Mort Drucker
Operation , 1998 Cover illustration for MAD # 376 , December 1998 Caricatures of George Clooney , Anthony Edwards , Julianna Margulies , Noah Wyle , Eriq La Salle . Ink and gouache on paper Collection of the Drucker Family . MAD and all related elements ™ & © E . C . Publications . Courtesy of DC . All Rights Reserved . Used with permission .
Sam Viviano
Hijinks on the High Seas , 2022 Story illustration for “ Hijinks on the High Seas ! A True Mad Tale Aboard a Cruise to Bermuda ,” written by John Ficarra , MAD v . 2 , no . 28 , December 2022 Collection of the Artist MAD and all related elements ™ & © E . C . Publications . Courtesy of DC
From an interpretive standpoint , MAD Magazine didn ’ t just act as a cultural nexus that united generations ; it also can be seen as an indirect successor of equally influential illustrative publications that dominated the cultural narrative of the mid-20th century . A prime example is The Saturday Evening Post , a publication which prominently featured many of Rockwell ’ s most iconic illustrations , such as The Four Freedoms . Though MAD Magazine forged a markedly divergent path from The Saturday Evening Post , its writers and illustrators still held deep reverence for Rockwell ’ s work . This was reflected in parodies in MAD ’ s pages and perhaps quintessentially in Richard Williams ’ parody of Rockwell ’ s Triple Self Portrait , which appeared on the cover of a 2002 MAD compilation book .
In the publication ’ s early years , MAD ’ s editors attempted to enlist Rockwell ’ s artistic services for a magazine cover . In a response , Rockwell respectfully stated in a letter to the editorial staff that although he was intrigued by the offer , he deferred to his wife , who told him that taking on the job was against his best interests . Nevertheless , The Saturday Evening Post ’ s zenith in popularity in the 1940s and early-1950s arguably set the stage for MAD Magazine , priming it as an “ equal but opposite ” cultural touchstone . Its popularity took off in the late-1950s and early-1960s , ushering in a new era of artistic freedom for America ’ s illustrators and comedic writers .
Over the decades that MAD was distributed on newsstands from 1952 to 2018 , celebrities , musicians , comedians , politicians , television shows , films , commercial products , and geopolitical conflicts were lampooned by its staff of illustrators and writers . Artistic , musical , and political figures such as Andy Warhol ; presidents Richard Nixon , John F . Kennedy , Barack Obama , and Donald Trump ; Marlon Brando ; The Beatles ; and Britney Spears were featured on MAD ’ s covers and in its pages . Their caricature likenesses were lovingly bashed through a series of punchlines , double entendres , and humorous fictional escapades . Whether tackling complex subjects such as the Cold War or Vietnam War , or parodying films such as Beverly Hills Cop II , The Godfather , or Saturday Night Fever , MAD ’ s artists and writers didn ’ t hold back . No bastion of American culture , government , or social structure was too rarefied or powerful to escape their witty roasts .
But the real star of MAD was its gaptoothed mascot , Alfred E . Neuman . Starting in the mid-1950s , the magazine ’ s covers were graced with his unmistakable asymmetrical visage . His face became an established cultural même long before the introduction of the internet , synonymous with MAD ’ s irreverent and cheeky humor . According to Viviano , Alfred E . Neuman ’ s roots date back to local advertisements from the late-19th century . An early artistic use of the freckled , smiling , somewhat devious boy was seen on a marquee poster for a farcical 1894 play The New Boy in
May / June 2024 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 67