigns, the nuclear family, the media, big business, education and publishing. In the 1960s and beyond, it satirized such burgeoning topics as the sexual revolution , hippies , the generation gap , psychoanalysis , gun politics , pollution,
1944-526: Is being lampooned. From 1952 to 2018, Mad published 550 regular magazine issues, as well as scores of reprint "Specials", original-material paperbacks, reprint compilation books and other print projects. After AT&T acquired Time Warner in June 2018, Mad ended newsstand distribution, continuing in comic-book stores and via subscription. Mad began as a comic book published by EC , debuting in August 1952 ( cover date October–November). The Mad office
2025-469: Is the last surviving title from the EC Comics line, publishes satire on all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures. Its format includes TV and movie parodies, and satire articles about everyday occurrences that are changed to seem humorous. Mad ' s mascot, Alfred E. Neuman , is usually on the cover, with his face replacing that of a celebrity or character who
2106-418: Is why you got fancier in the first place—and now you're sunk. Mad has provided a continuing showcase for many long-running satirical writers and artists and has fostered an unusual group loyalty. Although several of the contributors earn far more than their Mad pay in fields such as television and advertising, they have steadily continued to provide material for the publication. Among the notable artists were
2187-639: The Los Angeles Times ' Robert Boyd wrote, "All I really need to know I learned from Mad magazine", going on to assert: Plenty of it went right over my head, of course, but that's part of what made it attractive and valuable. Things that go over your head can make you raise your head a little higher. The magazine instilled in me a habit of mind, a way of thinking about a world rife with false fronts, small print, deceptive ads, booby traps, treacherous language, double standards, half truths, subliminal pitches and product placements; it warned me that I
2268-596: The Vietnam War and recreational drug use . The magazine took a generally negative tone towards counterculture drugs such as cannabis and LSD , but it also savaged mainstream drugs such as tobacco and alcohol . Mad always satirized Democrats as mercilessly as it did Republicans . In 2007, Al Feldstein recalled, "We even used to rake the hippies over the coals. They were protesting the Vietnam War, but we took aspects of their culture and had fun with it. Mad
2349-483: The " Mad Fold-in ", "The Lighter Side of ..." and its television and movie parodies. The magazine has also included recurring gags and references, both visual (e.g. the Mad Zeppelin, or Arthur the potted plant) and linguistic (unusual words such as axolotl , furshlugginer, potrzebie and veeblefetzer). The image most closely associated with the magazine is that of Alfred E. Neuman , the boy with misaligned eyes,
2430-495: The 1950s is the same generation that, in the 1960s, opposed a war and didn't feel bad when the United States lost for the first time and in the 1970s helped turn out an Administration and didn't feel bad about that either ... It was magical, objective proof to kids that they weren't alone, that in New York City on Lafayette Street, if nowhere else, there were people who knew that there was something wrong, phony and funny about
2511-624: The 23-issue run of the comic book. To retain Kurtzman as its editor, the comic book converted to magazine format as of issue No. 24, in 1955. The switchover induced Kurtzman to remain for one more year, but the move had removed Mad from the strictures of the Comics Code Authority . William Gaines related in 1992 that Mad "was not changed [into a magazine] to avoid the Code" but "as a result of this [change of format] it did avoid
Mad (magazine) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-839: The Code." Gaines claimed that Kurtzman had at the time received "a very lucrative offer from... Pageant magazine," and seeing as he, Kurtzman, "had, prior to that time, evinced an interest in changing Mad into a magazine," Gaines, "not know[ing] anything about publishing magazines," countered that offer by allowing Kurtzman to make the change. Gaines further stated that "if Harvey [Kurtzman] had not gotten that offer from Pageant , Mad probably would not have changed format." After Kurtzman's departure in 1956, new editor Al Feldstein swiftly brought aboard contributors such as Don Martin , Frank Jacobs , and Mort Drucker , and later Antonio Prohías , Dave Berg , and Sergio Aragonés . The magazine's circulation more than quadrupled during Feldstein's tenure, peaking at 2,132,655 in 1974; it later declined to
2673-525: The New York run also returned to the pages of the California-based issues including contributors Sergio Aragonés , Al Jaffee , Desmond Devlin , Tom Richmond , Peter Kuper , Teresa Burns Parkhurst, Rick Tulka , Tom Bunk , Jeff Kruse, Ed Steckley, Arie Kaplan , writer and former Senior Editor Charlie Kadau , and artist and former Art Director Sam Viviano . The first California issue of Mad
2754-544: The Supreme Court refused to hear it, allowing the decision to stand. This precedent-setting 1964 ruling established the rights of parodists and satirists to mimic the meter of popular songs. However, the "Sing Along With Mad " songbook was not the magazine's first venture into musical parody. In 1960, Mad had published "My Fair Ad-Man", a full advertising-based spoof of the hit Broadway musical My Fair Lady . In 1959, "If Gilbert & Sullivan wrote Dick Tracy "
2835-410: The aforementioned Davis, Elder and Wood, as well as Sergio Aragonés , Mort Drucker , Don Martin , Dave Berg, George Woodbridge , Harry North and Paul Coker . Writers such as Dick DeBartolo , Stan Hart , Frank Jacobs , Tom Koch , and Arnie Kogen appeared regularly in the magazine's pages. In several cases, only infirmity or death has ended a contributor's run at Mad. Within the industry, Mad
2916-516: The comic but with a heavy loss of rights for Wheeler-Nicholson. Wheeler-Nicholson produced two more titles to be handled by Independent News, New Comics and Detective Comics (which would later see the first appearance of Batman ), now under the banner of Detective Comics Inc. , in which Wheeler-Nicholson was forced to take Donenfeld and Liebowitz as partners. In 1938, Donenfeld sued Wheeler-Nicholson for nonpayment and Detective Comics Inc. went into bankruptcy. Not too surprisingly Donenfeld bought up
2997-456: The company and Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications in their entirety as part of the action. The fourth publication under National Allied Publications would be Action Comics (1938). Issue #1 introduced the superhero, Superman , created by artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel , and the character's popularity created incredible profits; not only in comic book sales, but also in merchandising such as toys, costumes and even
3078-554: The company owed Donenfeld alone $ 30,000. A compromise was called for, and Donenfeld, not wanting to find himself hamstrung by a distributor again, approached Sampliner with the idea of creating the Independent News Company, a publishing house with its own distribution system. With Sampliner running the distribution end, Donenfeld as salesman, Harry's youngest brother Irving (not to be mistaken for Harry's son: Irwin Donenfeld ) as head printer, and Liebowitz running
3159-603: The early 19th century with specimens like Le Charivari (1832–1937) in France, Punch (1841–2002) in the United Kingdom and Vanity Fair (1859–1863) in the United States. Kurt Andersen, John Updike Online (2012) Independent News Independent News Co. was a magazine and comic book distribution business owned by National Periodical Publications , the parent company of DC Comics . Independent News distributed all DC publications, as well as those of
3240-544: The early issues of Mad : all of those pioneering humorists and many others realized that the real world mattered less to people than the sea of sounds and images that the ever more powerful mass media were pumping into American lives." Bob and Ray , Kovacs and Freberg all became contributors to Mad . In 1977, Tony Hiss and Jeff Lewis wrote in The New York Times about the then-25-year-old publication's initial effect: The skeptical generation of kids it shaped in
3321-711: The end of 2017 with issue No. 550 ( cover-dated April 2018), in preparation for the relocation of its offices to DC Entertainment 's headquarters in Burbank, California . Bill Morrison was named in June 2017 to succeed Ficarra in January 2018. None of MAD ' s New York staff made the move, resulting in a change in editorial leadership, tone, and art direction. More than a hundred new names made their Mad debuts including Brian Posehn , Maria Bamford , Ian Boothby , Luke McGarry , Akilah Hughes , and future Pulitzer Prize finalist Pia Guerra . Scores of artists and writers from
Mad (magazine) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-435: The even more hilarious picture of the hydrogen bomb!" The jittery aftertaste of that joke clarified. It was a splinter driven through the carefully measured prose on the back of some Mentor book about Man and His Destiny ... By not fitting in, a joke momentarily interrupted the world. But after the joke you recognized it was a joke and went back to the integral world that the joke broke. But what if it never came back again, and
3483-414: The finances, they launched Independent News in 1932. The Donenfeld brothers had begun as printers, and they continued printing the company's magazine and comic book covers even after branching into distribution. Now Donenfeld was a distributor as well as a publisher, and was now no longer reliant on others to run his business. As a publisher, Donenfeld had managed to dodge creditors and break deals, but as
3564-586: The little gap stayed there and became everything? In 1994, Brian Siano in The Humanist discussed the effect of Mad on that segment of people already disaffected from society: For the smarter kids of two generations, Mad was a revelation: it was the first to tell us that the toys we were being sold were garbage, our teachers were phonies, our leaders were fools, our religious counselors were hypocrites, and even our parents were lying to us about damn near everything. An entire generation had William Gaines for
3645-416: The magazine was obliged to abandon its long-time home at 485 Madison Avenue and in the mid-1990s it moved into DC Comics's offices at the same time that DC relocated to 1700 Broadway . In issue No. 403 of March 2001, the magazine broke its long-standing taboo and began running paid advertising. The outside revenue allowed the introduction of color printing and improved paper stock. After Meglin retired in 2004,
3726-406: The magazine's impact on him, saying, "You start reading it, and you're going, 'These people don't respect anything .' And that just exploded my head. It was like, you don't have to buy it. You can say 'This is stupid. This is stupid. ' " Critic Roger Ebert wrote: I learned to be a movie critic by reading Mad magazine ... Mad ' s parodies made me aware of the machine inside the skin—of
3807-466: The magazine's parody of the film The Empire Strikes Back , a letter from George Lucas 's lawyers arrived in Mad' s offices demanding that the issue be recalled for infringement on copyrighted figures. The letter further demanded that the printing plates be destroyed, and that Lucasfilm must receive all revenue from the issue plus additional punitive damages. Unbeknownst to Lucas' lawyers, Mad had received
3888-517: The magazine, such as The Mad Magazine Game , a series of video games based on Spy vs. Spy , and the notorious Up the Academy movie (which the magazine later disowned). Mad explicitly promised that it would never make its mailing list available. Both Kurtzman and Feldstein wanted the magazine to solicit advertising, feeling this could be accomplished without compromising Mad' s content or editorial independence. Kurtzman remembered Ballyhoo ,
3969-404: The margins as all of culture competes for trickster status." Longtime contributor Al Jaffee described the dilemma to an interviewer in 2010: "When Mad first came out, in 1952, it was the only game in town. Now, you've got graduates from Mad who are doing The Today Show or Stephen Colbert or Saturday Night Live . All of these people grew up on Mad . Now Mad has to top them. So Mad
4050-455: The minority owner of All-American [Publications]. In 1946, Gaines let Liebowitz buy him out, keeping only Picture Stories from the Bible as the foundation of his own new company, EC Comics . "Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics.... Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, Independent News, and their affiliated firms into
4131-409: The owner of the copyright had allowed the image to pass into the public domain, thus establishing the right of Mad —or anyone else—to use the image. In addition, Mad established that Stuff was not himself the creator of the image, by producing numerous other examples dating back to the late 19th century. This decision was also allowed to stand. Other legal disputes were settled more easily. Following
SECTION 50
#17327837943024212-457: The oxygen we breathe." Joyce Carol Oates called it "wonderfully inventive, irresistibly irreverent and intermittently ingenious." Artist Dave Gibbons said, "When you think of the people who grew up in the '50s and '60s, the letters M-A-D were probably as influential as L-S-D, in that it kind of expanded people's consciousness and showed them an alternative view of society and consumer culture—mocked it, satirized it." Gibbons also noted that Mad
4293-498: The reader what little value they get for their money!" Comics historian Tom Spurgeon picked Mad as the medium's top series of all time, writing, "At the height of its influence, Mad was The Simpsons , The Daily Show and The Onion combined." Graydon Carter chose it as the sixth-best magazine of any sort ever, describing Mad ' s mission as being "ever ready to pounce on the illogical, hypocritical, self-serious and ludicrous" before concluding, "Nowadays, it's part of
4374-455: The same place and move the background around. We quite mercilessly stole the wonderful techniques Harvey Kurtzman had invented in Mad . In a 1985 Tonight Show appearance, when Johnny Carson asked Michael J. Fox , "When did you really know you'd made it in show business?", Fox replied, "When Mort Drucker drew my head." In 2019, Terence Winter , writer and producer of The Sopranos , told Variety "When we got into Mad Magazine, that
4455-490: The team of Ficarra (as executive editor) Raiola and Kadau (as senior editors), and Sam Viviano , who had taken over as art director in 1999, would helm Mad for the next 14 years. Throughout the years, MAD remained a unique mix of adolescent silliness and political humor. In November 2017, Rolling Stone wrote that "operating under the cover of barf jokes, MAD has become America's best political satire magazine." Nevertheless, Mad ended its 65-year run in New York City at
4536-442: The time. He ends up wanting to murder every other Disney character. G.I. Schmoe tries to win the sexy Asiatic Red Army broad by telling her, "O.K., baby! You're all mine! I gave you a chance to hit me witta gun butt ... But naturally, you have immediately fallen in love with me, since I am a big hero of this story." Mad is often credited with filling a vital gap in political satire from the 1950s to 1970s, when Cold War paranoia and
4617-427: The tune of " There's No Business Like Show Business "), Judge Metzner decided that the issue of copyright infringement was closer, requiring a trial because in each case the parodies relied on the same verbal hooks ("always" and "business") as the originals. The music publishers appealed the ruling, but the U.S. Court of Appeals not only upheld the pro- Mad decision in regard to the 23 songs, it adopted an approach that
4698-449: The way a movie might look original on the outside, while inside it was just recycling the same old dumb formulas. I did not read the magazine, I plundered it for clues to the universe. Pauline Kael lost it at the movies ; I lost it at Mad magazine. Rock singer Patti Smith said more succinctly, "After Mad , drugs were nothing." Mad is known for many regular and semi-regular recurring features in its pages, including " Spy vs. Spy ",
4779-536: The work that impressed them in their childhood and youth. I still feel extremely inadequate when I look at the old Mad comics." When Weird Al Yankovic was asked whether Mad had had any influence in putting him on a road to a career in parody, the musician replied, "[It was] more like going off a cliff." Mystery Science Theater 3000 writer-actor Frank Conniff wrote, "Without Mad Magazine, MST3K would have been slightly different, like for instance, it wouldn't have existed." Comedian Jerry Seinfeld talked about
4860-533: The world to clients without understanding the economic realities, Liebowitz was bookish and ensured bills were paid on time and helped create respectability in the firm. Soon the two men were spoken of as a partnership. When Liebowitz first worked for Donenfeld, the latter's empire was little more than a publishing house for " sex pulp " and art nudie magazines distributed by Eastern News , a company run by Charles Dreyfus and Paul Sampliner . In 1931, Eastern News faced bankruptcy and could no longer pay its publishers;
4941-461: The years, the Mad crew traveled to such locales as France, Kenya , Russia, Hong Kong, England, Amsterdam , Tahiti , Morocco , Italy, Greece, and Germany. The tradition ended with Gaines' death, and a 1993 trip to Monte Carlo . Although Mad was an exclusively freelance publication, it achieved remarkable stability, with numerous contributors remaining prominent for decades. Critics of the magazine felt that this lack of turnover eventually led to
SECTION 60
#17327837943025022-408: The younger generation of the 1950s: By now they knew the [nuclear survival] pamphlets lied ... Rod Serling knew a lot more than President Eisenhower . There were even jokes about the atom bomb in Mad , a gallows humor commenting on its own ghastliness: "The last example of this nauseating, busted-crutch type humor is to show an atom-bomb explosion! However, this routine, we feel, is giving way to
5103-435: Was Irving Berlin et al. v. E.C. Publications, Inc. In 1961, a group of music publishers representing songwriters such as Irving Berlin , Richard Rodgers , and Cole Porter filed a $ 25 million lawsuit against Mad for copyright infringement following "Sing Along With Mad ", a collection of parody lyrics which the magazine said could be "sung to the tune of" many popular songs. The publishing group hoped to establish
5184-623: Was DC's editorial director in the 1960s, was also a vice president of Independent News. In 1966, Independent News expanded its operations to the United Kingdom by acquiring the bankrupt British publisher/distributor Thorpe & Porter . With this purchase, Independent News became the sole distributor of American comics in the U.K., handling not only DC's output but also those of a few rival publishers, such as Marvel (until 1969), in addition to pulp and popular magazines. In 1967, National Periodical Publications (including Independent News)
5265-485: Was an overt influence on Watchmen , the acclaimed 12-issue comic book series created by writer Alan Moore and himself: When it comes to the kind of storytelling we did in Watchmen , we used many of the tricks Harvey Kurtzman perfected in Mad . The thing for instance where you have a background that remains constant, and have characters walk around in front of it. Or the inverse of that, where you have characters in
5346-445: Was automatically invited, along with freelancers who had qualified for an invitation by selling a set number of articles or pages during the previous year. Gaines was strict about enforcing this quota, and one year, longtime writer and frequent traveller Arnie Kogen was bumped off the list. Later that year, Gaines' mother died, and Kogen was asked if he would be attending the funeral. "I can't," said Kogen, "I don't have enough pages." Over
5427-546: Was broad enough to strip the publishers of their limited victory regarding the remaining two songs. Writing a unanimous opinion for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit , Circuit Judge Irving Kaufman observed, "We doubt that even so eminent a composer as plaintiff Irving Berlin should be permitted to claim a property interest in iambic pentameter ." The publishers again appealed, but
5508-434: Was for Famous Artists School ; two issues later, the inside front cover of issue No. 34 had a parody of the same ad. After this transitional period, the only promotions to appear in Mad for decades were house ads for Mad' s own books and specials, subscriptions, and promotional items such as ceramic busts, T-shirts, or a line of Mad jewelry. This rule was bent only a few times to promote outside products directly related to
5589-425: Was initially located in lower Manhattan at 225 Lafayette Street, while in the early 1960s it moved to 485 Madison Avenue , the location listed in the magazine as "485 MADison Avenue". The first issue was written almost entirely by Harvey Kurtzman , and featured illustrations by him, Wally Wood , Will Elder , Jack Davis , and John Severin . Wood, Elder, and Davis were to be the three main illustrators throughout
5670-463: Was known for the uncommonly prompt manner in which its contributors were paid. Publisher Gaines would typically write a personal check and give it to the artist upon receipt of the finished product. Wally Wood said, "I got spoiled ... Other publishers don't do that. I started to get upset if I had to wait a whole week for my check." Another lure for contributors was the annual "Mad Trip", an all-expenses-paid tradition that began in 1960. The editorial staff
5751-485: Was less philosophical than practical: We'd have to improve our package. Most advertisers want to appear in a magazine that's loaded with color and has super-slick paper. So you find yourself being pushed into producing a more expensive package. You get bigger and fancier and attract more advertisers. Then you find you're losing some of your advertisers. Your readers still expect the fancy package, so you keep putting it out, but now you don't have your advertising income, which
5832-458: Was necessary to maintain the magazine's level of quality. Beginning in 1994, Mad then began incrementally producing additional issues per year, until it reached a monthly schedule with issue No. 353 (Jan. 1997). With its 500th issue (June 2009), amid company-wide cutbacks at Time Warner, the magazine temporarily regressed to a quarterly publication before settling to six issues per year in 2010. Gaines sold his company in 1961 to Premier Industries,
5913-407: Was often merely the target of people who claimed to be my friend; it prompted me to mistrust authority, to read between the lines, to take nothing at face value, to see patterns in the often shoddy construction of movies and TV shows; and it got me to think critically in a way that few actual humans charged with my care ever bothered to. In 1988, Geoffrey O'Brien wrote about the impact Mad had upon
5994-507: Was one of several parties that filed amicus curiae briefs with the Supreme Court in support of 2 Live Crew and its disputed song parody, during the 1993 Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. case. Mad was long noted for its absence of advertising, enabling it to satirize materialist culture without fear of reprisal. For decades, it was the most successful American magazine to publish ad-free, beginning with issue No. 33 (April 1957) and continuing through issue No. 402 (February 2001). As
6075-546: Was one of the speculative pairings in "If Famous Authors Wrote the Comics". In 1966, a series of copyright infringement lawsuits against the magazine regarding ownership of the Alfred E. Neuman image eventually reached the appellate level. Although Harry Stuff had copyrighted the image in 1914, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that, by allowing many copies of the image to circulate without any copyright notice,
6156-495: Was purchased by Kinney National Company , which later purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts and became Warner Communications . The Donenfelds and their "crew" were out, and new management came in. By 1970, Independent News was defunct, absorbed into a larger and changing distribution business. Independent News' last president was Harold Chamberlin, who served from 1968 to 1970. Chamblerin went on to become president of Warner Publishing from 1970 to 1979. As Warner Publishing Services,
6237-524: Was renamed DC Comics. Feldstein retired in 1985, and was replaced by the senior team of Nick Meglin and John Ficarra , who co-edited Mad for the next two decades. Long-time production artist Lenny "The Beard" Brenner was promoted to art director and Joe Raiola and Charlie Kadau joined the staff as junior editors. Following Gaines's death in 1992, Mad became more ingrained within the Time Warner (now WarnerMedia ) corporate structure. Eventually,
6318-757: Was renumbered as "#1." In 2019, the rebooted magazine earned two Eisner Award nominations—the first such nominations in MAD's history—for the Best Short Story and Best Humor Publication categories. AT&T acquired Time Warner in June 2018. Morrison exited MAD by March 2019, during a time of layoffs and restructuring at DC Entertainment. After issue No. 10 (Dec. 2019) of the new Burbank edition, Mad began to consist mostly of curated reprints with new covers and fold-ins, although some new articles have been periodically featured, including parodies of The Batman ("The Bathroom") and Elon Musk's tenure at Twitter (in
6399-633: Was subversive in the 1950s and 1960s is now commonplace. However, its impact on three generations of humorists is incalculable, as can be seen in the frequent references to Mad on the animated series The Simpsons . The Simpsons producer Bill Oakley said, " The Simpsons has transplanted Mad magazine. Basically everyone who was young between 1955 and 1975 read Mad , and that's where your sense of humor came from. And we knew all these people, you know, Dave Berg and Don Martin—all heroes, and unfortunately, now all dead." In 2009, The New York Times wrote, " Mad once defined American satire; now it heckles from
6480-402: Was the highlight for me. That said everything." Monty Python 's Terry Gilliam wrote, " Mad became the Bible for me and my whole generation." Underground cartoonist Bill Griffith said of his youth, " Mad was a life raft in a place like Levittown , where all around you were the things that Mad was skewering and making fun of." Robert Crumb remarked, "Artists are always trying to equal
6561-563: Was wide open. Bill loved it, and he was a capitalist Republican. I loved it, and I was a liberal Democrat. That went for the writers, too; they all had their own political leanings, and everybody had a voice. But the voices were mostly critical. It was social commentary, after all." Mad also ran a good deal of less topical or contentious material on such varied subjects as fairy tales , nursery rhymes , greeting cards , sports, small talk , poetry, marriage, comic strips , awards shows , cars and many other areas of general interest. In 2007,
#301698