Mad Magazine. Who Loved It As A Kid? (Or An Adult)

I used to live for each new issue in the '60s and thru to the mid 70s! The cover art by Norman Mingo was great and the contents were a treasure trove of twisted reading all the way to the "fold-in" on the back inside cover.
It's a pity what's happened to it.
Who else loved it?

 

I did during the 60s. I "graduated" to the National Lampoon in the early 70s.

 

They did the best satire of TV programs and movies. Some of the stuff in the margins was pretty good as well. Spy vs Spy

 

I tried to revisit and like it but after Gaines retired I felt it lost a lot of its punch. Also, they seemed like they picked on everyone (good IMO) but it seemed too focused in its targets. To be fair, I haven't read it in some time.

Some of their best Gaines-era satires were masterful.

 

same here

 

I read both in the early '70s, but yeah Lampoon is a whole other thread.

 

The mid 60s to mid 70s are generally regarded as the "golden age" of Mad as far as circulation and probably content as well.
There were so many good artists and writers.
Don Martin was in a class by himself, imo.
Some of the recurring features were great as well.
Who remembers "Horrifying Cliches", with artist and writer Paul Coker?
Dave Berg, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, George Woodbridge, Bob Clarke, Sergio Aragones, all fantastic.

 

Yep. I read it as a kid (buying new issues circa '78-84) and collected all the back issues I could. Still enjoy reading the old issues. I check it out on the newsstands now from time to time, largely to see if there's anyone I remember still working for the mag, but it's terrible now - not only does it read like a propaganda rag for the far left of the Democratic party, it's just not funny at all.

 

Sadly completely true.

 

I saw a copy of Mad on the news stand a couple of weeks ago, and was shocked to see that the cover price is now $5.99. When I started buying this magazine in the early 60s the cover price was $0.25.

 

I loved Mad...still have some of the old paperbacks...'Bedside Mad' was one of my favorites.

 

I went on a collecting binge a few years ago and ended up getting every issue from '57 to '75.
Before I was online I used to travel far to hunt down back issues. When I was driving through New Jersey on my way to a comic store near the shore, I passed a 25 foot roadside statue of Alfred E Neuman along a stretch of piney highway. Weird.

 

You know with political satire, a key element is to make fun of both sides, of politics in general. And, it's not just MAD who get this wrong. The great masters of satire seemed to be noticing the flaws of all who lead, regardless of leanings. In MAD's early days they really seemed to get this.

 

CHEAP

 

Was a regular reader in the early '70s, then it became boring.

 

...loved the Mag and the TV show!

 

It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide!

 

poiuyt

 

Yeah, I honestly couldn't find anything funny in a recent issue.
I'd love to see someone who cares buy this magazine and try to return it to it's former glory.
Good writers, good artists asnd impartial humor that's actually funny.
The real advertisements really bite as well.

 

My collection is still packed away in boxes somewhere.... I loved MAD as a kid and couldn't bring myself to part with my collection even after I stopped buying them.

 

That was my path as well.

I loved the Mad books too.

 

I wandered lonely as a clod,
Just picking up old rags and bottles,
When onward on my way I plod,
I saw a host of axolotls;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
A sight to make a man's blood freeze.

Some had handles, some were plain;
They came in blue, red pink, and green.
A few were orange in the main;
The damndest sight I've ever seen.
The females gave a sprightly glance;
The male ones all wore knee-length pants.

Now oft, when on the couch I lie,
The doctor asks me what I see.
They flash upon my inward eye
And make me laugh in fiendish glee.
I find my solace then in bottles,
And I forget them axolotls.

 

i read it in the 70s, also..... best things to come out of that were Sergio Aragones, who went on to draw another of my favorites, Groo the Wanderer.... and Don Martin.... i had a copy of Don Martin Digs Deeper and i would bellylaugh myself to sleep every night reading that for a while... pure delight

 

The COMPLETELY MAD dvd rom is a great way to waste time!
Who here had the "Gall In The Family Fare" flexi-disc?