THE EARLY YEARS OF MAD

[@steeleslicer1217]

Some time in 1965 or 66, my best friend and I (11 or 12 yo) had a day off from school. His dad worked in NYC, so went in with him. We were both huge fans of MAD, so while his dad was working, we walked down to MADison Ave. and found the office (the address was printed right in the magazine!) It was supposed to be a day off for them too, but a couple came in to work, so we walked right in. It was as crazy as you could imagine, I always remember King Kong looking in through one of the windows, and a big tub of water with a faucet hanging above it by only a piece of string, continuously running water into the tub. We walked down a long hallway, where every cover to date was framed and hung on the walls. We saw someone at a drawing board, walked in and said hi, and he says, "Hi, I'm Don Martin." He walked us around for a few minutes, then said he had to get back to work. A day I will never forget.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your Mad memory. And particularly your encounter with the great man himself. I used to imagine he looked like one of his characters, complete with folding feet. I dare say that wasn't actually the case.

[@BradfordtheEclectic]

Don was one of my favorites. The one where a hapless husband is accused of sleepwalking through the closet again is a memorable standout.

[@everett.968]

y'all are OLD

[@sugarjoe50]

That's a great story! I've been by the building but wouldn't have thought to visit the usual gang of idiots.

[@Seeklip196T]

What a time to be alive in a different America! Then------and now. I was born in 1960---3 yrs before the Kennedy assassination. The 60s and 70s were carefree growing up. Truly a blast.

[@tvgator1]

What's crazy, is that even though I was basically a kid, I remember virtually EVERY single artist mentioned here, AND their styles as well. Some of these insanely talented individuals are some of the greatest illustrators EVER. I haven't picked up a MAD mag in decades but almost every artist here I distinctly remember.

[@petebeard]

Hello and tanks for your comment. All my issues - mostly 70s - eventually fell to bits, but I still have my collection of digest paperbacks such as Son of Mad. And they remain among my most treasured possessions.

[@earthlingjohn]

@@petebeard MAD respect to you for continuing to reply

[@ey67]

Last print issue was in 2016 as I recall. The trumpster dumpster made it redundant.

[@spidyr2k]

same

[@danwallach8826]

I concur. Gad, how I miss the days of my subversion, thanks to MAD!

[@clindsay8362]

Fond memories, nicely remembered, these artists gave me an art-enriched childhood. I'd love to see a Mad museum.

[@petebeard]

Hello again and thanks for watching. Being an American magazine maybe there will be a museum. Seems to me it's Britain and to a lesser extent the rest of Europe who are cavalier about the visual treasures that were created by their sons and daughters.

[@robertafierro5592]

A MUSEUM! Yes!!

[@bruce-le-smith]

At the very least a well-funded and managed archive and a traveling exhibition! It appears The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine has a digitized "Mad Magazine Collection" added via the "Hybrid Philosophy Collection". Their "Magazine Rack" has a collection for Cracked as well. I also took a quick peek at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and chuckled to see that the first issue of Mad Magazine was part of a records series from a U.S. Senate Committee.

[@henrybrowne7248]

@@petebeard Really? Europe still looks down on the USA--in some respects?

[@sheep1ewe]

@@petebeard "Svenska MAD" was pretty big in Sweden when i was i kid i can tell, i used to read them when i visited an older friend, ha ha!

[@gregorylapointe4157]

Mad magazine helped get me through my childhood and teen years, I remember all of the artists mentioned even though I haven't seen an issue in decades.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

I know many who can say MAD helped them get thru their college years as well

[@danthaman03]

I can appreciate what your saying. Reading comics in general got me through some good and bad times

[@pyoung168]

Ah yes. MAD was one of my favorite magazines from mid-60s until mid-70s. Thanks for the memories!

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your appreciative comment.

[@neub4321]

Unique, laugh inducing nostalgia here. Well edited and narrated. Great work😆 and professionally produced. I haven't seen these artists' work in decades.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment. Very much appreciated.

[@markgrudzinski914]

I'm too young to have experienced Mad's golden years of the 50s and 60s, but my mom would always come home from rummage sales with the paperback reprints whenever she'd come across them. I would constantly leaf through them, marveling at the art. So much so that they all basically disintegrated from overuse. I don't think there's ever been a more awe inspiring collection of artistic and comedic talent. Mad is part of the reason why I chose a career as a designer and illustrator.

[@petebeard]

Hello again and thanks again. Those Mad paperbacks (and the magzines themselves) were a major formative influence on me when I decided I had to be an illustrator. Sadly not much of their talent rubbed off.

[@dmark1922]

I never met a girl in school who read Mad... Your mother must be a remarkable lady!

[@winstonelston5743]

School had its place, I suppose, but I learned how the world really works from _MAD_

[@ajellyfish420]

Very nicely said! 🤓👏

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@dmark1922 I do not recall him saying his mother read the stuff... but mine did... I bought my first one at the age of 8 in march of 1964... it showed Alfred busting thru a trampoline upside down... issue 87 I think it was... I bought it for 25 cents... mom and I used to walk to the market back then.. she was glancing at it while we were walking home... and when we got home she finished going thru it... she thought it was great... she was a smoker... and they had a parody regarding cigarettes in this issue... she thought it was the greatest most funniest thing she'd ever read... and I felt kind of proud.. picking up a magazine at 8 years old that an adult was impressed with... a win/win situation..

[@bobw222]

I literally grew up with MAD. "Twas Brillo and the GE Stove did Proctor Gamble through the Glade..." At 70 one of my most treasured books is "MAD for Decades." Thanks for the video...

[@petebeard]

Hello and it seems there are a collosal number of Mad devotees on both sides of the ocean. I still read my paperback copies in my 70s too.

[@n3bie]

Mad was so subversive! One of the best rags ever published, no doubt. Thank you Mr. Beard!

[@petebeard]

I don't think we'll see it's like again unfortunately. I still flick through my paperback editions most days - hoping the talent will rub off.

[@jamesslick4790]

It was "subversive" (in a good way). I am politically conservative, no matter "Mad" shoved everyone's nose into the BS on any "side". I wish we had more of that NOW. I love "The Babylon Bee", (Conservative FAKE "news") But, I would also dig a liberal version. "Mad" always had you on either side of the aisle.

[@jimgordon6629]

The Babylon Bee is indeed the closest thing to the old Mad, which was the first magazine I ever subscribed to. These days it’s awfully hard to imagine a left wing version, as the farther left you move, the less sense of humor you exhibit.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@jimgordon6629 True .modern liberals are so full of themselves that they cannot be funny.

[@lp-xl9ld]

I first learned of the existence of MAD in abut 1970 and I read it semi-regularly through the rest of the decade. I owe Frank Jacobs a great debt: I started doing song parodies based on his work back then (and I still do them now). I loved the artwork of Al Jaffee, Don Martin, Dave Berg, and Mort Drucker. As you said, perhaps gone, NEVER forgotten.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment.Mad impacted a lot of lives on both sides of the ocean.

[@ogami1972]

This is really cool. My "MAD" era was the mid-70's until the mid-eighties when I sadly "grew up". Such great memories, not only of the magazines, but of those quiet toilet moments shared with the signet books. MAD was fundamental to my upbringing. It's sad, to me, that kids today won't have warm memories like that, opting for cold meme-ories.

[@petebeard]

Hello and it's sad but true that all good things must come to an end. It was great while it lasted though.

[@rosemarygilman8718]

Thank you so much for this retrospective of the creative people who were instrumental in the making of MAD magazine. From 1965, when I was 8 years old, through 1970 I had a subscription to MAD. I was a huge fan and looked forward to each new issue. I thought the magazine was brilliant then and I still feel that way now. You did a superb job of presenting the history of the magazine and briefly acknowledging the contributions made by each player. I learned so much! It’s wonderful to find someone else who appreciates the talent that went into the making of MAD.

[@petebeard]

Hello and I'm very grateful for your positive reponse to this video. It's a subject particularly close to my own heart, and I was very influenced by these illustrators in my own career. Sadly not enough of the influence dubbed off...

[@LeMortso]

I grew up with Mad Magazine... it's a treasured memory and finding one now in a Thrift shop is a day to celebrate! Thank You!

[@petebeard]

Hello and thank you for the appreciation.

[@rodmandealerman3297]

Mr. Beard, I don't have the words to properly thank you for a spectacular behind-the-scenes video! I remember seeing my first copy of Mad at a drugstore (complete with a burger and ice cream counter) where my grandmother worked. Priceless memories that I will cherish forever... Many, many thanks....

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your appreciation of the channel. I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of similar comments and it seems there are countless numbers of us for whom Mad was a significant factor in our lives.

[@ADAPTATION7]

The amount of detail in some of these illustrations is staggering.

[@emptyentertainments7914]

All the artists I grew up with and learned from. I remember learning to draw Don Martin figures when I was 11 or 12 and would fill my school notebooks with badly drawn copies of characters. Now when I'm browsing in a used bookshop I always check to see if there maybe one of the reprint collections of Don Martin or Spy vs Spy or another of the great Mad artists. Well done and thank you, your series continues to inspire

[@petebeard]

Hi Michael and thanks for your input. I tend to avoid the word 'unique' but if ever it was needed it's to describe Don Martin's style. Even now it's rare for a day to go by without me finding a reason to browse my collection of paperback compilations.

[@edthesecond9772]

I wish there was more info on Don Martin as a person, so little is known. I think only one photo of him exists!

[@henrybrowne7248]

I was an early artist too. Amazed by Mad's work, also the satire.

[@shoknifeman2mikado135]

I never could copy his style, despite years of trying...the ratio of chin to face, got me every time

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@petebeard I imagine you have all of Don Martin's Captain Klutz paperbacks... there were quite a few back in the 70's...

[@henrybrowne7248]

Oh how this brings back memories. I stared intently at each at each view you presented and tried to dig out a matching memory. Yes, some of them were during my Mad period. I remember how eagerly I dove into the latest issue--the artwork enriching my eyes, the satire and humor enlightening my mind. It really made me better. I recognize the names Drucker, Jaffe, Martin, Prohias, Berg, and many others. I wonder where did they come up with all that stuff? Watching your video, I realized how stimulating a good comic book--the stuff I grew up on--could be, far more stimulating than the junk--most CGI movies, entertainment, infotainment, imitation music[I call], whatever--all around us today . . Funny how I never quite got why they were so obsessed with Alfred E. Neuman, it was good to find out some of his background. They adopted him in 1954! The year I was born . .

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your comment. On both sides of the Atlantic Mad had a profound influence on teenagers in particular for quite a few generations. And those teenegaers (especially me) have grown old. But I still read my collection of paperback editions and still find more to enjoy and admire. And regarding your reply to my reply to Catherine I'm not sure how but you seem to have misconstrued what I said. In essence it was that Britain and Europe are nothing like as committed to preserving the memory of their illustrators as in the USA.

[@alfrede.newman6626]

.. and I still miss you brother.. if it wasn't for that little mixup in the maternity ward, we would have been closer...

[@henrybrowne7248]

@@alfrede.newman6626 🤣

[@peter0yabut]

Thank you for tating the time & effort to get this 'lil gem out, and share those previously unknown bits of history 'bout how Mad came about and who were responsable for putting it all together 🤗

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your appreciation of the video.

[@bigorange000]

A lot of my allowance money went to this magazine as a kid. I could look at a comic and can tell exactly which artist did it. Thanks for the memories.

[@alerey4363]

You really nailed at showcasing the original and great talent M.A.D. magazine acquired througout its life.I became hooked while playing Spy vs Spy on the venerable C64 back in 1984 and curiosity made me dig the magazine.Thumbs up!

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your positive response to the video. I had no idea Spy vs Spy had been a game. What a great idea.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@ale rey.... magazine?... heck I still got all my C-64's and Amigas and Games all in storage.. I was a computer geek for about 8 years from '86 to '94.. 'til the Amiga well about ran dry...

[@Ellesmere888]

Thank you Mr. Beard. Another great video. Like many here I have a lot of memories of MAD in my teen years.

[@petebeard]

And thanks again for watching - and appreciating. All these artists made a serious impression on me that lasts to now. Pity it's no more.

[@alexdelara9858]

Amazes since childhood how some people, really artists, have such talend to draw instantly recognizable caricactures. MAD was an inspiration and source of joy.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for the comment. I can't think of anybody who captured likenesses better than Mort Drucker.

[@KiCreativeStudioJP]

Thank you for taking the time to make this. Great overview of some of MAD's best.

[@alanbudgen2672]

Thank you for furnishing the details of those great artists. What a truly remarkable and important series.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot. Your appreciation and subscription are very welcome.

[@yardarm5]

Great memories and a wonderful biography of the artists. A true time capsule for those who remember Mad fondly ❤🎉

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your appreciative comment.

[@billbye2427]

How sweet it was! Missed by all old timers of the series; cartooning at its best and greatest!

[@petebeard]

Hello and I couldn't agree more.

[@karaamundson3964]

I was so happy to see this on my feed, thank you, Mr. Beard! When I was a child in the mid-'70s, I'd *BEG* my folks for a Mad magazine every time we went into a gas station store. O, how I loved those things, especially Don Martin, 'Spy vs. Spy,' & the parodies with "sung to the tune of" (I particularly recall one asking for 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'). I got several Don Martin books, including (but not limited to! ) his take on Swan Lake. If I could go out and buy a copy each month, I would.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@Kara Amundson I can sure tell the difference in the times... when I was a kid growing up in the 60's... gas stations only sold car parts... no hot dogs magazines.. fountain drinks... or cigarettes...boooze... nada... in the 60's though...when you pulled up with your car 3 mechanics would come out clean your windshields.. fill your oil water check your tires... and collect your cash... self serve pumps were just kind of starting in the mid 60's...people had a choice .. they could pump gas themselves or have the mechanic do it for them at another station... BUT definitely no MADs...

[@OkieSketcher1949]

Mad had some of the best cartoons, political comments, movie reviews, etc of any magazine I ever read. I might not have seen the movie, or cared for the politician, but I loved what they presented. I also loved the art work. Many of those artists were true genius at work. To take reality and draw it as satire is not all that easy yet they did it month after month. My kids ask me what was it and it is really hard to explain at times. You just have to show them.

[@petebeard]

Hi again, and I spent most of my younger years trying to emulate the work of Jack Davis in particular. Unfortunately not enough of his influence rubbed off on me.

[@henrybrowne7248]

How do your kids react to stuff like that?

[@OkieSketcher1949]

@@henrybrowne7248 - Back then they just thought it was ‘crazy stuff’ but cool characters. They were not old enough to understand the satire.

[@richdouglas2311]

It was amazing how many Mad illustrators stayed for how many years.

[@JollyGraham]

Great magazine. I remember laughing uncontrollably in public places. Pity they don’t reissue it on the internet.

[@MyRainbowangel]

So many memories, it was my brother's magazine but I couldn't wait until he had read it and I got my hands on it with the warning, if mum catches you I didn't give it you ha! I didn't get all the jokes for sure but the mixture of artwork was fabulous.

[@petebeard]

Hello again and it seems there are a vast number of people of some maturity who grew up with Mad magazine. It was a teenage obsession of mine and I still own quite a few of the small format books they issued in the sixties. They are falling apart a bit by now, just like me, but they still raise a laugh.

[@aikidoshi007]

Thanks muchly Pete! When we left Halifax in 1968 I was 14 and the only thing I brought to Oz was a huge collection of Mad magazines, of which I had studied every panel. I stupidly lent them to another kid in the hostel where we were dumped in Adelaide. The kid came round crying the next day to say his dad had burned them all! He had either some prejudices or no tolerance for satire I guess. Life changed so quickly after that so I hadn't thought about it much until I saw this. What a trip!

[@petebeard]

Hello and aaargh! the burning of books is bad enough, but copies of Mad??? All my mags fell to bits in the end (just like their owner) but I've still got my collection of small paperback compilations. And I still look at them regularly if I need a laugh.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Thanks for this retrospective look at Mad. It was a satisfying look back on the amazing artists and creative talent that made Mad Magazine a breed a part.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your appreciation.

[@TomBarradas]

If you're in the field of any kind of communications, visual or otherwise, Mad Magazine and it's history are an essential study. Very enjoyable vid Pete. Thank you!

[@nvpd]

MAD’s Cradle To Grave Primer is one of the best books ever written! Grew up reading a lot of MAD and it has certainly shaped a lot in the way that I perceive the world today. Still have 64 odd digests (always asking for more at old bookshops) stored away safely to read again and again.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your comment. I'm jealous of your impressive collection.

[@jeffrykopis5468]

Very well done. Thank you. I remember all those artists from my youth. I especially liked Bill Elder and Don Martin.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your comment. They are still among my favourite ever comic illustrators, after more than half a century.

[@errolfellows409]

And yet another grand one! I read my first MAD Magazine in September, 1958! (Good memories, AND family "historians!") I was 11 years old, and I became addicted to MAD up to the late 70s.

[@petebeard]

Hello again and thanks for the recent comments. Mad had an immense impact on me as I grew up but sadly not enough of their talent rubbed off despite my obsession - especially Jack davis.

[@ivonav3751]

I remember most of these artists as well! I so wanted to be Mort Drucker. Since I was pretty good at drawing portraits, I tried really hard to figure out how to distill them into caricatures, but, though for a while I did get fairly good at capturing features with limited lines, I never could learn how to exaggerate and make them amusing. I was totally in awe of his, and many of the other MAD artists' abilities!

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thabks for your comment. I also wanted desperately to be Mort Drucker (or Jack Davis). I failed miserably at both and had to recognise that some of us have to make the most of whatever talent we were given.

[@cmans79tr7]

Remember back then there were advertisements on matchbook covers for 'auditions' to be accepted into art schools (if you were good enough, ha ha) and you had to submit your drawing of the image on the matchbook (either a lumberjack, or a dog or horse or whatever)... In one issue of the magazine the editor of Mad had his artists submit their renditions, I think it was a donkey, and I (as a kid) was floored at their creativity. As a kid, I assumed that the 'goal' was to mimic the image _exactly_ , but the Mad magazine artists "knocked the assignment out of the park".... I remember one of the artists drew the "donkey head" as an assemblage of flat pieces of thin strips of wood loosely and carelessly nailed into the rough shape of a donkeys head... That edition opened my mind up.....

[@socratesagain7822]

Thanks! I almost shed a tear for my lost childhood, those hours of wonderful, but-gusting laughter spent reading this subversive magazine. The animation, the punchlines, the targets! No topic of any influence on our culture escaped Mad's wizards of parody and satire. And I would not have it any other way. In the mid--to-late 50's my older brother brought home the magazines and the paperbacks. A riot for an impressive middle-schooler raised in drab, Eisenhower America, saturated in Madison Avenue products who needed the exposure to an alternative. And Mad delivered. Thanks to the entire team at Mad for helping me _understand_ America, even you, Alfred. Shoot, "me worry?" Be well.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your reflections on the importance of Mad in the lives of many of us on both sides of the Arlantic. I'm about to be 72 (how did that happen?) and I still read my old paperback editions. The mags fell apart.

[@debrahutson3966]

I just discovered your channel and it has quickly become a favorite! I've been looking into and getting inspiration from illustrators of the past recently and discovered your channel while searching for more info on Nell Brinkley. I would like to thank you for not only scratching my itch for more info on her but also introducing me to many other illustrators I had not yet heard of. Keep up the good work, I greatly look forward to your next video!

[@petebeard]

Thanks a lot. It's always nice to get encouragement from viewers. I'm fairly dumb when it comes to youtube but I think if you subscribe they notify you when a new video is uploaded. It tends to be very three weeks or so.

[@debrahutson3966]

@@petebeard If a person subscribes you'll show up in their subscription feed, people get notifications if they click the bell icon which I immediately did after subscribing :)

[@petebeard]

Thanks for that.

[@stevegrooms1142]

In the Fifties the drive for conformity was unchecked, not that I would have dared speak against it. I was a smarmy little apple-polisher who always sought approval from authority. So tight were my personal fences that I loved Dell comics and thought Marx comics were written for less respectable kids than I meant to be. Imagine the impact of Mad on such a rule-loving kid. I was shocked but intrigued by the first copies I saw, especially by the work of Don Martin, and thus did Mad sew seeds that much later erupted in social criticism and independent thinking.

[@petebeard]

Hello and that's an interesting personal response to the video. I didn't get sight of Mad until the early 60s so it chimed perfectly with my rebel without a clue leanings, love of beatgroups and blues and it was a powerful influence on my own feeble attempts at cartoon illustration. I still treaure the paperback volumes I picked up at the time.

[@donovanhaas7315]

The wonderful picture you've painted of yourself here stands comfortably with the work of these great artists, or, in the frames of my mind it does.

[@lelanddthompsonlll8560]

While counting up on the trolleys at northeastern headed towards State College. I was obliviously wasting time holding on to the little thing overhead that you hang on to so you don't fall down when there's too many people on the train which was almost all the time.

[@karaamundson3964]

Don Martin--! An icon of social chaos. Love him, had all his books at 11!

[@user-pq6mr6op3p]

You was a snotty knob polisher.

[@healthcareforallfiftyseven3773]

I ripped off MAD for school assignments, out right plagiarism. It inspired me to pursue art and writing and though I never amounted to anything I cherish it.

[@dianeo]

Thank you for doing this. What an impact these artists and writers had on me! I couldn't wait for my brother to finish reading his copy of MAD so I could devour it and read it over and over again.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment. Sadly my collection of magazines from the 60s and 70s fell apart but I still have my paperback collections and rarely does a day go by without me having another look.

[@miketrissel5494]

Will never forget the 1967, "Scenes we'd like to see." Had to guys sitting on 2 barstools each, one cheek on each, and the caption said, "Pillsbury says it best!". I was paralyzed from the neck down, and my grandmother brought it in and turned it page by page for me. I laughed so hard, that the muscles contracted in my stomach, and I raised my head up an inch off the bed. Wish I still had a copy ... Feb or March if I remember right

[@KennyGsca]

I wish I never got rid of all my old Mad Magazines. I have the Happiest memories reading them, finding them in Thrift shops on school holidays was such a score. I miss that excitement

[@petebeard]

Hello and my sympathies. My collection of mags from the late 60s and 70s fell apart. But I still have the paperback reprints such as Son of mad and they are treasured items.

[@LancerMyMan]

In the late 60’s and through the 1970’s my Mother would happily purchase a Mad magazine for my brother and I. I would pour over the artwork and details of the cartoons even before I was able to read it. The artists were truly gifted, and once I could read it, I had huge pile of Mads that I went back and read every word. I cared only for Mad, and never even considered reading another comic book. As a 6 year old I read Mad, Newsweek, and Business Week and later on in the 1980’s, Forbes. Mad was the most educational, and sometimes Forbes. I miss all those wonderful artist. Their humor enriched me and gave me a view of the world that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comments. I remember that unlike others, you could read Mad again and again and still find something in the pictures you missed before. Their imagination seemed to be endless.

[@petercrowl9467]

In 1960 my sister married and moved away. I was 8. She left behind her collection of MAD magazines she acquired while in college. My mother burned them.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@petercrowl9467 so sorry man... that almost makes me cry for your loss ... such great treasures burned up...

[@stefeniedavidmusic]

I grew up with MAD. The barber I went to, every couple of weeks in the early 60s, cut hair in the back of his house. He had cupboards and in them were all the MAD magazines of that era. I guess he had a subscription. I know every artist you mention and recognized many of the cartoons you featured. I read and reread those magazines waiting for my turn to get my haircut. My favourite was Sergio Aragones. He was such a talented guy and absolutely hilarious. A big part of my childhood. I also loved the way Don Martin drew, especially women. Remember the one where Repunzel lets down her hair and the guy climbs up to find it's her armpit hair. Who would think of that?

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment and recollections about Mad. It seems there are many of us on both sides of the Atlantic for whom this magazine was an essential part of our lives. And I'd hate to have to pick a favourite Don Martin sequence. A true comic genius, I think.

[@twalk6164]

I was born in 51 and took up this mag when I was 7 or 8. Loved every issue, the art, the humor, the outrageousness. I learned to draw Don Martin's characters after buying several of his books. Thank you for a scholarly look at this fine and funny old rag. Haven't seen any for 60+ years, wish I would have saved them.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your appreciation. There will never be another Mad, unfortunately.

[@slayer8actual]

I grew up reading the magazine through the late 60s through the 70s and into the 80s. I kinda grew away from it when I got married but still like to occasionally browse through one at the news stand. Then in the 2000s I remember picking one up but didn't recognize any of the artists. It just wasn't the same. All of those childhood memories and nostalgia were gone. Seeing this video brought back so many memories, and I could remember each of the artists and their styles. I remember trying to copy some of my favorites and practicing various line drawings and ink work while trying to develop my own style. Their talents were a great motivation for me as my art work grew and developed. I learned not all drawings have to be photorealistic or anatomically perfect for them to be appreciated. Their talent for humor and having a distinctive style made their work instantly recognizable for millions, and here it is decades later, still instantly invoking those memories.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment. It seems Mad made a profound impression on many of us on both sides of the Atlantic. But as you observed nothing lasts forever and I must admit I stopped reading it as the 80s came around.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@Slayer Mack.... yes a lot of things changed with MAD over the years... I was kind of like you... but when Bill Gaines died in 1992. I started buing them again... with issue 314...... then I found a comic shop that someone had dumped about 200 issues.. at..all in mint shape and in vinyl... for about 1 dollar each.. so I bought all those up... at issue 323 I began subscribing so I would not miss an issue.. sadly about that time they started doing multiple covers..2 variant covers of the same issue.. so I still had to buy the one I did not get sent from the newsstand.. the trouble was.. sadly many times the MADs. hit the shelves before I got mine.. and if I waited too long.. either the stores were sold out of the one I needed or they were too beat up by being read on the stands to even bother with.. so.. sometimes even though I had a subscription I bought a few off of the stands.. they eventually stopped this thank goodness... bit you are correct.. I was saddened when they went to color... I liked it at first,..but then the novelty wore off... then they started accepting ads... it got to the point I was not sure if I was reading a parody or a junky ad..... until I kept reading.... but I kept with it... I now own all 550 ussyes.. plus 20 of the L.A. issues...

[@julienielsen3746]

My introduction to MAD was on my 10th birthday. My friend who was a year older than myself had wrapped my gifts in pages of MAD magazine. My mother started reading them and liked it and gave me a subscription. I subscribed until about 1976, the year before I graduated high school. I just didn't think it was as good as it was before. Wish I had kept my collection of MAD, instead of selling them at garage sales.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment about this video. I have to say I carried on buying Mad into the 1980s but you are right - it lost some of its appeal and manic appeal in later editions. All my mags rotted away but I've still got my paperback book editions.

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@Julie Nielsen.... "Wish I had kept my collection of MAD, instead of selling them at garage sales". fortunately... in 1992 when Gaines died ....I went back and finished my collection.. I now have every issue... 1-550. .+ 20 issues from the new management.. out of L.A.

[@kiwitrainguy]

How ironic that MAD magazine was used as wrapping paper. It has been said that some of the manuscripts of J.S.Bach were used by his local butcher to wrap meat in.

[@julienielsen3746]

@@kiwitrainguy Really?

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@kiwitrainguy oh... I never heard that about MAD being used as wrapping paper but it would not surprise me.. when I was a kid.. no one placed much value on comic books and collectibles like they do now except coins and stamps... in 1965 I could have picked up a copy of Action Comics #1.. for about 100.00.... now it's worth over 3 million... and I had a chance to buy some copies Amazing Fantasy #15.. the first appearance of Spiderman.... for 8.00 in mint condition.. now their worth about 100,000. each in mint......if I could go back in time those wrongs I would make right..

[@josephkolmansky8965]

Wonderful comprehensive survey, thanks. We realize we miss them all so much today.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment and appreciation.

[@TheDarksnack]

As a tween in the 90's, opening my dad's treasure trove of 1960's-70's comics was my first intro to Mad and my love of comic art.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment. I find it reassuring that Mad seems to have woven its magic on several generations of admirers.

[@hungfao]

All of the artists were great but Drucker's work was sometimes beyond awesome. Of course, I loved Elder and his bizarre gags that had little to do with what was really going on. In grade school, I did a Paul Bunyan comic adopting his knack for gags. This was hugely popular, was passed around the classes and soon everyone wanted me to draw other comics.

[@petebeard]

Hello and I tend to agree with you about Frucker. What a remarkably skilful draughtsman and caricaturist he was. But purely for the humour it was always Don Martin for me.

[@johannsmithe2570]

@@petebeard ... spoonerism, malapropism or just plain typo? * 😏 (Useless info: For detention as a freshman in High School we had to go thru thousands upons thousands of school textbooks and write over any written *F* with a *B* and *u* and *c* with an *o* . Still occasionally mutter 'Book you' to annoying people.) * j.i.c. er, Mort Booker above

[@zurlocker1]

Great video. Thank you for putting this together. I was an avid reader as a kid growing up in the early 70s and delved into back issues from the '60s. Pretty amazing gang of artists and writers!

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for watching and your appreciation of the video. To this day I remain in awe of the talents of Mort Drucker and Jack Davis in particular.

[@ramonmujica6360]

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTARY OF THIS BELOVED FUN MAGAZINE. I KEEP A DOZEN OF THE GREAT MAD ISSUES OF THE 60'S AND 70'S AND THIS VIDEO GAVE ME A BLAST FROM THE PAST. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thabks for your appreciatio of this video. It's great to know viewers enjoy it.

[@briggsquantum]

Thanks to your remarkable video Pete I have recalled memories I forgot I had. As an adolescent I marvelled at the accuracy of the caricatures and the biting parodies. They have informed my life since. Thanks for stirring up the good memories.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment. It seems there are many of us who feel exactly that way about the impact these talented artists (and not forgetting the writers) had on us.

[@yggdrasil3]

I was born in 1998, but my dad's old issues and paperbacks still hold up pretty well to me.

[@petebeard]

Hi there. So far I think yours is the only comment from a younger viewer. Look after those magazines the best you can. I stored mine in the loft and they grew mould. Still got the paperbacks though.

[@yggdrasil3]

@@petebeard Thanks for the advice!

[@smokytopia6354]

Mad was my primary inspiration top become a Cartoonist...very much enjoying your series.

[@petebeard]

Hello again and me too. When I was starting out I used to copy poses - especially Jack Davis. Unfortunately I didn't have the same share of talent...

[@muffassa6739]

I've still got all of my Mad magazines. I'm so glad you're doing this video of one of my favorite magazines thanks 😊

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your comment. I'm envious of your collection. I still have my paperbacks but the mags fell apart some years back.

[@alannohlgren]

Thank you for tapping into one of the most cherished strands of memories of that long lost period--my youth--made tolerable by the knowledge that the next issue of Mad Magazine would soon be in my hands

[@petebeard]

Many thanks for your comment and appreciation. Many of us feel the same way about Mad.

[@johncollado1151]

Hi Pete.... a well done video. I grew up with MAD magazine and enjoyed it immensely. I think Mort was my favorite artist in the whole lot. I heard about the magazine coming to an end... sad to see, but maybe someone will start another similar magazine again... You can't keep a good artist down. Thank you again for a well done video, one of my favorites to date.

[@petebeard]

Hi John and thanks for yet another positive response. I secretly wished I was Mort Drucker but knew I didn't have the skills to even get close. Those film parodies were great.

[@johncollado1151]

@@petebeard He's the reason I collected the magazine for so long, loved his caricature style.

[@bruce-le-smith]

Nice to see the memes of yesteryear, hope this helps GenZ further realize that freedom is hard won and precious! I was late to the Mad Magazine game, but I can remember spending my allowance on individual copies in the grocery store in our small town. Even then there was a sense that this publication was risky compared to our normative British school system. This year I've been watching KZbin censor the MxR Plays channel excessively, and I can't even imagine what Google censors would do if there was a creator like Mad Magazine on the platform... They'd be having kittens!

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comments about Mad. Sadly we live in different - and many say less enjoyable times. Undoubtedly Mad would get cancelled by one lobby or another.

[@Yarbullz]

Thanks much for this! Lots of memories of MAD magazine, and fun seeing all the early works and histories.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your appreciation of the video.

[@alfrede.newman6626]

...you are welcome.. 😝

[@thesteveandianproject2532]

My father got me hooked on Mad in the late 70's. I bought them every month until the early 90's. Loved it then. Still love it now. Great video. Total watch through.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your favourable comment about the video.

[@davidroddick91]

One of my memories of Mad was a strip in which they claimed they used link sausages as a stand-in for dog poop. I was unable to eat link sausages for years after that.

[@petebeard]

Hello and I'd never heard that one. Sometimes I'm glad to be vegetarian.

[@paillette2010]

Mort Drucker…his rendition of The Way We were still cracks me up. And my sister and I still laugh over Don Martin’s sound effect of Wonder Woman taking her bra off. 😂😂😂

[@scottmckay9535]

Drucker and Martin were my favorites. Dem were the daze.

[@henrybrowne7248]

Just looking at some of Drucker's caricatures--Mr. Spock comes to mind--cracked me up! Just looking at'em! They were so dead on . . .

[@JosephDillman]

This was absolutely beautiful. Thank you for putting it together.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thabks for your appreciation.

[@raddastronaut]

A masterpiece. Well done great voice over, great writing, great music.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thabks for your appreciation of the video. Very welcome.

[@mistercarlton]

I grew up with Mad and tried getting away with one of there poems for my homework at school on insomnia[1964].Also had to find out what Pizza pie was about as there where always cartoons showing the rubbery stretchy things that we didnt have in this country or I had never seen. .I even went to the local library to look one up to make myself..Always thought it is over rated.Nice one Pete....

[@mexicanusrex9418]

Alfred E. Neuman in 2020, "What!? Me- worry?"

[@petebeard]

It's a great pity that Mad is no more. But when the world got madder than the magazine it had nowhere to go.

[@recoveringsoul755]

I had no idea they were no more. How terribly sad. We could use it now. I only picked up an occasional issue when in high school and college

[@jasonq7504]

With MAD gone, that was the death knell for satirical comedy. We now live in a dystopia devoid of truly biting comedy.

[@JimiHendrix998]

Thank you for taking me through decades of joy. I remember all the artists from the mid 60's on..

[@petebeard]

Hello and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@skeetersaurus6249]

I really hadn't thought of old MAD Magazine in years...I was really hooked on them as a kid of the 1970's! I got the 'fresh print' every month, some story boards over my head, others plain hilarious...from movie 're-writes', to the margin notes to the back page fold-over...it was THE magazine that taught me how to 'impatiently wait' for the next month issue! There was even one issue, mid-70's, that had a 'hot bands' caricature poster as an insert (Zeppelin, Sabbath, ELO, etc.) that stayed on my bedroom wall until I left home!

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your reollections. It really does seem that Mad made a massive imrpession on those who read it.

[@richardbyrnes8398]

That was a trip down memory lane, thank you! I was obsessed with Don Martin in my early teens. The humour was in all honesty fairly basic but his illustrations had me in stitches. I would scour seaside newsagents on our annual holiday for his compilation books. (Bizarrely, they seemed to be the only places to stock them). At one point I had them all, but now long since lost. How could I have been so careless with such treasures? Thank you Don for so many laughs.

[@petebeard]

Hello and not to rub salt in your wound but I still have an admittedly shabby collection of the Don Martin paperback editions, and they still crack me up. Oh those sound effects...

[@richardbyrnes8398]

@@petebeard Ha! fair play, but don't worry, I topped up Mr Bezos's fortune last year by buying a beautiful hardback coffee table book of the best of Don Martin. It is literally a work of art. I'm sure you must have a copy of that as well?

[@jeffcarlson3269]

@@richardbyrnes8398 I got that .... are you referring to the 2 volume set with the red slipcase...?... I bought it when it first came out... a few years back...

[@cbart3634]

Great video! I always collected mad magazine as a kid. Along with Cracked. .. when I was in college for art.. Lloyd Gola, who was a contributor cartoonist for mad in the 70’s - 80’s., was my cartoon instructor in college. I thought that was so cool.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks. And I must look up Mr. Gola's work - I'd stopped buying Mad by that point so didnt know about him.

[@jackwood2328]

This is the finest documentary about a subject that would pass most of us by. Superior.

[@petebeard]

Hello and your appreciation is very welcome. Thanks.

[@mickeyberry4903]

Wish this was still around. Loved it

[@glennnickerson8438]

An American institution that has warped the minds of generations! I have fond memories of reading MAD magazine with my dad as we passed issues back and forth! Many thanks!

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment and Mad memory.

[@PiefacePete46]

Thank's Pete... there can be no doubt that you have done your bit to ensure it is NOT forgotten! 👍

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment.

[@cliftonwhittaker260]

We kids loved Mad Magazine in the late 50's. It wasn't sold on the news stand with other comics where I lived but one of "our gang" subscribed to it. Every month when the new issue came in he would bring his copy to my desk in home room. All of us crowded around and had a great time with it. Don Martin was a favorite. He art was side splitting funny to us. And later spy vs spy was another big attraction. Don't remember when it started because I stayed with Mad for many years. Still love the old cartoons of Don Martin. Later on it kind of drifted away from comedy and became more of a social statement and I kind of drifted away from it. But I still love the old Don Martin sections.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment about this video. It really does seem that Mad made a profound impression on many of us on bth sides of the Atlantic. As a Brit some of the references puzzled me but every issue I bought I must have re-read at least another dozen times. It was one of the main reasons I became an illustrator (even if my meagre talents didn't compare).

[@tectonictom]

Thanks and Cheers to you, Mr Beard, for assuring me the spark I felt from MAD as a youth was grounded. They WERE brilliant artists AND social analysts!

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for the comment. Mad hit me at the same time as blues music, shows such as the Beverly Hillbillies and the Untouchables, and all that Americana really saw me into what now passes for adulthood.

[@jeffwatkins352]

Didn't realize MAD was born the year I was! I love that publication. One of my striking memories at age 10 was ordering an "deal" in the magazine which offered a large number of publications including a hardback edition for a ridiculously low price. What a shock to find, when it arrived, that it was them clearing out their old stock. It was almost entirely artists I'd never seen before, and with a decidedly East Coast tone that was totally alien to me. I was born and raised in a rural Colorado town. At first I was disappointed. But I started reading and those became some of my favorite MAD editions. To this day, I say to myself, "Gee, ya sure kin mombo!" "Aw, shaddap, ya creep!"

[@petebeard]

Hello and I think about Mad like I think about Laurel and Hardy. Only a being with no soul could fail to find them funny. I've got the picture with that dialogue in it, somewhere.

[@tomfields3682]

Ya never heard of Syosset?

[@hambone5718]

Growing up in the 60's this magazine was the best. All the jokes, parodies and cartoons were spot on. Talented writers and illustrators.

[@petebeard]

Hello and you can say that again...

[@johnskelly2542]

my mate was the real MAD fan, but, he introduced me to the Magazine in the 1970s and i have fond memories of it

[@Heartwing37]

This magazine, for better or worse, helped shape my entire sense of humor as a child/teen! 😂😂😂

[@petebeard]

Hello and that applies to many thousands of us, it seems by the comments I'm getting.

[@Spitalhatch]

Thanks Pete - I was a Mad fan back in the early days. I also remember a free EP record (45rpm) that came with one issue, two of the tracks were a prophetic Shel Silverstein masterpiece 'Plastic' (Everything's gonna be plastic by and by), and another: 'She got a nose job'. Brilliant!

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for the comment. I don't remember that record, but i do remember another freebie in the 60's. It was a bluesy instrumental called 'Its a Gas!' which featured a series of belches supposedly from Alfred E. every time the turnaround came.

[@bruce-le-smith]

We had copies of Shel's Where The Sidewalk Ends and A Light In The Attic when I was growing up. What an education those were for a young kid in the pre internet days!

[@kiwitrainguy]

You could also Fink Along With MAD with the song "She Lets Me Watch Her Mom And Pop Fight" - kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6TEf2t9jLWmiKM

[@williamschlenger1518]

I remember the early ones.We would sit & laugh& they were so well drawn.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks for your comment.

[@mattskustomkreations]

Thanks for putting this excellent documentary. I realize now I was VERY lucky to witness these greats near their peaks / exits from MAD when I regularly read them in the early - mid eighties. So sorry to learn of MAD’s demise. 😢

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment. It's great that Mad was able to have a meaningful impact on several generations during its existence.

[@mattskustomkreations]

@@petebeard I especially enjoyed your own art direction on this presentation. At 8:16 Drucker’s caricature of Goldie Hawn sparked my memory of the movie spoof “Private Bendyourmind”. Around that time his “An Officer Ain’t No Gentleman” movie parody also came out. MAD mag definitely shaped and/or reinforced my sense of humor and even cynicism.

[@user-qh4uv5dz7i]

Thank you for making this video. Mad magazine had a huge influence on my sense of humor and appreciation for art and worldview.

[@petebeard]

Hello and your appreciation is very welcome. Many of us feel precisely as you do about Mad.

[@knibscratch]

I read it from the early 60's through to the early 70's, That was my personal golden age 0f Mad, I think looking back it had more of an effect on my outlook on life than I realised at the time, Thanks for posting.

[@petebeard]

It sounds like we are pretty much contemporaries and grew up with similar influences, judging by your recent run of comments. I hope you find more of interest on the channel.

[@Banana_man-rr8mw]

Thank you for making this video!! I never knew about these artists!! Great work!

[@petebeard]

Hello and its always a pleasure to introduce otherwise unknown illustrators to a new audience.

[@jerrylags]

Very nice. I grew up with MAD and cherish the old issues I was lucky enough to retain. Thanks for the nice presentation.

[@petebeard]

Hello and thanks a lot for your comment.

[@mamemckee2190]

These are great. I appreciate the time to assemble the images and information and the way they are presented. Sharing with my artist network. Subscribed in Vermont

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your appreciation. And thanks for sharing with others too.

[@him_animations]

Much expected to find a video like this on your channel, watched with pleasure.

[@petebeard]

Hi and thanks a lot for liking what I'm doing - it means a lot to me. And I like your animations too.

[@him_animations]

@@petebeard thanks, much appreciated. Your portfolio is great, too bad the comments are disabled..

[@petebeard]

@@him_animations Hi again, and thanks for letting me know. It was due to interference by KZbin as I'd stated it was safe for kids. Now corrected so I hope I don't live to regret it.

[@chasbodaniels1744]

Beautiful review of artists and writers who helped me leap the boundary between kid’s comic books and a more adult and sarcastic world view. Naturally Mom threw out all of my comics AND Mads when I left for college.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your positive response to the video. Lots of us it seems have similar experiences. All I have left now are some of the paperback compilations. Battered but still funny.

[@rand49er]

I remember a third grade friend of mine introducing me to Mad Magazine back in 1957. I was in (or just finished) second grade at the time. He would point out parts of an issue and laugh. I didn't get it at first. Then, as I grew older, I became a big follower and loved every issue. Many of the movies they lampooned I hadn't seen so had to reverse engineer what they were about from Mad. Crazy style. So irreverent. So just-over-the-edge. I loved it. Great sense of humor.

[@petebeard]

Hello and many thanks for your comment and memory. I started reading it when I was 13 and for me it was all tied in with the great American sitcoms we were also importing at the time, and the discovery of Blues and other music. It's now part of the fabric of my being.

[@5809AUJG]

My favorite writer, Ray Bradbury, subscribed to MAD magazine for decades. I loved it for many years. My favorite artists were Sergio Aragones and....Mort Drucker. Mr Drucker was one of the purely greatest caricaturists I've ever seen....maybe the best of all time, far as I'm concerned. All I had to do was open to the page of one of the satires he'd illustrated, and I'd be helpless with laughter. He was a master of facial expressions, and knew how to exaggerate a character's features and personality in an almost subtle but remarkable way to make them incredibly funny. I always loved Sergio Aragones' lovely, chaotic little people. They were always fun and fascinating to study...so much was always going on with them! I miss the good old MAD Magazine. It was eventually ruined, and then died. But it had a good long run. I have classic MAD in my laptop, stored from their set of discs, to enjoy as I like. I'll never give it up. I must say I was startled to see you put up a video about it! Thank you, sir, for another wonderful video.

[@patrickdehertogh2080]

I always bought MAD magazines as a kid trying to comprehend this adult perspective of humor. probably molding my cynical view of any human endeavor. thanks Mad love ya guys

[@petebeard]

Hello and many of us feel that way too.

[@tincanboat]

I was in mid school in the early 60's when I bought my first MAD magazine. After ready it I left it on the couch in the living room and my dad picked it up and was reading it, and later bought me a subscription to it.

[@petebeard]

Hello and what a generous and intelligent parent you had. Many others indicate they had to keep it secret from pointlessly censorious parents.

[@josuepina2994]

I love this video. I loved MAD ever since I could remember. I asked my brother when I was a child, " Who is that Howdy Doodey person on the magazine? " The rest is history. My first paperback was Sergio Arragones. My friend's who could not read, fell in love with it. They laughed and so did my dad. MAD will always be a part of my life. Al Jaffee was my dude, too. Peace out

[@alfrede.newman6626]

... what do you mean Howdy Doody ?....that ugly thing looks nothing like me..

[@petebeard]

Hello and there are many of us it seems fr whom Mad was/is an important part of our lives.

[@josuepina2994]

@@alfrede.newman6626 oops; sorry. Lol. Had no clue there was an actual Alfred E. Newman. Much love though. Mad mag would not have been Mad without you. Do you remember the comic "Cracked"? That mascot looked too, well, I don't want to say it but, yeah. Peace out

[@alfrede.newman6626]

@@josuepina2994 No worries mate, .. not my real name.. I 'borrowed' it from Al because I remember his motto; "I'm just a happy idiot in a world of idiots" 😜 I also remember Cracked.. but now you have offended me !.. how dare you mention that poor imitation ?! 😠 🤣🤣🤣 ☮️ You must be MAD...

[@josuepina2994]

@@alfrede.newman6626 Good one. Lol