MAD Magazine #502

MAD Magazine launched in 1952, founded by legendary EC Comics Publisher William Gaines and Editor Harvey Kurtzman, and has satirized, parodied and just made fun of American life, culture and public figures ever since. Many comedians and writers––from Joyce Carol Oates to Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam and thousands in between––cite it as a seminal influence in their earlier years. While it was the home to legendary comedians and cartoonists such as Kurtzman, Mort Drucker, Don Martin, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, and John Sevrin in its early years, it has seen a new generation embrace its pages in recent years and has featured work from Peter Kuper, Hermann Mejia, Drew Friedman and Ted Rall. Today’s economy is tough enough to even make MAD Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman worry, apparently. The venerable humor magazine announced last January that starting with issue #500 in April, its publication will be quarterly instead of the usual monthly. Handling the news with style typical of MAD, Editor John Ficarra said, “The feedback we’ve gotten from readers is that only every third issue of MAD is funny, so we’ve decided to just publish those. Remember, MAD started out as eight times a year, before going to 12 and now four. Just as Nostradamus had predicted." Issues of the magazine will now consist of 56 pages, expanded from the previous 48.

Written and illustrated by The Usual Gang of Idiots Thanksgiving is just around the corner - but it's never too soon to be grateful for a new issue of MAD! --

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