MAD Magazine

From the final issue (#11) of Humbug, 1958.

MAD Magazine to Effectively Shutter After 67 Years

9:47 PM PDT 7/3/2019 by Trilby Beresford , Abid Rahman


Mark Fredrickson/Courtesy of Mad Magazine

The beloved satire publication will no longer be sold on newsstands after the August issue, and future editions will no longer feature new content and instead shift to previously published material — with new covers.
MAD Magazine, the irreverent and highly influential satirical magazine that gave the world Alfred E. Neuman, will effectively cease publication some time later this year after 67 years, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Sources tell THR that after issue 9, MAD will no longer be sold on newsstands and will only be available through comic book shops as well as mailed to subscribers. After issue 10, there will no longer be new content in subsequent issues save for the end-of-year specials (those will be all-new). Beginning with issue 11, the magazine will only feature previously published content — classic and best-of nostalgic fare — from its massive fault of the past 67 years. DC, however, will also continue to publish MAD books and special collections.

On Wednesday night, MAD cartoonists David DeGrand and Evan Dorkin took to social media to confirm and lament the closure of the magazine. The news follows writer Dan Telfer's tweet earlier this week about being laid off as a senior editor at the magazine.

DC Entertainment, the publishers of MAD, declined to comment.

"Today won't end. Goodbye, MAD Magazine. As a youngster I was a huge fan of the 70's era, as a young adult I rediscovered the 50's comics, as an old nerd I somehow became a contributor (often working w/@colorkitten) for the last decade +. Getting the e-mail today was crushing," Dorkin said in a tweet thread, confirming his own departure and a staff-wide email about the closure. Dorkin ended his thread with "for all intents and purposes, MAD is folding."

Responding to social media speculation that MAD was shuttering, DeGrand tweeted "can confirm."

The venerable humor magazine was founded in 1952 by a group of editors led by Harvey Kurtzman. Although it began as a comic book, bimonthly issues were published and became the norm for the satirical content. MAD, with it's always memorable covers featuring the gap-toothed Alfred E. Neuman, has been highly influential on successive generations of comedians, artists, writers and performers.

The news of the magazine's closure has already led to reaction on social media with a host of comedy heavyweights sharing their sorrow at the news, how MAD influenced them and their favorite bits from down the years.

Weird Al Yankovic tweeted: "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. #ThanksMAD."

The Lego Movie director Chris Miller tweeted: "I was an intern at MAD Magazine in 1994. I had no apt in NY so I kept my belongings in the archives & took a daypack & crashed on couches for 3 months. In the writers room they had a drum kit to do rim shots on bad jokes. Great memories. I’ll miss it."

I'd forgotten about the Mad board game!  I received one as a gift as a kid and was pretty excited about it.  I played several games with friends the first two nights, then retired it to a shelf in the closet.  It was fun in it's zaniness for 2 or 3 go rounds, but the jokes grew old pretty quick once you've seen all the cards.  I don't recall much about the game play, the rules being like someone at Parker Bros. took five random rules from 50 different board games, then selected 20 of them and applied those to the Mad game.  It was "bizarro" monopoly that disallowed for any possible strategy on the players part. Sometimes you'd pull a card and everyone would have to switch their money and cards with another player.  Stuff like that.