MAD Magazine is now 70 Years Old!

Incredible as it may seem, MAD magazine's first issue hit the newsstands back in 1952.  At the time, I was merely one year and three months old so, understandably, I was unaware of its existence.  The date of publication for MAD #1, was October/November, 1952 and it was a late entry in the Entertaining Comics (EC) line, which by 1952 was already publishing TALES FROM THE CRYPT, VAULT OF HORROR, THE HAUNT OF FEAR, CRIME SUSPENSTORIES, SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES, WEIRD SCIENCE, WEIRD FANTASY, TWO-FISTED TALES and FRONTLINE COMBAT. EC's publisher William B. Gaines was unusual and innovative, to say the least. Upon the death of his father in a boating accident, Gaines, at the age of 25, was suddenly faced with the ownership and management of the comic book company.

Along with Harvey Kurtzman, his comic book editor, Bill Gaines conspired to put out a humor comic which was intended to be utterly unique and unlike anything else on the newsstands of the day.

And so, MAD was born! 

In the summer of 1955, Kurtzman convinced Gaines to turn the comic book into a magazine. The first magazine issue sold out and actually went back to press for a second printing! Within a year, MAD's original contributors, Kurtzman, Will Elder and Jack Davis left because of editorial differences with Gaines so Al Feldstein took over as editor and MAD's circulation and fame continued to rise.

 

The further details of how MAD Magazine grew to become the iconic humor magazine known to so many generations of faithful readers, are easily found elsewhere on the internet so I won't go into that. My own experience as a MAD reader began with issue #95 from June 1965, when I saw it on display at a magazine rack in a local store and convinced my doubting father to buy it for me.

From that moment on, I was hooked on the irreverent and wild humor of MAD and tried to get every issue of the magazine I could find. 

 Soon enough, I developed a taste for the artwork and began to study the drawing style of some of the Usual Gang of Idiots, picking out my favorite contributors:

JACK RICKARD

DON MARTIN

PAUL COKER JR.

SERGIO ARAGONES

BOB CLARKE 

JACK DAVIS

DAVE BERG

AL JAFFEE's marvelous Fold-Ins!

Jaffee's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions were hilarious!

And of course, my top favorite, the immortal MORT DRUCKER!

I especially enjoyed his treatment of Sean Connery's James Bond!

Who can forget those silly fake ads?

And the unforgettable bonus flexi-disc which came attached to the Ninth Annual Edition of the Worst from MAD, with Alfred E. Neuman "vocalizing"?

Yes! I was a devoted fan of MAD Magazine!

That is, until about the year 2000 when most of the original Gang of Idiots had left and the humor began to fade becoming less and less relevant, at least for me. That's when I stopped buying the magazine and satisfied myself with reading and rereading the old material, over and over again. 

And to think MAD is only a year younger than me!

WHAT - ME, WORRY?

The First and the Best James Bond 007!

Remembering Sean Connery on his birthday. The first and the best James Bond 007!

THE SONS OF THE DESERT 22nd INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION!

The 22nd International Convention of the Sons of the Desert is being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from August 17th to the 22nd, hosted by the Albuquerque Busy Bodies Tent, Oasis 29.

All participating delegates are already having the time of their lives at the Hotel Albuquerque and most of their wives think they are in Honolulu. That's a darb!

Hosted by the Albuquerque Busy Bodies - Oasis 29

Some personal affairs precluded me from attending the festivities this year but I am crossing my fingers hoping I will be able to partake of the forthcoming event a couple of years from now, wherever and whenever it may be held. (As long as I don't have to take the Oath from our Exhausted Ruler).

This was the logo of the now defunct BULLFIGHTERS TENT of MEXICO CITY.

More Senior Moments!

But I'm almost sure even millennials have trouble with this!

PAUL COKER Jr. (1929-2022)

Recently, on July 23, cartoonist Paul Coker Jr., one of my favorite artists from the original MAD Magazine Usual Gang of Idiots, passed on.  The following is the article appearing in ANIMATION Magazine on the day of his passing:

Animation artist and illustrator Paul Coker Jr., best known for his character and production designs for the classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials as well as his long stint illustrating for MAD Magazine, died at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 23 at age 93, after a brief illness. Coker’s stepdaughter, Lee Smithson Burd, confirmed his passing to Deadline and shared that the artist was “lucid and had his remarkable sense of humor until the end.”

Born March 5, 1929 in Lawrence, Kansas, Coker studied drawing and painting at the University of Kansas, and began his career designing greeting cards for Hallmark in the 1950s in Kansas City, Missouri. He became the Art Director for the company’s humorous “Contemporary Card” line.

His first work for MAD appeared in 1961, and he became established as one of the publication’s so-called “Usual Gang of Idiots.” He went on to illustrate over 375 articles for the humor rag, as well as a series of paperbacks starting in 1968.

Coker was known for his “Horrifying Clichés” panels and film/TV parody spoofs. He also collaborated with MAD writer Don Edwing on the Lancelot and Horace & Buggy comic strips. Coker freelanced for other publications, including Esquire, Good Housekeeping and Playboy. 

To generations of fans, however, Coker will be remembered as the artful hand that created beloved Rankin/Bass characters like Frosty the Snowman (from the 1969 2D special); Kris Kringle, Winter Warlock and Burgermeister Meisterburger (Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, 1970); and the wonderfully vaudevillian villains Snow Miser and Heat Miser (The Year without a Santa Claus).

                                       

For Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.’s iconic studio, Coker also provided character designs for stop-motion specials Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) and The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor’s New Clothes (1972) as well as 2D specials and series like Festival of Family Classics and The Wacky World of Mother Goose. 

                                  

Coker lent his talents to to many of these titles as well, in addition to The First Easter Rabbit, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, Jack Frost, The Stingiest Man in Town and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, to name a few. Coker continued working the the studio into the early 2000s, on the 2D TV movie Santa, Baby! He also provided character models for Cartoon Network’s Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? (2002).                          Coker is survived by his wife of 33 years, Rosemary Smithson, and stepdaughters Lee Smithson Burd and Carol Smithson.

THE RULE OF THUMB!

If you are a senior citizen, you have faulty eyesight and you're not very technology-wise,

this has most certainly happened to you at least once. Or maybe, more than once. 

But don't worry. That's okay. You're human.  

JUST DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN, OKAY?

"Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"

 

Of course, that was one of Oliver Hardy's most familiar catchphrases along with "Why don't you do something to help me?" and "Hard boiled eggs and nuts! Hmmh!"  Unforgettable words, always directed at his slow-witted partner Stan Laurel in their many short films from the 1930s. Unlike most comedy double acts who consisted of a funny guy paired with a straight man, Laurel and Hardy were a comedy team formed by two equally funny comedians, each one in his own particular style which complemented and counterbalanced the other.  Considered by many film scholars as being the greatest comedy team ever, Laurel & Hardy have always remained a very important and recurring part of my life. Every mistake, downfall, calamity, disaster, stupid move, wrong turn or spill I've experienced in my daily existence, always remind me of something that happened to The Boys. And then I realize I am not alone, for Laurel & Hardy were echoing all humanity with its many shortcomings and foibles. Therefore, I will always remain grateful that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy existed and even though they are gone now, their influence still remains with me and those like me who remember them fondly.

'Twas Ever Thus!

I was 6 years old when Ollie passed away and I vaguely remember my grandfather making some comments about it. I guess I was much too young to be really impressed mainly because most of the comedians I watched on TV from the silent era and early talkies had almost all died by then, a fact my parents were quick to provide whenever they saw me watching those films.

“Hey, ma! Look at this funny guy here! Who’s he?”

“Oh, he’s Harry Langdon. He’s dead now!”

YESTERDAY, LOVE WAS SUCH AN EASY GAME TO PLAY!

On tour in Guadalajara with actress Irlanda Mora and an unidentified girl, many, many, many years ago! We were appearing with a comedy play in a local night club and we were taping some promo footage for local TV channels to advertise the show. 

 This photo also proves I've met some women in my time! 

LOVE CONNECTION?