Walt was saddened, though, to hear that one of America's greatest-ever magazines, MAD, will no longer be available on newsstands after next month's issue. After that, they're going to do only reprints (with new covers) until subscriptions expire, and then it's lights out. Perhaps it's just as well. The mag isn't what it was in the glory days of the `50s and `60s, when I first discovered it. Founded in 1952 by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, MAD launched as a comic book before it switching to a larger magazine format.
So it was when I first saw it on the shelf (amidst the Disney and Warner Bros. "comics") at McQueen's Variety Store (on Queen Street, natch). I was dismayed to see that the cover price was a whole quarter -- half my allowance for a week -- and more dismayed that Old Man McQueen, being a dour Scot, didn't take kindly to kids thumbing through his wares. I was forced to take a paper route to finance my reading.
I couldn't help it. I was hooked on MAD's well-written and well-illustrated satire on all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures. My liking for their "humour in a jugular vein" (the subtitle to the early comic books) was heightened by the contributions of guest writers, notably Bob and Ray, whose radio show I never missed.
In its earliest years, MAD frequently used outside "name" talent, with Bob and Ray's [Bob's and Ray's? Ed.] contributing no fewer than 12 pieces, more than anyone else. MAD simply illustrated their preexisting material. When MAD learned that Tom Koch was the writer behind the Bob and Ray radio sketches, the editors hired him, and he wrote more than 300 MAD articles over the next 37 years.
Second only to Bob and Ray, Ernie Kovacs -- one of my TV favourites in the `50s -- contributed 11 pieces. His off-the-wall humour was perfect for MAD, if not for your average boob tube viewer. Other irregular contributors included Tom Lehrer, Wally Cox, Stan Freberg, Henry Morgan, and Sid Caesar. There were also single pieces by Charles M. Schulz, Chevy Chase, Will Eisner (the great "dark" illustrator), Jean Shepherd, Jules Feiffer, and the late great Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo.
MAD didn't rely solely on guest shots. It had its own excellent (and not-so-excellent) writers and illustrators, as well as writer-illustrators like Don Martin and Dave Berg. I was never a fan of either of them. Don Martin, in particular, pandered to the truly juvenile. Too bad he couldn't illustrate fart jokes.
The artists deserving of the name who stick in my mind were Wally Wood, Mort Drucker, Bill Elder and Jack Davis. Their work graces the issues of the `50s and `60s, and can be found in pocket-book collections of the early issues. Their drawings were really edgy. Wally Wood, in particular, used to crowd every panel with little bits and pieces which would only reveal themselves to the keen and careful reader. The more anodyne style of the more recent illustrators was, IMHO, one of the reasons for MAD's fall from the heights.
In 2015, "Weird Al" Yankovic served as MAD's first and only guest editor, writing some material and guiding the content in issue #533, while upping his own career Mad byline total from two to five. On social media this weekend "Weird Al" expressed his sorrow at the magazine's demise. "I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, MAD Magazine is ceasing publication," said the singer-songwriter. "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."
In the old days, there was also a small booklet version of Mad magazine. Wider than it was tall. Perhaps even hard cover? I don't remember. In one of them I remember seeing a clever quiz type page that showed a scene of a girl sitting in a room and the caption was "What's wrong with this picture?". As you began to examine the picture you found that absolutely everything was wrong and nothing was correct. The girl was sitting with her head on her hand but her head was upside down. There was a window in the room and outside was a ship that was sinking, etc. I was only about 6 years old and this struck me as hilarious. An early introduction to irony.
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