Al Jaffee, King of the Mad Magazine Fold-In, Dies at 102

 Al Jaffee, a cartoonist who folded in when the trend in magazine publishing was to fold out, thereby creating one of Mad magazine’s most recognizable and enduring features, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 102.

The news comes from the Twitter feed of Tom Heintjes, dedicated to Eisner Award winner Hogan's Alley. "I'm very sad to report that the great Al Jaffee has died," the tweet reads. "He had celebrated his 102nd birthday just last month. An incredible legend. RIP to a giant of cartooning." Along with being known for Mad Magazine, Al Jaffee also contributed to Timely Comics and Atlas Comics, which would eventually become the publishing juggernaut Marvel Comics. His longest-running Mad Magazine feature was the Fold-In, which featured a piece of artwork that had to be folded vertically and inward to reveal a new image. 

The First Fold-In appeared in MAD # 86!

MORT DRUCKER : MAD magazine's Best Caricature Artist!

Remembering MAD artist Mort Drucker on his birthdate: March 22, 1929! He's always been my all-time favorite artist. Mort's cartoons were the feature I always looked forward to whenever I got the latest issue of MAD. When he left the magazine, I stopped reading it but never forgot his artwork and I still keep revisiting him often! 

CUCURUCHO #5 - Back Cover

Here's a nicely restored version of the back cover of CUCURUCHO # 5, published in 1975.

BACK ISSUE!

This morning's mail brought a very nice and quite unexpected surprise: Number 129 of Back Issue Magazine featuring an article by Mark Arnold on the Pink Panther which included a mention of my Spanish language issues done for Western Publishing Company through their Latin American affiliate, Novaro Publishers.

Thank you, Mark Arnold and TwoMorrows Publishing!

https://www.twomorrows.com

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

One of the great magazines to reach its biggest peak during the Monster Craze of the mid 1960s was Warren's FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. Created by Forrest J. Ackerman, the publication began its run back in 1958 as a one shot issue but it went into a second printing due to popular demand and soon enough it turned into a monthly, bi-monthly and annual periodical.

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND Number One

Every Halloween season, I dust off my small collection of FM magazines and browse through those ancient pages which even now, still appear informative and entertaining.

MY 50th ANNIVERSARY!

It was 50 years ago, on April, 1970, that I began my career as a professional cartoonist. My first printed comic strips appeared on the April issue of  LA GARRAPATA, a well-known political satire magazine at that time and thus began my meteoric rise from absolute obscurity to complete mediocrity!

Okay, so those first strips were not very good, but I didn't give up in spite of popular demand to the contrary and here I am, fifty years later, still trying to do as best as I can.
In those early days, I was lucky enough to find some charitable editors who saw some possibilities in my work and hired me to continue my journey as a cartoonist.

These are some samples of those first years when I tackled whatever came my way: