MAD Magazine???

cookie · May-26th-2009, 03:28 PM

Folks: some of you may know that I'm a stone fan of MAD magazine. Maybe it's because my mother used to take it away (along with any Cracked and National Lampoon that came into the house). I buy it semi-regularly at the supermarket and it never fails to amuse.

Just bought MAD #500 and love it. Got me to thinkin': are there any other MAD fans here at JC?

Pete C · May-26th-2009, 03:36 PM

Haven't read it in years, but as a kid I loved the parodies, Spy vs. Spy & "Those Horrifying Old Cliches" (I'm probably the only person for whom this was a favorite Mad feature). When I was 12 or 13 I went to the offices with my classmate Sammy Wysmonski. If any of the writers or artists were around, they'd greet kids who came for a visit, and we met and got autographs from Dave Berg.

Every issue through 2006 is available on a DVD-ROM set:

http://www.amazon.com/Absolutely-MAD.../dp/B000HKMQ64

cookie · May-26th-2009, 03:43 PM

Cool, Pete!

One of my favorite features is "Snappy Comebacks to Stupid Questions".

Mike Schwartz · May-26th-2009, 03:45 PM

Loved it as a kid [!!], and haven't laid eyes it since.

One of the creators of MAD attended the same synagogue our family did in Queens.

We had a kid who lived in our building (Marty Hutnick) who was a dead ringer for Alfred E. Neuman. Being kids, we didn't let up on the fact a single day of his life from grade school untill he got to H.S. where we all kind of grew out of it.

Brian Olewnick · May-26th-2009, 03:48 PM

I'm actually surprised to learn it's still around.

Sure, bought it religiously from, maybe, 1965 - 70 (when Lampoon took over); had a few earlier issues going back to '62, I think.

Enjoyed a lot of it, Don Martin especially.

A couple of things permanently lodged in my memory, like the bogus lyrics to Moon River:

Chopped liver,
Onions on the side
My social life has died
From you

But my favorite image is from one of those movie take-offs illustrated by Mort Drucker. It was a noirish police drama and in the background of one night scene, you see a guy with his back turned, hosing down the street. Across his back, the uniform reads, "Making the Streets Look Like It Just Rained, Inc."

I still think of that every time I encounter just such a scene.

Gentle Giant · May-26th-2009, 03:48 PM

I read a quote somewhere a few years back that said something to the effect that Mad is only great in the era you read it in. It's definitely true, for me. When I was kid I was nuts over Mad. Bought every issue (especially the special issues), collected the mini posters, bought many of the paperbacks, even had the Mad Magazine Game (the object was to be the first person to LOSE all your money).

Every now and then, though, I'll pick up an issue in the supermarket and it does nothing for me. Maybe I just miss all the greats. Don Martin left for Cracked after I "outgrew" Mad, and Cracked was a poor man's substitute. But I'm always up for a classic edition from my era (early-mid 70s) or earlier (in fact, I loved the Harvey Kurtzman-era issues they republished in special issues in the 70s).

rollhead · May-26th-2009, 03:55 PM

I was always a Don Martin fan:

Gentle Giant · May-26th-2009, 03:56 PM

larrycohen · May-26th-2009, 03:57 PM

I read it fairly often as a kid. As an adult, it became a tradition for my wife and me to buy it at the airport whenever we were getting on a plane. I'm miss some of the old stuff, like Don Martin, but the biggest disappointment was advertising. Mad Magazine with advertising is totally wrong. For decades it was ad-free, so what happened? Greed wins again? I'll never forgive them for that.

Brian Olewnick · May-26th-2009, 04:02 PM

I posted this last September on the "Ask Dean Martin" thread:

Wish I could find a repro, but I have a fond memory of a Don Martin sequence of a guy in front of his bathroom mirror, apparently trying to organize his mustache which, no matter what he does, keeps sproinging out into an untamed nest of bristles. Finally, in the last frame, he exclaims, "Damn nose hairs! Bitch to train 'em!"

Robert de St. Loup · May-26th-2009, 04:05 PM

I liked the pricing on the Alfred E. Neuman posters: 1 for 25 cents, 3 for 50 cents, 9 for $1, etc. I always wanted to send in $64 and get 6561 of the suckers.

Monte Smith · May-26th-2009, 05:52 PM

Reader since the 70s and I'll confess that I still check out Mad Magazine monthly at the supermarket. It is always worth a chuckle. One thing I notice, though, is that the humor is rather mature. (Mad Magazine = mature, who'da thunk it?) But I could not share this publication with Gungadar without worrying about the graphic nature of some of the jokes. I wouldn't think you'd need blowjob gags in a spoof of Iron Man, but that's our culture.

HenryMc · May-26th-2009, 06:04 PM

I used to love the movie parodies. I remember one particularly which was a Dirty Harry parody that ended with Eastwood throuwing something in the lake. The observer said "What was that, his gun?" and the reply "No His Screen Actors Guild Card". Funneeeeee

patricia · May-26th-2009, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cookie

Folks: some of you may know that I'm a stone fan of MAD magazine. Maybe it's because my mother used to take it away (along with any Cracked and National Lampoon that came into the house). I buy it semi-regularly at the supermarket and it never fails to amuse.

Just bought MAD #500 and love it. Got me to thinkin': are there any other MAD fans here at JC?

ABSOLUTELY!! I haven't bought it regularly throughout the years, since I was a teenager. But, I have always loved their satire, political and otherwise.
AND I was really pleased at the speed at which MAD spotted the "separarated at birth" similarity between George W Bush and our hero, Alfred E Neuman.
I had various issues around the house while I was raising my girls and they too commented on that.
Oddly, the same parents of my daughters' friends, who didn't allow MAD in the house, also forbade their kids to watch The Simpsons. I think my girls benefitted from both, as well as having free access to any book they wished to read, if it was on our shelves.
I have the current issue, #500 and it didn't disappoint.
Long live MAD!!

cookie · May-26th-2009, 11:18 PM

I knew you were cool, Patricia! There's always *something* in there that gives me a sideways laugh!

Hudson Boy · May-27th-2009, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HenryMc

I used to love the movie parodies. I remember one particularly which was a Dirty Harry parody that ended with Eastwood throuwing something in the lake. The observer said "What was that, his gun?" and the reply "No His Screen Actors Guild Card". Funneeeeee

That parody, DIRTY LARRY, was included in a hardcover compilation, MAD About The Movies - The Director's Cut. It also contains one of my favorite MAD movie parodies with the self-explanatory title, THE SOUND OF MONEY.

Ron Thorne · May-27th-2009, 01:43 AM

Patti and I are damned MAD that Fox Television has decided to end MAD TV, one of our favorite television programs, and a Saturday night ritual at the Thorne house.

I used to love reading MAD comics but haven't seen one up close in years.

Pete C · May-27th-2009, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

Patti and I are damned MAD that Fox Television has decided to end MAD TV, one of our favorite television programs, and a Saturday night ritual at the Thorne house.

I used to love reading MAD comics but haven't seen one up close in years.

I saw MAD TV 2 or 3 times and found it terribly unfunny, poorly acted, and just plain juvenile.

Chazro · May-27th-2009, 10:24 AM

As a kid it took me a while to look hard enough into the borders of MAD and discover the genius of Sergio Aragones! Sometimes his stuff was the funniest in the mag.

Ron Thorne · May-27th-2009, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete C

I saw MAD TV 2 or 3 times and found it terribly unfunny, poorly acted, and just plain juvenile.

Different strokes ...

Having said that, there were times when MADtv was terrible, depending upon who was in the cast. Nothing new there.

Mo Collins was one cast member who consistently cracked us up.

Also, Alex Borstein as Miss Swan was a winner.

For clarity, I'm not attempting to compare the television show with the magazine here.

clinthopson · May-27th-2009, 05:11 PM

Back in my college days, I had a professor of English Lit. who was a dead ringer for Alfred E. Neuman.

That poor bastard.

jazzy mary · May-27th-2009, 05:16 PM

OMG, Mad magazine. I was obsessed with this magazine when I was a kid and I bought every issue! And, as I did with everything I owned--including my Blue Note vinyl and my Archie comics and Ritchie Rich and even Millie (anyone remember that one!--the 3 girls who lived together--Millie, Chili and what was the brunette's name??) I lovingly wrote my name, address and phone number, which in my small town was just 4 digits---that's all. I preceeded this name and address with "Property of" on the inside cover of each one! What the f**k was I thinking? And, what the f**k was I thinking when I threw them all away!!?? I could cry! I was really fascinated that the offices were on MADison Avenue (remember that) and I daydreamed about the day I would live in NYC and go to the MAD offices, I figured I'd see all kind of madcap hilarity & goings on---for some reason I thought all this madcapness would spill over to the streets & I'd see them all laughing, smoking cigarettes and cracking one another up on the actual street of Madison Avenue. hey, I was a little kid & had an over active imagination re: NYC. . I did go by the adddress when I moved her 30 years ago.

Anyway, I hipped my younger daughter to MAD and now we subscribe to it. I don't know HOW they do it but it's still as funny as ever. Nowadays, I love "Planet Tad". It's so funny & just right! I did notice that the MAD address had changed.

Pete C · May-27th-2009, 05:48 PM

It's a gas!

HenryMc · May-27th-2009, 05:52 PM

Saying sometinking is juvenile doesnt make it bad, the same way saying something is mature doesnt necessarily make it good ;0).

me wag · May-27th-2009, 06:40 PM

me wag · May-27th-2009, 06:41 PM

me wag · May-27th-2009, 06:42 PM

me wag · May-27th-2009, 06:44 PM

me wag · May-27th-2009, 06:45 PM

''GLUP! GLIK! SPLORP! SLOOPLE! CHOMPLE! GARK! SKLORSH! GLUK! KLOONG! KAPLAM! SPMAM! POONG! BOONG! KLOON! PLAM! FLADDAP! SLURK! GLUP! DRIPPLE BLIT. SHPLIPLE! DROOT! GLORT!'' - Don Martin

patricia · May-27th-2009, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clinthopson

Back in my college days, I had a professor of English Lit. who was a dead ringer for Alfred E. Neuman.

That poor bastard.

Imagine being a dead ringer for Alfred E Neuman/George W Bush these days.

What I remember is a kid with whom I was in highschool who at that point could barely read, or grasp basic math, or science, but could draw brilliantly. His cartoons were similar to the very detailed ones in MAD. They just flowed out of his pencil, almost miraculously. Luckily, one of the cooler teachers saw this talent and directed him, a few years later, into a commercial art career and he was quite successful. Even filling out the application form must have been a challenge for him.