No more ‘MAD’ness in the comics world

Mad Magazine, the long-running satirical publication that has amused and outraged readers for nearly seventy years, will be leaving newsstands after its August issue this year. From now on, the rollicking satirical mag with its freckled, big-eared mascot Alfred E Neuman will be published monthly with original satire only until September, its publisher DC Comics confirmed recently.But “after issue #10 this fall there will no longer be new content — except for the end-of-year specials, which will always be all new. So, starting with issue #11 the magazine will feature classic, best-of and nostalgic content from the last 67 years,” it said in a statement.

Known for its adult humour and sharp political edge, Mad, was first published in 1952 and became a comic tour-de-force that influenced many well-known satirists. “I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, MAD Magazine is ceasing publication. I can’t begin to describe the impact it had on me as a young kid — it’s pretty much the reason I turned out weird. Goodbye to one of the all-time greatest American institutions (sic),” tweeted renowned comedian, musician and the first guest editor of the mag in 2015, Weird Al Yankovic.
The Simpsons’ writer Josh Weinstein also tipped his hat to the publication’s comic power. “Goodbye, Mad Magazine. Thanks for inspiring generations and generations of comedy and most of all, thanks for the laughs. There was a moment in so many of our childhoods where you were the greatest thing ever (sic),” he posted.

The publication had more than two million subscribers at its high point in the early 1970s, but that plummeted to just 140,000 in 2017, wrote Michael J. Socolow, associate professor of communications at University of Maine, USA.

MAD got a shout out from President Donald Trump in May 2019 when he likened Pete Buttigieg — the young Midwest mayor running to be the Democratic candidate for president — to the magazine’s grinning figurehead, Alfred. “Alfred E Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” he told a news outlet. But perhaps in a sign of the publication’s shrinking reach, the 37-year-old Buttigieg answered: “I’ll be honest, I had to Google that. I guess it’s just a generational thing.”

The magazine set itself apart as a cultural beacon for decades with its unabashed tendency to make fun of anything and push conventional boundaries. It even seemingly parodied fellow popular magazine Playboy, with its fold-in feature that appeared in nearly every issue. But instead of featuring scantily-clad models, it printed a joke. Soon after the news broke, social media was flooded with ‘thank you posts’ from people worldwide, that included host of cartoonists, comedians and humourists, among others. One of the magazine’s contributors, Evan Dorkin, tweeted, “I realise humour/media influenced by MAD outpaced MAD decades ago. So it goes. But I hope MAD publishes something someday with some new material. And I hope everyone involved lands on their feet (sic).”
—Inputs from AP/AFP