Debuting in August 1952 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d October–November), '' Mad'' began as a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

, part of the EC line published from offices on

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

in Lower Manhattan. In 1961 ''Mad'' moved its offices to mid-town Manhattan, and from 1996 onwards it was located at 1700 Broadway''Absolutely Mad'', Graphic Imaging Technology, 2006. until 2018 when it moved to Los Angeles, California to coincide with a new editor and a reboot to issue #1.WELCOME TO THE ALL-NEW, SOMEWHAT-FAMILIAR MAD!
(April 16, 2018) ''MAD Magazine Blog''Mad Magazine's New Look Revealed at WonderCon 2018
(March 24, 2018) ''The FireWIre Blog'' In the planning stages the new publication was referred to as "EC's Mad Mag" ("The title was my suggestion,"

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...

once said) but was shorted by Kurtzman to just "''Mad''." The phrase "Tales Calculated to Drive You" above the title ''Mad'' referenced radio's '' Suspense'' which often used the opening, "Tales well calculated to keep you in… ''Suspense''!" With wordplay on "jocular," the vertical subtitle, "Humor in a Jugular Vein," hinted at a sinister satirical edge.Stewart, Bhob. "Tuning in Mad," ''Comic Book Marketplace'' no. 119, January 2005.

Early artists

Written almost entirely by

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...

, the first issue also featured illustrations by Kurtzman himself, along with

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as '' Weird Science'', '' Weird Fantasy'', and ''MAD Magazine'' fr ...

Will Elder William Elder (born Wolf William Eisenberg; September 22, 1921 – May 15, 2008) was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped ...

, Jack Davis and

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics ''Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, ...

. Wood, Elder and Davis were the three main illustrators throughout the 23-issue run of the book; Severin, a mainstay of Kurtzman's EC war comics, left the comic book by the tenth issue. Kurtzman included his own finished art only sporadically, primarily on covers. However, he was known as an exceedingly "hands-on" editor and a visual master, and thus many ''Mad'' articles were illustrated in strict accordance with Kurtzman's detailed layouts. A handful of other artists also contributed to the original run, including Bernard Krigstein,

Russ Heath Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also prod ...

and most conspicuously among the non-regulars,

Basil Wolverton Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978)
at the

Dragnet'' and ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'', and he soon began satirizing selected comic strips (" Little Orphan Melvin!"), comic books (" Superduperman!"), books (" Alice in Wonderland!"), films (" Hah! Noon!") and television programs (" Howdy Dooit!").

Expansion and evolution

By mid-1953, William Gaines had made plans for expansion. After nine bi-monthly issues, ''Mad'' became a monthly with the April 1954 issue. At that same time, EC Comics launched another satirical bi-monthly, ''

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...

'', edited by Al Feldstein. Since this new title also used Kurtzman's core trio of artists (Davis, Elder, Wood), the peeved editor felt that ''Panic'' sapped and diminished the creative energy necessary to meet ''Mads production schedule. In 1955, with issue 24, the comic book converted to a magazine format. According to popular myth, this was done to escape the strictures of the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...

, which was imposed in 1955 following U.S. Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency. Actually, Kurtzman had received a lucrative offer from another publisher, and only stayed when Gaines agreed to upgrade ''Mad''. In a 1983 interview with ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'', Gaines remembered: :"Harvey had come to me and said, “How would you like to turn ''Mad'' into a slick magazine?” And I said I wouldn't like to turn ''Mad'' into a slick magazine, I'm a comic publisher, I don't know anything about slick magazines, it's a whole different ballgame and I'm not interested… And that was the end of it for six, eight, 10 months, until he was offered this job with '' Pageant''… as I recall, he was going to begin with a section of the book to do all by himself and also a good chunk of money, which was more than he was making with me. And I countered this by recalling that he had wanted to make ''Mad'' a slick. And I said, “Harvey, if you stay, I’ll let you make ''Mad'' a slick. :And Harvey stayed, made ''Mad'' a slick, and didn't even take as much money as he would have gotten at Pageant, because Harvey was never money-crazy. He could spend it like a maniac aughter but for himself, he was never demanding in that sense. So that's how that happened.” In a 1992 interview, Gaines related that ''Mad'' "was not changed nto a magazineto avoid the Code" but "as a result of this hange of formatit ''did'' avoid the Code." In a 2016 interview with

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous r ...

on his podcast, Al Jaffee remembered it slightly differently, stating that the original comic primarily focused on spoofing newspaper comics. By adopting the broader magazine format, they could lampoon and parody a wide variety of topics. The immediate practical result was that ''Mad'' acquired a broader range in both subject matter and presentation. Magazines had wider distribution than comic books, and a more adult readership.Ringgenberg, Steve. "William M. Gaines Interview II", 1991.
/ref> However, the Comics Code Authority had proven fatal to most of Gaines's EC Comics line due to restrictions on title and content. Gaines suffered both financially and creatively from targeted industry

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

and the enmity of his fellow publishers. EC's national distributor, Leader News Co, was the nation's weakest and did not have the clout to withstand an undeclared industry boycott of EC product: the company's comics were frequently returned still in their original unopened bundles. These factors combined to drive all EC Comics from the stands, except for ''Mad'', which was too profitable to ignore. The company's financial status grew shakier in 1956 when Leader News Co. declared bankruptcy, leaving EC over $100,000 in debt. Only the Gaines family's investment of capital and a fortuitous deal with the much stronger American News distributor kept ''Mad'' afloat.

Al Feldstein's team

After the bulk of EC's line was canceled in 1954–55, the company was completely reliant on the improving fortunes of ''Mad''. In a creative showdown, Kurtzman insisted on a 51 percent share in the company or else he would quit.Go Antiques
/ref> When Gaines rejected the demand, EC was without its dominant creative force, and Kurtzman was separated from the magazine that crystallized his talents. Al Feldstein returned to EC and oversaw ''Mad'' during its greatest heights of circulation. Taking over with issue #29 (September 1956), Feldstein set to work assembling a phalanx of humor writers and cartoonists. His first issue as editor coincided with the debut of Don Martin: crucial longtime contributors such as prolific writer

Frank Jacobs Franklin Jacobs (May 30, 1929 – April 5, 2021) was an American author of satires, known primarily for his work in '' Mad'', to which he contributed from 1957 to 2014. Jacobs wrote a wide variety of lampoons and spoof, but was best known as a ve ...

and star caricaturist

Mort Drucker Morris "Mort" Drucker (March 22, 1929 – April 9, 2020) was an American caricaturist and comics artist best known as a contributor for over five decades in '' Mad'', where he specialized in satires on the leading feature films and televisio ...

quickly followed. Before the classic ''Mad'' staff was assembled, Feldstein also relied on celebrity guest contributions to attract attention and fill pages. Some of these pieces, attributed to

Bob and Ray Bob and Ray were an American comedy duo whose career spanned five decades, composed of comedians Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990). The duo's format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, suc ...

, were actually the work of their main writer

Tom Koch Thomas Freeman Koch (May 13, 1925 – March 22, 2015) was an American humorist and writer. He wrote for ''Mad Magazine'' for 37 years. Early life Koch (pronounced "Cook") was born in Charleston, Illinois, and spent his youth in Indianapolis b ...

, who would flourish in ''Mad'' for decades under his own byline. By the early 1960s, working with art director John Putnam and such notables as Antonio Prohias,

Al Jaffee Allan Jaffee (born Abraham Jaffee; March 13, 1921) is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine '' Mad'', including his trademark feature, the ''Mad'' Fold-in. Jaffee was a regular contributor to the magazine ...

and Dave Berg well in hand, Feldstein had fully established the format that was to be a commercial success for decades. The ''Mad'' logo has remained largely unchanged since 1955, save for the decision to italicize the lettering beginning in 1997. For many years, the mysterious letters "IND" appeared in small type within the logo, between the M and the A. Sometimes the ''Mad'' logo included characters in humorous situations or cavorting centaurs within the lettering, one of whom would be pointing directly at the IND. Though some fans speculated about the secret meaning of the "M-IND" message, the truth was more prosaic: from 1957 on, the magazine was handled by Independent News Distribution.Jacobs, Frank. ''The Mad World of William M. Gaines'', Lyle Stuart, 1972.

Circulation peak

Al Feldstein joined ''Mad'' in the same year that ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' described it as a "short-lived satirical pulp". By the time he left 28 years later, the magazine was commonly cited as one of the three greatest publishing successes of the 1950s, along with ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

''. The magazine's circulation more than quadrupled during Feldstein's tenure, peaking at 2,132,655 in 1974, although it had declined to a third of this figure by the end of his time as editor.Slaubaugh, Mike. "Mad Magazine Circulation figures''
/ref> The highest-selling individual issue was #161 (September 1973), which sold over 2.4 million copies. Sales for the April 1974 issue depressed because of its cover illustrating a hand giving "the finger" gesture. Several newsstands refused to put the issue on stands and Mad offices had extra copies as a result. For tax reasons, Gaines sold his company in the early 1960s to the

Kinney Parking Company Kinney Parking Company was a New Jersey parking lot company owned by Manny Kimmel, Sigmund Dornbusch, and mob figure Abner Zwillman. History Kinney Parking Company was incorporated in 1945 by Manny Kimmel. In 1961, Kinney reached an agreement ...

. Kinney was in the process of becoming a conglomerate, including acquiring

National Periodicals DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

(a.k.a.

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

) and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

by the end of that decade. Though technically an employee for 30 years, the fiercely independent Gaines was named a Kinney board member, and was largely permitted to run ''Mad'' as he saw fit without corporate interference. By early 1978, ''Mad'' was obliged to include a UPC symbol on its covers. The magazine responded by devoting the entire front cover of issue #198 to a giant UPC bar code, saying they hoped it would "jam every computer in the country" for "forcing us to deface our covers with this yecchy UPC symbol from now on." For more than two years, subsequent issues labeled the normal-sized symbol with a series of humorous captions, such as "Closeup of the gap in

Alfred E. Neuman Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine '' Mad''. The character's distinct smiling face, parted red hair, gap-tooth smile, freckles, protruding nose, and scrawny body, first emerged in U.S. iconog ...

's teeth" or "Hair of man watching horror movie." When Feldstein retired in 1984, he was replaced by the team of

Nick Meglin Nick Meglin (July 30, 1935 – June 2, 2018) was an American writer, humorist, and artist. He was known for his work as a contributor, comics writer, illustrator and editor for the satirical magazine '' Mad''. He also scripted ''Superfan'', a 1 ...

and

John Ficarra John Ficarra (born ca. 1956) is an American publishing figure. He was hired as assistant editor of the American satire magazine '' Mad'' in 1980, shortly after his debut as a contributing writer. He became editor-in-chief (a position he shared wi ...

, who co-edited ''Mad'' for the next two decades. After Meglin retired in 2004, Ficarra continued to edit the magazine through 2017. In conjunction with the magazine's offices moving to Burbank, Bill Morrison assumed the editorship in 2018.

Later history

1990s–2000s

Following Gaines' June 3, 1992 death, ''Mad'' became more ingrained within the

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

corporate structure, which did not share Gaines' idiosyncratic ideas about marketing ''Mad''. Time Warner turned the magazine over to DC Comics' publishers

Jenette Kahn Jenette Kahn (; born May 16, 1947) is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to president. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of editor ...

and

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

, and DC Vice President

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...

became the magazine's new associate publisher. Closely involved with DC licensing, Orlando had also been a staff artist with EC Comics in the 1950s, and a prolific contributor to ''Mad'' during the 1960s. Time Warner put a much stronger emphasis on ''Mad'' merchandising and licensing, including products for its chain of Warner Studio Stores. Orlando's Special Projects department at DC Comics hired

Bhob Stewart Robert Marion Stewart, known as Bhob Stewart (November 12, 1937 – February 24, 2014) was an American writer, editor, cartoonist, filmmaker, and active fan who contributed to a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles a ...

to edit a new ''Mad Style Guide'' (1994), featuring artwork by

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born September 6, 1937) is a Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to '' Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''. Among his peers and fans, Aragonés is ...

Angelo Torres Angelo Torres (born April 14, 1932, in Santurce, Puerto Rico) is an American cartoonist and caricaturist whose work has appeared in many noteworthy comic books, as well as a long-running regular illustrator for '' Mad''. EC Comics Torres was f ...

and George Woodbridge. Eventually, the magazine was obliged to abandon its longtime home at 485 Madison Avenue (printed as "MADison" Avenue in the masthead), and in the mid-1990s it moved into DC Comics' offices at the same time DC relocated to 1700

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Although Orlando retired from DC Comics in 1996, he continued to design cover layouts for ''Mad'' right up until the month of his death in 1998.

2000s–2019

In 2001, the magazine broke its longstanding taboo and began running advertising. The outside revenue allowed for the introduction of color printing and improved paper stock. Some black-and-white material, however, remains in each issue. In April 2009, with issue #500, ''Mad'' contracted from a monthly schedule to a quarterly circulation. ''Mad'' editor

joked that the move was in response to letters complaining that only every third issue is funny, "so we've decided to just publish those." The cover price was raised to $5.99. In March 2010, ''Mad'' became a bimonthly magazine, coinciding with

stepping down as president of DC Comics. Issue #533, dated June 2015, featured ''Mad's'' only guest editor to date, "Weird Al" Yankovic. In August 2015, the cover of Hillary and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, a parody of '' Mad Max: Fury Road'', was praised highly by

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

, Sun TimesHillary Clinton gets MAD cover treatment.
(August 10, 2015) ''Sun Times Network''. Retrieved October 17, 2015 and many other media. Issue #550, dated April 2018, was the final issue of the first volume of the magazine which launched at EC Comics in 1952. MAD Magazine was rebooted with a new #1 dated June 2018 and a new look. After 30+ years editor

retired, with illustrator and comic book artist Bill Morrison becoming the new editor and the magazine shifted offices to Los Angeles after decades in Manhattan (first on Madison Avenue and then on

2019–present: Exit from Newsstand

On July 4, 2019, it was reported that following issue #10 (October 2019) of the ''Mad'' revival, future regular issues would no longer contain solely new content, but will rather contain mostly recycled content from the previous 67 years of publication, in addition to a small portion of new content. In addition, ''Mad'' would no longer be sold on newsstands, and was instead available for purchase in comic book shops as well as through subscriptions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Mad Mad (magazine) Harvey Kurtzman Mad History Mad History Mad History Mad History Mad History Mad History Mad History