A shame, but as someone moderately profound once said: all things must end.

 

The Decline of Western Civilization accelerated dramatically in 1952 when Mad was first published as a comic book.

Maybe. But I was introduced to Western Civ through Mad Magazine. They used to take famous poems and do parodies, like remaking Kipling's Gunga Din into Wilt the Stilt. The poem wouldn't be funny until I read the original poem.

Their sendups of films and TV shows inspired me into satire, which got me a spot in the high school journalism class as the feature page editor.

I still use their interjections, like Blecch. And I was introduced to New York Yiddish through their adjectives, like meshuggah.

I also discovered the power of humor to make a point that a protest wouldn't.

I guess they weren't all that bad after all.

 

^^^^In reply, I say only "Potrzebie!". And you can quote me!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrzebie

And let's not forget "Veeblefetzer", another Mad popularization:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veeblefetzer

 

Looks like this guy's gonna be out of work again.

 

I found a website that let me download every issue from 1 to 533. I dip into them on my iPad regularly. Such joy but alas, there is no joy in Mudville. Casey, mighty Casey, has struck out! Lovers of the early years will catch the reference.:tiphat:

 

Can you share that website???

 

One thing I remember was that their movie reviews, though over the top and full of satire, were (if carefully read) actually quite perceptive.

 

I loved Mad Magazine as a child. I looked at it once as an adult and didn't find it the least bit humorous.

 

Those of us of a certain age, and long memories, will recall that Mad was just one of the many publications of EC Comics, one of the landmark giants of mid-20th century comic book publishing. EC's output consisted of outstanding horror comics (The Vault of Horror, The Crypt of Terror, Tales From The Crypt), war comics (Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat, Valor), science fiction (several titles, often including Ray Bradbury stories), and others, including Mad. EC fell afoul of the New Puritanism of the 1950s, and congressional hearings into the corruption of young minds such as mine by these terrible comic books, and most of the EC comics disappeared. Mad managed somehow to survive, and became EC's final and enduring legacy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EC_Comics

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Entertaining_Comics_publications

 

That "new puritanism" was not without reason. Wertham's 1954 book Seduction of the innocent showed many illustrations of over-the-top comics of the day, with EC taking a place of honor. Here's a relatively tame cover...

 

Besides Mad Magazine, there also were two other similar magazines: Cracked and Sick. One of my favorite features of Cracked was the Shut-Ups page.

 

The satire and irreverence of MAD left an indelible impression when I was young that has lasted a lifetime. They were looking at the falsity of the commercial world and the truth beneath the surface... and with classic artwork. One of my favorites was Spy vs. Spy. I collected them for years and later got all the issues on a CD-Rom, then it was time for the next generation to discover them. I thought they retained their humor and irreverence to the end whenever I'd pick up a recent copy. I continued to laugh out loud! Alfred E. Neuman... R.I.P. ! "What, me worry?"

 

The satire and irreverence of MAD left an indelible impression when I was young that has lasted a lifetime. They were looking at the falsity of the commercial world and the truth beneath the surface... and with classic artwork. One of my favorites was Spy vs. Spy. I collected them for years and later got all the issues on a CD-Rom, then it was time for the next generation to discover them. I thought they retained their humor and irreverence to the end whenever I'd pick up a recent copy. I continued to laugh out loud! Alfred E. Neuman... R.I.P. ! "What, me worry?"

My only favourite, probably. My older brother would bring home copies, but too young to understand any articles or satire, Spy vs Spy was the only thing that attracted my interest.

 

During the 70s MAD magazine was famous enough in the UK but I never once noticed a copy for sale in my town. Some of the older compendiums in book form such as Greasy Mad Stuff and Three Ring Mad were available, though, and that's how I familiarised myself with it. Favourite cartoonist? Probably Don Martin.

 

Taggart and I used to get Mad Magazine regularly when we were first married, in the 1970s. We loved it, and toted a pile of old copies round from house to house, till finally deciding to get rid of them in a problematic house move.

My own favourite was Dave Berg's 'The Lighter Side', which seemed to hold all the wisdom of human life. I remember a cartoon of two older women (probably younger than me now, though)meeting in a supermarket, and one asking the other about a product's list of ingredients. The product contained a lot of artificial ingredients, and the lady exclaimed, 'I'll take it! At my age, I need all the preservatives that I can get!'

Or another one in which a wife, exasperated by her husband's accounts of what he 'should have said' in reply to someone, tells him: 'The trouble with you is, you have twenty-twenty hindsight.'
His response is a thought-bubble: 'When she said I have twenty-twenty hindsight, what I should have said was...'

 

I remember when I lived with my parents and subscribed to MAD. My first issue arrived in a brown paper wrapper which stated in huge, bold lettering, "YOUR PORNOGRAPHY HAS ARRIVED!"

 

That is the absolute BEST!

 

EC Comics: a bit of Grand Guignol in comic book form. I managed to survive it with the help of Donald Duck, his nephews and Uncle Scrooge; Tarzan; Blackhawk; Airboy;; Mighty Mouse; The Heap; Wonder Woman; Doll Man; Plastic Man; The Human Torch; Captain Marvel; and countless Classics Illustrated comic books. But I remember how outraged I was when "they" took away my beloved EC Comics. That was about the same time they added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance and made us what we are today.

 

Wow, I didn't know that about "under God." I was a little later; I watched Silver Age Marvel turn from monsters into super-heroes. Thor, Spidey, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Hulk.

Of DC I liked Green Lantern, The Flash, Justice League, Adam Strange, The Doom Patrol, The Atom....and their "war" comics, Sgt. Rock (Our Army At War), Star-Spangled War Stories (soldiers fighting dinosaurs), G.I. Combat (Big Joe, Little Joe, & Charlie cigar).

 

Johnny Carson: "How did you know when you finally made it in show business?"

Michael J. Fox: "When Mort Drucker drew my head."

 

Though MAD has ended the spirit lives on ... even in TalkClassical/Community/Ideas for Stupid Threads sometimes. But I wonder about Alfred E. Neumann -- will we never see him again?