Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Mad About the Fifties by MAD Magazine 12 Things You Might Not Know About MAD Magazine. As fast as popular culture could erect wholesome depictions of American life in comics, television, or movies, MAD Magazine was there to tear them all down. A near-instant success for EC Comics upon its debut in 1952, the magazine has inspired generations of comedians for its pioneering satirical attitude and tasteful booger jokes. In 2018, DC Entertainment relaunched an "all new" MAD , skewering pop culture on a bimonthly basis and in full color. But now the company has announced that the iconic magazine will disappear from newsstands after nearly 70 years in print. To fill the gaps in your knowledge, take a look at these facts about the Usual Gang of Idiots. 1. No one knows who came up with Alfred E. Neuman. MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman was in the offices of a Ballantine Books editor discussing reprints for the fledgling publication when he noticed a grinning, gap-toothed imbecile staring back at him from a bulletin board. The unnamed figure was ubiquitous in the early 20th century, appearing in everything from dentistry ads to depictions of diseases. A charmed Kurtzman adopted him as MAD ’s mascot beginning in 1954. Neuman later become so recognizable that a letter was delivered from New Zealand to MAD ’s New York offices without an address: The envelope simply had a drawing of Alfred. 2. The magazine's editors had to start issuing apologies almost immediately. MAD was conceived during a particularly sensitive time for the comics industry, with parents and watchdog groups concerned over content. (It didn't switch to a magazine format until issue #24.) Kurtzman usually knew where the line was, but when he was laid up with acute hepatitis in 1952, publisher William Gaines and others had to step in for him. Gaines thought it would be funny to offer a fictional biography of himself that detailed his father’s Communist leanings, his past as a dope dealer “near nursery schools,” and bouts of pyromania. When wholesalers were shocked at the content and threatened to boycott all of his titles, Gaines was forced to write a letter of apology. 3. In 1960, MAD predicted John F. Kennedy's presidential election. But it was a cheat. In the run-up to the 1960 Presidential election, MAD printed a cover that featured Neuman congratulating Kennedy on his victory with a caption that read, “We were with you all the way, Jack!” But the issue was shipped long before votes had been tabulated. The secret? It was a dual cover. Flip it over and Neuman is celebrating Richard Nixon’s appointment to office. Stores were told to display the “right” side of the magazine depending on the outcome. 4. Alfred E. Neuman briefly had a girlfriend. A character named Moxie Cowznofski was introduced in the late 1950s as a female companion for Alfred. She made only a handful of cover appearances, possibly due to the fact she looked alarmingly like her significant other. 5. MAD didn't run any (real) ads for 44 years. From the beginning, Gaines felt that printing actual advertisements next to the products they were lampooning would not only dilute their edge but seem more than a little hypocritical. After some back-and-forth, MAD cut ads starting in 1957. The decision was a costly one—most print publications survive on such revenue—but led to the magazine’s keeping a sharp knife against the throat of seductive advertising, including cigarettes. Faced with dwindling circulation in 2001, MAD finally relented and began taking ads to help pay for a switch to color printing. 6. "Spy vs. Spy" was created by a suspected spy. Cuban cartoonist Antonio Prohias was disenchanted with the regime under Fidel Castro when he began working on what would become “Spy vs. Spy.” Because Prohias’s other newspaper illustrations were critical of Castro, the Cuban government suspected him of working for the CIA. He wasn’t, but the perception had him worried harm might come to his co-workers. To get out of the situation, Prohias came to America in 1960. With his daughter helping translate, he stopped by MAD ’s New York offices and submitted his work; his sneaky, triangle-headed spies became regulars. 7. There was one fold-in MAD wouldn't run. Artist Al Jaffee, now 98, has been with MAD almost from the beginning. He created the famous Fold-In—the back cover that reveals a new picture when doubled over—in 1964 after seeing the fold-outs in magazines like National Geographic , Playboy, and Life . Jaffee has rarely missed an issue since—but editors backtracked on one of Jaffee’s works that referenced a mass shooting in 2013. Citing poor taste, they destroyed over 600,000 copies. 8. Their movie was a disaster. With the exception of Fox’s successful sketch series, 1994’s MAD TV , attempts to translate the MAD brand into other media have been underwhelming: A 1974 animated special didn’t even make it on air. But a 1980 film venture, a military school spoof directed by Robert Downey, Sr. titled Mad Presents Up the Academy, was so awful William Gaines demanded to have their name taken off of it. (Renamed Up the Academy , the DVD release of the movie still features someone sporting an Alfred E. Neuman mask; MAD parodied it in a spoof titled “Throw Up the Academy.”) 9. The April 1974 cover had people flipping. MAD has never made a habit of good taste, but a depiction of a raised middle finger for one issue in the mid-’70s caused a huge stir. Many stores wouldn’t stock it for fear of offending customers, and the company ended up accepting an irregular number of returns. Gaines took to his typewriter to write a letter of apology. Again. The relaunched #1, out in April 2018, pays homage to this cover, though it's slightly more tasteful: Neuman is picking his nose with his middle finger. 10. MAD invented a sport. MAD writer Tom Koch was amused by the convoluted rules of sports and attempted to one-up them in 43-Man Squamish, a game he invented for the April 1965 issue. Koch and artist George Woodbridge (“MAD’s Athletic Council”) prepared a guide that was utterly incomprehensible— the field was to have five sides, positions included Deep Brooders and Dummies, “interfering with the Wicket Men” constituted a penalty—but it amused high school and college readers enough to try and mount their own games. (Short on players? Try 2-Man Squamish: “The rules are identical,” Koch wrote, “except the object of the game is to lose.”) For the less physically inclined, MAD also issued a board game in which the goal is to lose all of your money. 11. "Weird" Al Yankovic was a guest editor. In what must be some kind of fulfilled prophecy, lyrical satirist “Weird” Al Yankovic was named as a guest editor—their first—for the magazine’s May 2015 issue. Yankovic told Entertainment Weekly that MAD had put him on “the dark, twisted path to becoming who I am today … I needed to pollute my mind with that kind of stuff.” In addition to his collaborations with the staff, Yankovic enlisted Patton Oswalt, Seth Green, and Chris Hardwick to contribute. 12. Fred Astaire once danced at Alfred E. Neuman. In a scene so surreal even MAD ’s irreverent editors would have had trouble dreaming it up, Fred Astaire decided to sport an Alfred E. Neuman mask for a dance number in his 1959 television special, Another Evening with Fred Astaire . No one seems to recall why exactly Astaire would do this—he may have just wanted to include a popular cultural reference—but it was no off-the-cuff decision. Astaire hired movie make-up veteran John Chambers ( Planet of the Apes ) to craft a credible mask of Neuman. The result is … well, kind of disturbing. But it’s a fitting addition to a long tradition of people going completely MAD . Additional Sources: Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America. 2019: 50 years of MAD Magazine. Next year marks 50 years since Barbra had her debut in MAD Magazine with "On A Clear Day You Can See A Funny Girl Sing Hello Dolly Forever" ! Since then they have done countless parodies of her movies and I would love for them to issue a special edition of just the Streisand parodies since 1969 (I think they skipped 'The Guilt Trip' so the last one would be 'Meet the Fockers' from 2004). I have most of them - though not all - in the original magazine (which I used to collect), as the covers are torn, the staples are missing, the pages are dogeared and turning yellow. Oh, how I'd love for them to put them all together (hardcover would be nice) and make it a collector's item. Just putting it out there if the publishers are reading. LOL. Dec 21, 2018 #2 2018-12-21T22:58. Dec 21, 2018 #3 2018-12-22T03:01. Dec 21, 2018 #4 2018-12-22T03:09. Dec 22, 2018 #5 2018-12-22T12:59. Dec 22, 2018 #6 2018-12-22T17:14. I have loved MAD magazine since the mid 1960's. Had two letters published, one for Bonnie and Clyde satire and the Yentl satire. Dec 22, 2018 #7 2018-12-22T19:28. You had letters published in mad? Awesome. Please share! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Dec 22, 2018 #8 2018-12-23T04:40. On a Clear Day You Can See a Funny Girl Singing "Hello Dolly" Forever June 1971 #143 The Foul and the Prissy Cats September 1971 #145 The Way We Bore July 1974 #168 Fun Lady December 1975 #179 A Star's a Bomb September 1977 #193 Mentl July 1984 #248 Prince of Tirades July 1992 #312 Repeat the Fock-Ups April 2005 #452. Thank you abfabbabs. This really brought back a few memories from a very long time ago. The Eyes of Lurid Mess is a hilarious title from 1979. Dec 23, 2018 #9 2018-12-23T19:43. I didn't realize the first issue was 1971 - I thought it was in 1969! I guess we have two more years to pressure MAD (what's left of it) to do a 50th Anniversary of her satires! I bet - with her sense of humor - she enjoyed everyone. And I'm thinking with 10 movie satires to her credit (I count the first one as three films, of course) that she must hold a record for most movie satires for an actress. Also, I recall a satire of 'The Main Event' which was titled 'The Not-So-Main-Main-Event'. I thought it was MAD, but maybe it was it's competitor 'CRACKED' which I also used to buy back then (and failed in comparison)? Anyone know for sure? There were a few competitors to MAD in the 70s and 80s ("SICK" was another one). The ones which I don't have: The Foul and the Prissycats The Way We Bore. I have "On A Clear Day. " in one of the MAD 'collector books' they put out about 15 years ago - I think it's in 'MAD GOES TO THE MOVIES' issue, if I'm not mistaken. My favorite: MENTL. Dec 26, 2018 #10 2018-12-26T22:11. Look what I found! Not sure if this blogger is part of our forum community, but hope he / she is and can contribute from time to time! The 50 Worst Things About America: An Exclusive Preview From MAD Magazine. The usual gang of idiots at MAD Magazine have set their sights on the worst things in America and they do it with their usual, hilarious aplomb. ( Aplomb . Isn't that just a great word that doesn't get used enough?) The issue containing all "50 Worst Things About America" hits newsstands later this week, but they wanted to give readers of The Huffington Post a sneak peak. I balked, and then held out for an interview with the executive editor of MAD , John Ficarra. They granted me the interview after much arm twisting. And possibly black mail. Either way, here's my conversation with John Ficarra: Bryan Young: First, I want to ask what the process is like when the MAD staff comes up with a list like this, is there a process? Or are there just monkeys at typewriters and with drawing pads in a large room? John Ficarra: First off, our monkeys have computers, not typewriters! It's the 21st century. Seriously, most days at MAD begin with me and my staff sitting in my office throwing around ideas. (The monkeys tend to throw something else, which is why we don't invite them to the meetings.) We'll see what's in the news, what makes us laugh and if the comments we're making are valid. (Even if the comments aren't valid but make us laugh, they're in.) At that point we turn our notes over to our freelance writers and see what they come up with. From there, it's a back and forth process until we arrive at something hilarious that we love or the deadline arrives and then we just run it anyway. BY: What does MAD look for when it sets its sights on an issue or a topic? Why "The Worst Things About America?" JF: The 50 Worst is a great vehicle for us to comment from many different directions about things that piss us off. It's a franchise we've featured many times over the years. We've done the 50 Worst about Movies, TV, Video Games, Comedy, Sports and even the Internet. (Luckily for you, we didn't know about your blog when we wrote that one!) BY: What is MAD 's target audience these days and how does MAD compete with the copycats that have stolen your schtick's over the years, from The Onion to The Daily Show ? JF: MAD 's target audience is well-informed, highly educated, culturally savvy, media consumers. We've yet to hit that target. Contrary to your point, we do not view The Onion and The Daily Show as "copycats", but rather equals. colleagues. brothers-in-arms in the world of comedy. They do no share this view. BY: As a professional satirist, why do you think it's important to not lose that tool in the discourse of our country? What role does MAD play in that discourse? JF: Satire is very important! Historically, ridicule is one of the most important checks and balances available against the rich and powerful. Imagine a world where Kim Kardashian is a celebrity and you're not allowed to make fun of her. That's not a world I want to live in. BY: Am I taking MAD or this interview far too seriously? Because I see MAD as a relevant and important mirror for society. am I reading too much into that? JF: I'm sorry. Could you repeat that question? Whenever interviews become too serious, I tend to doze off, as I suspect many of your readers are doing right about now. BY: Nevermind. Moving on. What's your favorite part of coming to work at MAD ? JF: The elevator ride. Whee! MAD 's on the seventh floor. If I had to make those stairs several times every day, day after day, week after week, that would be a real deal-breaker. BY: How has the MAD app invigorated the magazine? Tell me about the app. Is it a place just to read the magazine, will it have bonus content? JF: The MAD app is terrific! It allows readers to experience the magazine on a whole new level, with interactive features such as the MAD fold-in that you now swipe to "fold" and solve. Also, articles such as "Make Your Own Twilight Movie" are much more fun and interactive. There is a second classic MAD fold-in with every issue and other bonus content available exclusively on the app. Plus, you can buy digital back issues of the magazine through the app. I'm pretty sure having ridiculous humor clogging up the 4G networks is just what Steve Jobs envisioned when he invented the iPad. The one thing I'm not happy about is management's decision to give a free digital subscription to anyone who subscribes to the print edition of MAD ! I'm never going to get a raise if they continue with this kind of wrong-headed generosity! BY: With the upcoming election cycle, can we expect to see more cutting political satire than we did in the last election? I thought you guys were on the top of your game for '08. JF: Political satire has always been one of the hallmarks of MAD (along with movie satires and tasteful fart gags). These days more and more people of all ages seem to follow politics like they do sports teams. Who's up, who's down? The public is much more informed. So it's only gotten better for MAD . In fact, our political covers are generally our best sellers. The great thing about politicians, especially in a presidential election year, is that you can always count on them to do something exceptionally stupid. This year will be no exception and MAD will be there ready to pounce and write some exceptionally stupid political humor. It's a win-win. BY: What's the most entertaining bit of backlash you've received from running a political piece? I mean. a list like "The Worst Things About America" is going to piss somebody off. JF: One of my favorite "backlashes" was several years ago when we ran a scathing piece on the NRA. They promptly ran an article about it in their magazine, urging their members to boycott our advertisers. Unfortunately for them, this was back at a point when MAD wasn't taking ads, so it turned out to be one of the NRA's less-effective boycotts. Now that we are accepting ads, I hope the NRA will consider advertising with us! See? Proof the National Rifle Association has no sense of humor. For those who read this entire interview just for the preview, I might as well give you what you came for: Mad Magazine to Effectively Shutter After 67 Years. Mad Magazine, the irreverent and highly influential satirical magazine that gave the world Alfred E. Neuman, will cease publication some time later this year after 67 years. Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Email Show additional share options Share this article on Print Share this article on Comment Share this article on Whatsapp Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinit Share this article on Tumblr. Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Email Show additional share options Share this article on Print Share this article on Comment Share this article on Whatsapp Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinit Share this article on Tumblr. Mad Magazine , the irreverent and highly influential satirical magazine that gave the world Alfred E. Neuman, will effectively cease publication some time later this year after 67 years, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Sources tell THR that after issue 9, Mad will no longer be sold on newsstands and will only be available through comic book shops as well as mailed to subscribers. After issue 10, there will no longer be new content save for the end-of-year specials. Beginning with issue 11, the magazine will only feature previously published content — classic and best-of nostalgic fare — from its massive vault of material from the past 67 years. DC, however, will continue to publish Mad books and special collections. On Wednesday night, Mad cartoonists David DeGrand and Evan Dorkin took to social media to confirm and lament the closure of the magazine. The news follows writer Dan Telfer’s tweet earlier this week about being laid off as a senior editor. DC Entertainment, the publishers of Mad , declined to comment. “Today won’t end. Goodbye, Mad Magazine. As a youngster I was a huge fan of the 70’s era, as a young adult I rediscovered the 50’s comics, as an old nerd I somehow became a contributor (often working w/@colorkitten) for the last decade +. Getting the e-mail today was crushing,” Dorkin wrote in a tweet thread, confirming his own departure and a staff-wide email about the closure. Dorkin ended his thread with “for all intents and purposes, Mad is folding.” Responding to social media speculation that Mad was shuttering, DeGrand tweeted “can confirm.” The venerable humor magazine was founded in 1952 by a group of editors led by Harvey Kurtzman. Although it began as a comic book, bimonthly issues were published and became the norm for the satirical content. Mad , with it’s always memorable covers featuring the gap-toothed Alfred E. Neuman, has been highly influential for successive generations of comedians, artists, writers and performers. The news of the magazine’s closure has already led to reaction on social media, with a host of comedy heavyweights sharing their sorrow, how Mad influenced them and their favorite bits over the years. Weird Al Yankovic tweeted: “I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, Mad Magazine is ceasing publication. I can’t begin to describe the impact it had on me as a young kid – it’s pretty much the reason I turned out weird. Goodbye to one of the all-time greatest American institutions. #ThanksMAD.” The Lego Movie director Chris Miller tweeted: “I was an intern at Mad Magazine in 1994. I had no apt in NY so I kept my belongings in the archives & took a daypack & crashed on couches for 3 months. In the writers room they had a drum kit to do rim shots on bad jokes. Great memories. I’ll miss it.” Mad About the Fifties by MAD Magazine. Are you a subscriber? Sign in here. Support great journalism. We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press. Read a limited number of articles each month You consent to the use of cookies and tracking by us and third parties to provide you with personalized ads. €5 every 4 weeks or just €50 €20 for the first year. Unlimited access to washingtonpost.com on any device Unlimited access to all Washington Post apps You consent to the use of cookies and tracking by us and third parties to provide you with personalized ads. €7 every 4 weeks or just €70 €30 for the first year. 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