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.

Spy Vs. Spy comics - A comic featuring two (sometimes three) spies with pointy noses battling each other. This feature started during the peak of the Cold War and has run in the magazine ever since, even though the Cold War ended FUCKING DECADES AGO. Was adapted into cartoons for both of the MAD tv shows. Not even written or drawn by the creator of the strip as he passed away years ago, rip.
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Drawn-Out Dramas/Marginals - one of the longest running MAD features that hasn't been replaced by new writers or artists, these are extremely tiny drawings that appear in-between the margins of the articles.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 changes 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!!

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 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.

Competition

The original MAD comic book was originally a runaway success, with at least 10 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 2 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.