The day I went Mad

[Slim]

When I was about eight or nine my innocent little world was stealthily invaded by something so incredibly immoral that I felt for that my parents would banish me to Leavenworth if they caught me at it (as if I knew what Leavenworth was at eight years old).  The source of my early corruption came in the form of a periodical I discovered in my older brother's closet.  It was so very adult.  It was called "Mad Magazine".

I knew that this publication understood the world in a way that I did not.  It talked about things that I heard about on the news which I ignored for the first couple of years.  I'd go straight for the movie parodies, the funny comics and the fold-up on the back page.

It was clearly an intellectual publication because I didn't understand much of it, but I got a sense that if someone as dorky looking as Alfred E. Newman could comprehend the weird and wicked ways of culture and politics that there was help for me yet.

It made me feel mature.

What did Mad Magazine do for you?




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_%28magazine%29

[Baia]

I was about the same age when I discovered this periodical which belonged to my father. It was sometime between 1952 and 1955.

I was the eldest of three daughters and a compulsive over reader.

I didn't have any brothers, but I did have a boy cousin a year older who had a great collection of comic books that we used to sit up to read while our parents played cards.  When I was in the third grade we moved away and I didn't get to see him so much any more.

I think Mad Magazine gave me a connection to boy humor that I was missing.  Later I would purchase my own copies.  When I was in junior high, I lent a couple of copies to my science teacher.

Now I share with my grandson who has just turned 10.  He has been watching Mad TV for the last year. We have plenty of years to grow on together.  I doubt boy humor has changed much in the last 60 years.

[Slim]

I know that there is MadTV, but do they still publish the magazine?

[Baia]

Yup:

http://www.dccomics.com/mad/

[Slim]

Thanks.  I hadn't looked for it in a while.

[funesthememorious]

Fond memories of the magazine. I'm quite sure I convinced my parents to get me a subscription to it even though they thought it was just another comic book to add to my collection scattered all over the house. 

The magazine did serve another glorious purpose for me. The barber shop I went to had issues of Playboy Magazine, however the barber would tell us kids that we were forbidden to look at them. Instead he had a stack of sporting and Life magazines for us. So, I would bring a bring a copy of Mad Magazine to the barber shop and use it as camouflage - secretly placing a Playboy inside it. 

My parents were so proud of me never complaining when they told me I should go get a haircut.

[Slim]

You think you were getting away with something, don't you?  Everyone knew what you were up to.  I see little boys doing that all the time.

[Stir Young]

It helped get me through my "Beavis and Butt-head" phase.  No, that's not true, I'm still in THAT phase.

I recall feeling like I was pulling one over on adults when I bought a copy of Mad Magazine.  There was cleavage (well, OK, cartoon cleavage), there were double entendres,  there were parodies.  It was great, and the parental units paid no attention whatsoever to the mag.

It seems like it was a junior high school fixation....I don't recall paying much attention to it by the time I got to high school.

I recall too, that there were imitators, but they weren't as funny.  I think one was called "Crack'd"  Mad Magazine did it, and did it well.

Is Mad Magazine still published?  Oh, maybe I should open Slim's link and that will tell me.

[Slim]

It was old hat by high school.  I read the link but it was kind of vague.  It never said an end date, so I figured it must still be going on.

[Jaylee53]

Loved Mad....esp Spy vs Spy!

[Slim]

I remember that!!  I loved Spy vs. Spy although I had forgotten it until now.

For some reason I remember this guy

CAPTAIN KLUTZ.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

I loved MAD. I remember reading the second issue. Wish I had had sense enough to save it.

I remember they had a story about the entire world being run by central computer (altho they didn't call it a computer) Everyone rode around on little carts like the old people do now. Only they got their power from the main power source. Human had not had to walk in so long that they no longer grew functional legs. You got it, the power source went down and everybody died. I think that was about 1948.

[funesthememorious]

Saw this on the Mad Comics blog: