LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) It’s not official but, according to the social media postings of various Mad Magazine writers and cartoonists, the longtime home of Alfred E. Neuman may be saying goodbye after more than a half-century of publication.
Much of the staff (traditionally known as “the usual gang of idiots”) took to the internet yesterday to lament the apparent closure of the magazine, alluding to an internal email informing them of the closure but details were scarce. Mad is now owned by DC which has been closing publications and reorganizing brands, as noted by Deadline Hollywood.
I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, MAD Magazine is ceasing publication. I can’t begin to describe the impact it had on me as a young kid – it’s pretty much the reason I turned out weird. Goodbye to one of the all-time greatest American institutions. #ThanksMAD pic.twitter.com/01Ya4htdSR
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) July 4, 2019
DC said that after Issue 10, there will be no new content, except for year-end specials, which will be all new, according to NBC News. Issue 8 went on sale June 12. Starting with issue 11, the magazine will feature best-of and other nostalgic content from its 67 years of publication, DC said. The magazine will still be sold in comic shops and mailed to subscribers.
Mad Magazine was launched as a comic in 1952 by editor Harvey Kurtzman and Publisher William Gaines and became a magazine in 1955. Its symbolic face, Alfred E. Neuman, came from an old billboard for a dentist, with a goofy-looking kid saying he had no worries about going to the doctor.
Over the years, it went from being a source of rebellion to the mainstream television show Mad TV, launching the careers of Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Frank Caliendo, Arti Lange, Wilmer Valderama, Will Sasso and others. Along the way, it was known for iconic cartoons like Spy vs. Spy and the distinct drawings of Don Martin.
MAD MAGAZINE is one of the biggest reasons why I became a cartoonist. It was a staple. A constant. It was funny. Brilliant. Stupid. And was almost exclusively loaded with great art.
It’s ending, and this is the end of an era.@MADmagazine pic.twitter.com/nxVtV7ittV— (((Judd Winick))) (@JuddWinick) July 4, 2019
I was an intern at MAD Magazine in 1994. I had no apt in NY so I kept my belongings in the archives & took a daypack & crashed on couches for 3 months.
In the writers room they had a drum kit to do rim shots on bad jokes. Great memories. I’ll miss it https://t.co/xGjrTeefXI— Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) July 4, 2019
MAD Magazine deserves credit for being home to SPY VS SPY, created by a Cuban refugee who didn’t speak English and was able to portray the pettiness of international espionage completely without dialogue. Antonio Prohias was a genius and is just as relevant today. pic.twitter.com/e4t7iWbA2r
— SPBurke (@S_P_Burke) July 4, 2019
