Mad about Mad Magazine

[Mike Gange]

By Mike Gange

When I was a kid, in the mid 60’s, I used to regularly buy Mad magazine. It was one of the staples stocked in the PX on the military bases where we lived. I guess it appealed to the teenagers AND the airmen who populated the base.

The cover was usually Alfred E. Newman, the never aging red headed rascal who always seemed to be up to some sort of twisted pop cultural mayhem. One memorable cover was Alfred painting the road black -- the entire highway – leaving only the white stripe down the middle. Frequently the wacky cover was what drew me into the magazine. I loved the irreverence, the devil-may-care attitude that came with the “What? Me worry?” slogan. And it used to say, Mad Magazine, 25c, cheap!

True to form, the latest issue, October,  caught my eye with its cover design. Mad: Our Slickest Issue Ever says the header. And the artwork shows red headed Alfred E. Newman, young as ever, basking in sunshine at the beach. But the waves are no ordinary ocean waves. They are black. They are slimy, goopy, messy and coagulating oil. The whole ocean is oil.  And the price code now? $5.99. Crude, it says.

Mad magazine gave us so much as an audience. Mad’s Ad Libs were always funny. A Berg’s Eye View of things, from Dave Berg, was always a different take on life. Spy vs. Spy were favorites. Two bomb wielding icons, one in white, one in black, would find subtle ways of one-upmanship. And the guy in white did not always win. It was clearly about a political ideology and clearly it was, at times, anybody’s game. The back cover always folded into a satirical slant of life too.

The new issue certainly has lots of the old stuff. Pop culture parodies. Odd-ball editorials. (This month’s is Celebrity Cause of death Betting Odds: Charlie Sheen…terminal nipple chaffing from those ridiculous polyester retro bowling shirts: 45:1; Violated in Pitkin county jail by two and a half men: even money). Worst selling Children’s books (Stupid Bear Counts Wrong: 1, 2, 8, 13.)   

What I don’t remember are ads. There are only a couple in this latest issue. One for shoes, one for a game. I have to wonder who would risk their ads in a magazine designed to make fun of, well, pop culture, ads, and the establishment. My hat is off to those who risk their ads in such a magazine. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly-on-the-wall at that sales meeting? Imagine the arguments used to get the advertisers to buy into impertinence. You have to admire the confidence of an advertiser who can put their product out there, amid such perpetual cheekiness. In a world gone Mad, these are advertisers to admire. And the magazine ain’t bad either.  

[Frank W. Baker]

And of course, who could forget MAD TV? Since parody and satire are a big part of teaching standards, both the magazine and the TV show could be great resources for teachers and students.