Mad (magazine)
American humor magazine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mad (stylized as MAD) was an American humor magazine first published in 1952, and was last published as a regular monthly periodical magazine in 2018. The company continues to publish year-end collector editions, as well as reprinted material which may be published in other collector editions throughout the year.[2] It was founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines,[3] launched as a comic book series before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media, as well as the cultural landscape of the late 20th century, with editor Al Feldstein increasing readership to more than two million during its 1973–1974 circulation peak.[4]
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![]() Cover of the August 2017 issue | |
Editor, executive editor | Harvey Kurtzman (1952–1956) Al Feldstein (1956–1985) Nick Meglin (1984–2004) John Ficarra (1984–2018) Bill Morrison (2018–2019) |
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Categories | Satirical magazine |
Frequency | Bimonthly |
Circulation | 140,000 (as of 2017)[1] |
First issue | October/November, 1952; 72 years ago (1952) (original magazine) June 2018; 6 years ago (June 2018) (reboot) |
Final issue | April 2018; 6 years ago (April 2018) (original magazine) |
Company |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Website | madmagazine |
ISSN | 0024-9319 |
OCLC | 265037357 |
The magazine, which is the last surviving title from the EC Comics line, publishes satire on all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures. Its format includes TV and movie parodies, and satire articles about everyday occurrences that are changed to seem humorous. Mad's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, is usually on the cover, with his face replacing that of a celebrity or character who is being lampooned.
From 1952 to 2018, Mad published 550 regular magazine issues, as well as scores of reprint "Specials", original-material paperbacks, reprint compilation books and other print projects. After AT&T acquired Time Warner in June 2018, Mad ended newsstand distribution, continuing in comic-book stores and via subscription.