MAD 1, no. 1
MAD 1, no. 1
Edited by Harvey Kurtzman
1952
In 2010, veteran MAD contributor Al Jaffee told a reporter, "MAD was designed to corrupt the minds of children. And from what I'm gathering from the minds of people all over, we succeeded." Originally published in comic-book format by EC Comics, the company whose blood-and-guts Tales from the Crypt became a lightning rod for critics like Fredric Wertham, MAD later reformatted itself as a magazine, thereby escaping the Comics Code Authority's scrutiny.
From the start, MAD lampooned countless aspects of American life, from television sitcoms and advertising jingles to psychoanalysis and presidential politics.
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MAD , no. 5
Edited by Bill Morrison
February 2019