What? Me Worry?

By Teresa Ambord

Can you place that tag line?  If it’s been a few years since you picked up a MAD! Magazine, you might be surprised if you picked one up today.   The magazine that had always been black and white went to slick, color pages in 2001.  And to pay for it, they started accepting ads.  Before that, you may remember, the only MAD! ads were parodies.   Those are still there, but so are the real ads.

MAD! first hit the newsstands back in 1952.  It was the brainchild of author and editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines.  It’s satire of the American culture, including magazine and newspapers comic strips and popular movies, was aimed mostly at young people.  Gaines’ work had been heavily censored and MAD! was the only survivor of that time.

It began as a comic book, known as Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad, back in October ’52.  Then Kurtzman received a lucrative offer from a magazine to buy the oddball publication, but only if it converted to a magazine format.  This added a wider range of subject matter, broadened the distribution, and increased the base of adult readership.

Click the link below to see the first MAD! Magazine cover, published in June 1956.   Printed on front was this urgent message: “This new magazine is vital for you to read and inside you will find an extremely important message from the editors.”  The “extremely important” message that could be found inside the pages was, “Please buy this magazine!”    That was, after all, “extremely important” to the publishers of MAD!

MAD! both celebrated and poked fun at American staples such as Archie and Superman comic books, by presenting their own versions, “Starchie” and “Superduperman.”  It picked on the 1960s the hippie generation and the Vietnam War. And when it aimed plenty of attention at the drug culture, it gave equal time to those who indulged in alcohol and smoked cigarettes.   MAD! probably leans to the liberal side of issues, but has taken pains to be just as unkind to Democrats as to Republicans, making them equal opportunity abusers.

And who is the star of MAD!?  Of course, it’s that recognizable face, Alfred E. Neuman, that homely, curly-haired boy with a sly smile and a gap between his teeth, and always the question, “What?  Me worry?”  But the picture was not original.  It had been around for some time as a humorous image, but it was also ill used by the Nazi propaganda machine, which wanted us to believe that this was the face of a typical Jew.

MAD! collectors will tell you that to be one of them, you must be part of an elite group that realizes just how significant MAD! has been in the development of TV over the last 50 years. The rogue magazine has paved the way for, and even defined the style of humor known as satire.  If you’re thinking of starting a serious MAD! collection, you should know… items are somewhat hard to come by, and many of the ones you will find are pricey.

Here’s another Mad! collector’s site to browse:

or, take a look at this Mad! t-shirt from the late 1950s:

Browse through MAD! collectibles and shop by visiting this website:

  • Madmack click on “Collectibles”

Another rich source of MAD! collectibles is Ebay, and here are some items specially bookmarked by MAD! fans:

If you want to subscribe to MAD!:

Subscribe to MAD!
Call 1-800-4-MAD MAG
Or write to MAD P.O. Box 52345 Boulder, CO 80322-2345