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posted by martyb on Friday July 05 2019, @02:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the time-to-worry? dept.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/mad-magazine-stop-publishing-issues-content-fall/story?id=64126360

The publication was founded in 1952 by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, but it was Al Feldstein, who took over for Kurtzman and led the magazine for almost 30 years, who brought the outlet to national -- and international -- prominence, especially in the 1970s.

It peaked at 2.8 million subscribers in 1973, but had just 140,000 left as of 2017.

As news of the magazine's closure trickled across the internet, several contributors eulogized the publication. David DeGrand, a writer and artist who contributed to the magazine, was one of the first to confirm on Twitter the magazine was ending as rumors began to grow.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Kell on Friday July 05 2019, @12:03PM (2 children)

    by Kell (292) on Friday July 05 2019, @12:03PM (#863451)

    I read MAD back when I was an impressionable 13-something year old. I grew up in an ultra-strict religious family, and MAD somehow made it under the radar as "just a funny comic", nevermind the often risque artwork and concepts. It was my first unfiltered glimpse into the wider world outside of church and family orthodoxy. And to say it was informative would be a gross understatement. I owe MAD a debt of gratitude for helping to pry open the closed box of Authorised Thinking and allowing some new ideas inside... and also helping to direct my latent sexuality somewhat. It was huge for me.

    Now days, kids from strict backgrounds have myriad openings in the leaky sieve of the internet, but this was the late 80s and so it was definitely a thing of its time. I'll long-hold a candle for my old issues still in a box somewhere, well-thumbed on all the pages with near-softcore porn art. RIP

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 05 2019, @02:50PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 05 2019, @02:50PM (#863492)

    A good friend from a very strict religious family (he was a teenager in the 1950s) said that the breakthrough for him was reading this Mark Twain collection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_the_Earth [wikipedia.org]
    I got the impression that Mad Magazine was not allowed by his parents.

    • (Score: 2) by Kell on Saturday July 06 2019, @02:42PM

      by Kell (292) on Saturday July 06 2019, @02:42PM (#863820)

      Even though I grew up in it, I'll never understand how orthodox parents seriously believe that they can insulate their children from reality. Eventually something makes it through the firewall. And even if they 100% succeed, as soon as the kid is grown up and on their own it's all for naught, and the adult will resent the emotional crippling done to them.

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      Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.