Posted on 01/06/2009 10:17:08 AM PST by raccoonradio
This post is slightly OT, as I am discussing print cartoons, not animated cartoons. I received several old issues of Cracked Magazine over the holidays and I couldn’t help noticing how one humor piece, predicting life in the 21st Century, was surprisingly accurate.
“Today’s Swinger is Tomorrow’s Square”, illustrated by John Severin, appeared in the 1974 annual Super Cracked (It was most likely a reprint from a 1970 issue). In it, the writer predicts that young people will embrace the “skinhead” look, home computers (”Electronic Home Teacher”) and even the ipod: as “electronic brain stimulators” and a “musical computers” that young people are hooked on.
It’s not a stretch to think Bill Gates read Cracked, though I’d like to think Steve Jobs was a Mad man. I couldn’t find a Cracked index online - is there a Cracked historian out there who knows what issue this piece originally appeared in?
I’m not familiar with a Cracked index. There is probably a fan website somewhere.
There was a complete Mad (up through some “recent” year) released to CD (although I think there were some controversies because the artists/writers were not compensated).
“Free the Moon From the Earth’s Tyrannical Pull” sounds SO TRUE.
I wonder if we can get Protest Warrior to carry that sign at some Earth Day rallies this year.
I think the sun is the real cause of global warming. BAN THE SUN! :)
I remember Mad doing some “predicting the future” articles.
One of them used photo manipulation to “age” the Beatles
and talked about what they’d be doing in the future. They
didn’t count on Lennon being shot in ‘80 or Harrison dying of
cancer a few yrs ago.
There’s certainly something to be said as to how the socialistic, centrally-planned economies of the 70’s have swapped places with the allegedly free-market capitalist ones.
Where are the flying cars!? I was promised flying cars!
I remember the old SNL that had John Belushi as the last surviving member of the Not Ready for Primetime Players, going to the graves of all the cast members.
Guess they missed on that one.
Islamists Mohammed Atta and Charles Bishop/Bishra saw to it that you’ll never get a flying car.
Was waiting for the prediction of a black president.
YOU'RE A GENIUS IF you negotiate to eliminate all nuclear weapons (picture of an outdoor signing ceremony)
BUT YOU'RE AN IDIOT IF you really believe the other side really got rid of theirs (officials look up to see incoming ICBMs.)
Back in the day, I always had a preference for “Cracked” over “Mad,” and it was primarily due to Severin’s art, which I always loved.
John Severin started at Mad (back when it was a comic book).
And Cracked is around today as a website (like the Onion) but it is far ruder than before (not safe for work, adult in content, pictures, and language). Also uber liberal in politics of at least some of the bloggers there.
I want my flying car.
What a great find! I especially enjoyed the prediction for school.
Ping... I’m not pinging for a ping. I just thought the three of you would find humor in how an old early ‘70’s Cracked Magazine predicted the future, in particular school, in post # 2. ;-)
I don't remember that one, but this Cracked comic reminds me of another SNL skit: The parents of teenagers do everything wrong - do drugs, etc. - in front of their teenage kids and lecture them to do the same. The kids are just the opposite - perfectly well-behaved. Once they leave the house, the parents look at each other and say, "They're gone! Whew! This reverse psychology really works."
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