fertile field to plow
Posted on 01/25/2009 5:33:32 AM PST by HangnJudge
MAD Magazine is about to put out its 500th issue. Fantastic! But starting in April, the mag is cutting down to only four issues per year. Nooooo!
What a great TV ad for the magazine.
I have Mad to thank for my warped sense of humor.
“Civilization, as I have known it and cherished it, has now come to an end.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For me it ended witht he demise of “Lil Abner”, “Pogo Possum” and “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith”. The comics were worth the price of a newspaper subscription in those days.
Same here. Kind of like seeing the mom and pop store you used to go to being torn down and a walmart being put in its place.
"FOINSAP!!!!": The sound a bent handsaw makes when it is released and allowed to hit the holder in the face.
Dittos!
Alfred E. Neuman
I’m a 58 year old guy that still subscribes. Mad taught me all I needed to know about society, customs, politics, art, etc. It piqued my interest and forced me to cross check what they were satirizing. I have most of the issues after 1960 and plan to pass them on to my grandkids who now read them monthly. I didn’t always agree with their satire, but it was healthy and current. Keep reading Mad.
Quarterly, “25¢ cheap.”
Hello, Deli
Well hello, Deli
Won't you please send up some nice corned beef on rye?
A box of Ritz, deli
And some Schlitz, deli
Some chopped liver and a sliver of your...apple pie!
Turkey legs, deli
hard-boiled eggs, deli
with tomatoes and potato's you french fry...ooohhh,
please don't be late, deli
‘cause I can't wait, deli
Deli without BREAKFAST I will die!
MAD did better than most.
Few Americans know the back story.
The first great illustrated humor magazines:
England’s “Punch”, started in 1841 to 2002. It’s humor and especially its illustrations were always timely and biting. It even coined the word “cartoon”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(magazine)
The Harvard Lampoon, begun in 1876, modeled after Punch, has survived it, and has the added benefit of a fresh undergraduate staff each year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Lampoon
Germany’s “Simplicissimus” (The Idiot), which started in 1896 and continued through 1967, with a 10 year hiatus because of the Nazis. Some of Germany’s finest artists contributed cartoons. It was full of biting satire, cultural and political humor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicissimus
Cracked Magazine (1958-2007) A low order competitor with MAD, it attracted contributors, because unlike the strict policy that copyrights and royalties of all work was owned by MAD, enforced by William Gaines, Cracked contributors retained ownership of their material.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracked
National Lampoon (1970-1998) was a spinoff of The Harvard Lampoon, run by some of its previous editors and writers. In many ways, it took up the gauntlet for MAD Magazine fans, but with adult humor and savage political attack humor, as well as underground comics type illustration. Unfortunately, without new blood, and in changing political and cultural times, it burned out, though its name was purchased by National Lampoon, Inc., for other purposes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon_magazine
I’m sure I missed a bunch in here, as even at the turn of the 20th Century, America was full of illustrated humor magazines, many of who’s humor is by today’s standards offensive, our living in more prudish times.
And who can forget the “marginal” art work of SERGIO ARAGONES!
As a kid I would read every single issue and laugh till I cried. I recently looked at one and it was about as dumb and boring as anything I have ever looked at. Not sure if I grew up or they grew down.
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