What is this 'Mad magazine'? It is an American icon. It is a humour periodical that parodies everything from politics to the entertainment world and fashion trends. Gracing nearly every cover with his gap-toothed face is the mascot of the magazine, Alfred E Neuman, also known as the what me, worry? kid. Alfred has been depicted as Darth Vader, several presidents and a baby, as well as numerous celebrities: Prince Charles once sent Mad Magazine a letter saying that he did not look one bit like Alfred E Neuman. The magazine is separated into departments such as 'The Letters and Tomatoes Department', where readers berate and compliment the magazine, and the editor mocks and thanks the readers in turn. Further into Mad one comes across the 'Joke and Dagger Department' featuring Spy Vs Spy, as well as the 'Berg's Eye View Department' with ‘The Lighter Side Of...’ by Dave Berg; inside the back cover is a special section that asks a serious question and answers it when the comic is folded in half. Mad magazine has had all this, and, until recently, no advertisements - well, except for the satirical ones, anyway.

Although the 'usual gang of idiots' who produce this 'rag' say it's best used to wrap fish or line the bottom of birdcages, Mad Magazine has been enjoyed by kids and college students, and hated by some adults and teachers, for over 50 years. Mad has had its share of imitators over the years including Playboy Magazine's own Hugh Hefner, who published a short-lived magazine called Trump. Others to cash in on the humour business are magazines such as Crazy, Cracked, and Mad's own Panic.

The first issue of Mad hit the newsstands in the summer of 1952 as a ten-cent comic book published by Entertaining Comics and edited by Harvey Kurtzman. EC was publishing other titles, under the direction of owner William M Gaines, as well. Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, Crime SuspenseStories, and Shock SuspenseStories, to name a few, were the bread and butter of EC in its infancy.

The End of Comics?

By 1954, at the peak of McCarthyism, horror comics were in deep trouble, author and psychiatrist Fredric Wertham had published seven years of study on the effects of comics on children in a book titled Seduction of the Innocent. The book targeted comics in general but most pointedly Gaines's popular line of horror and crime comics. EC's comics were believed to be the worst offenders - communities and church groups were sponsoring comic book burnings as a result.

Wertham's publicised campaign against comics came to a head on 21 April, 1954; Senate Judiciary Hearings were underway to determine if a link existed between comic books and juvenile delinquency (it was never proven). Gaines defended the kind of comics he published. Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo, was present as well as Milton Caniff, creator of Steve Canyon. Gaines was questioned thoroughly about his comics and what was thought to be in good taste. Gaines quickly became the star of the inquiry and was frowned upon by newspaper and television. Things got worse for Gaines and he rented a hall and invited all the major comic book publishers to a meeting. The other publishers agreed that serious action was needed and it was suggested that they form a self-censoring board and ban the words crime, horror, terror, and weird. This pretty much put Gaines out of business.

In September, Gaines announced the suspension of his horror and crime comics. Two days later the Comics Code Authority (CCA) was officially established. Newspaper and magazine Distributors agreed to only sell comics bearing a seal of approval from the Comics Code Authority. Gaines had only one title left, Mad, and his editor was close to leaving EC to work at a 'slick' magazine called Pageant, Kurtzman didn't see much in the future for EC and also wanted a pay rise. In an effort to keep Kurtzman in the fold, Gaines offered to let him turn the Mad comic book into a Mad magazine. As a magazine, Mad would not have to surrender to the CCA and Gaines didn't think the Mad comic book could stand against the code.

EC Starts Over

In the summer of 1955 Mad appeared on the newsstands as a 25 cent magazine, or a 'slick,' as it was called back then. Two things occurred that had never happened before - a comic turned into a magazine and the issue sold out so a second printing was published. In 1956 Alfred E Neuman appeared for the first time on the cover of Mad Magazine and was running for the office of the President of the United States. Gaines would have to appear in Supreme Court to acquire the rights to Alfred's likeness - which had been around since the early 1800s - and there was a question of copyrights. Gaines protected his magazine before a court judge on a number of occasions.

In 1961 Mad was sold to Premier Industries for several million dollars. The ownership of Mad Magazine has changed hands a number of times although Gaines always retained full authority on how the magazine was run. In 1965 Mad was made into an off-Broadway play called The Mad Show, and it ran for a few years. Mad is on television as Mad TV and Mad has had its office building in New York blown up in a cartoon called The Simpsons. EC's Tales from the Crypt was made into a television series of the same name. Mad magazine has changed only a little over the years despite the fact that different editors, artists and writers have left and some have passed away. The company currently known as AOL Time Warner, the biggest media conglomerate in the United States, has owned Mad magazine since 1989.

Mad is a great success and has expanded into more magazine titles like More Trash from Mad, Mad Follies, Mad Super Special, and The Worst of Mad. These titles are reprints of previously-published material for the most part, although they came with bonus material such as stencils, stickers, posters and music records. Mad also has hundreds of paperback books in print. Mad's founder, William M Gaines, passed away in 1992.

The most recent additions to the Mad empire are Mad Color Special and Mad XL - they added colour to some of the pages of their flagship magazine and have advertisements now. Mad magazine sells so well that it is published worldwide and translated into Danish, Norwegian, Brazilian, Chinese, Italian, and German, to name a few languages. So pick one up, they're cheap!