MAD magazine

MAD magazine is a "satirical" magazine which began as a comic book for EC Comics in 1952 and was written and edited by Brooklyn Jew Harvey Kurtzman, back when "comic book" meant funny paper rather than typical generic capeshit. The magazine's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, himself a variant of an older "Me Worry?" meme, is one of the original "pre-Internet memes."

Some argue MAD magazine was the original redpill in the 1950s, setting the formula for all Amerifat satire that came after. Although, the "alt-right" may argue it was the original blue pill, as "a vehicle for Jews to spread degeneracy throughout society" which culminated in hippies and feminism and eventually the social justice warrior. MAD magazine promoted skepticism of everything, and influenced Harry Shearer, Terry Gilliam, Robert Crumb and all underground comix, Weird Al, even Roger "Jaws No More" Ebert. MAD magazine preceded Fark and Something Awful and 4chan by decades, until loaning its brand to a TV show that had barely a damned thing to do with it.

In 2017, it was announced that the longtime New York staff ("The Usual Gang of Idiots") of MAD magazine was going to be replaced with a brand new staff from California. Also, in 2018, the magazine relaunched its' numbering with a brand-new #1 and plans for a "increased web presence and a new podcast" - thus, the reason for this article.

Recurring features

As with most magazines MAD has several trademark features that appear in every issue of the rag - in addition to the occasional new ideas.

The MAD Vault - As most of the original/"classic" MAD artists/writers are DED, or are retired, MAD has in recent years decided to reprint their work in each issue in a feature called "The MAD Vault." Probably intended as a way to fill space in the magazine.
Drawn-Out Dramas/Marginals - One of the longest running MAD features that hasn't been replaced by new writers or artists, these are extremely tiny drawings that appear in-between the margins of the articles. Drawn by Sergio Aragones.
The Darker Side of The Lighter Side - A rehash of an older feature by the artist Dave Berg - more reprints - but Berg's highly optimistic and conservative cartoons are printed TWICE with the second one being a new rewrite.
The MAD Fold-In - A one-page cartoon/gag that when folded in, gives a new drawing and answers a question. Drawn by longtime MAD artist Al Jaffee, this feature doesn't have much longer to go as Al Jaffee is NINETY-SEVEN YEARS OLD... but like the Spy vs. Spy feature, the big corporate honchos at DC will likely also replace the artist with a new one when they die.
MAD Movie Parody/TV Show Parody - Each issue usually features a "parody" of a popular show or movie, with all character names changed to goofy names, and a twist ending for each one. This feature is probably what MAD is best known for, as well as a big factor in their sales - latching onto pop culture is an easy way to snatch coins it seems!!

Spy Vs Spy

Spy Vs Spy is the greatest thing that ever happened to Americunt comics and was created by Cuban refugee Antonio Prohías when he was fleeing Castro's Murder Corps, in May of 1960, on a truck tire's inner-tube with only a single pack of Ramen noodles to eat. His inspiration for the comic came from how Castro once honored him for his Anti-Batista comics but then later accused him of being a spy and working for American Capitalists and the CIA when Prohías published works in 1959 that criticized Castro's stranglehold and censorship of the Cuban press.

Being a natural go-getter and committed to his work Prohías was unlike the modern, Millennial artist type that sleeps all day, lives in their Mother's basement and E-Whores for donations because they are working on something so ground breaking they need to invest every second to their art, Prohías took the standard entry-level jobs for non-English speakers such as a gardener and fast-food employee while working on a new portfolio to submit to Mad Magazine at night.

Prohías modeled the Spies that are familiarly drawn as two black and white characters in overcoats, Pointy noses and wide brimmed hats after a character named El Hombre Siniestro' or "The Sinister Man that he had earlier created while a comic artist in cuba.

Prohías once described the spies as "two Sick Fucks that thought nothing of chopping the tails off of dogs, or even the legs off of little girls so they couldn't get away from the men that they sold them to." Many people, or your average Stoned College level philosophy major would say that this quote is the central theme of Prohías allegorization of the Cold War in Spy Vs Spy and the lines that governments are willing to cross with their Secret Wars that were going on during the Cold War and are still going on today.

Over the years Spy Vs Spy has been whored out and adapted into other medias such as a video game for the NES in the 1980s, a series Mountain Dew commercials, animated segments for both MAD tv shows, a board game and, worse yet, a kiddie cartoon for the now defunct "MAD Kids" magazine where, instead of trying to Kill each other, the spies play practical jokes on each other ensuring that Prohías will be rolling in his grave for a long time over the bastardization of a comic that originally started as a protest against the unchecked Going-Ons of governments.

RIP Antonio Prohías: 17 January 1921 – 24 February 1998

Alfred E. Neuman

MAD's longtime mascot Alfred E. Neuman is, as mentioned earlier, one of the original pre-Internet memes, with cartoonists drawing him as nearly anything they want to make fun of. The gist of the character is that he's an idiot, with most covers depicting a famous celebrity as him. Surprisingly, MAD has been able to run this joke into the ground for over 60 years, with no one noticing that they're basically beating a dead horse.

What most people don't realize, however, is that Alfred is not even an original MAD creation. In fact, MAD was hit with a lolsuit in the 60s by a money-hungry widow who claimed her husband had copyrighted a picture of Alfred back in the late 1910s. MAD only won the lawsuit after showing that there were pictures of Alfred dating back to 1902. Later researchers have found pictures dating back to the 1890s, meaning in addition to being a proverbial "dead horse" - the original human that Alfred was based on passed away years ago.

Similar to "Deez Nuts 2016," MAD's mascot has been a joke candidate for nearly every USA presidential election since 1956. MAD has even profited off of these runs by selling campaign kits and pins.

File:Vote-alfred-e-neuman-president-what-me-worry-7417646.png
ANTIKAMNIA-TABLET CALENDAR, FROM 1908.
ATMORE’S PLUM PUDDING AD, CA. 1895.
AN AD FOR JAMES EVANS AUTO PARTS CA. 1930–45.

AN AD FOR JAMES EVANS AUTO PARTS CA. 1930–45.

Competition

The original MAD comic book was originally a runaway success, with at least ten different knockoff titles on the shelves in the early 50s. Due to their shit quality, none of them lasted more than a year!!

After MAD converted to a magazine format (to please the increasingly-needy creator Harvey Kurtzman) a new wave of MAD rip-offs or competitors sprang up, with only a few lasting more than two decades. The longest was the now-SJW hijacked brand of CRACKED magazine which managed to last more than 40 years, outliving even the original publisher of MAD. The competing magazines often used Alfred on their covers as well, once again cementing him as a meme.