Civilized General Discussion, the NEW BLUE BOARD / MAD magazine to end 67-year run

**Posted by Siagiah** 7/07/2019 10:14 pm

I used to love Mad Magazine as a kid.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/851248/mad-magazine-end-67year-run

MAD magazine to end 67-year run

July 5, 2019

MAD Magazine covers.
AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins

The satirical MAD magazine will disappear from newsstands following the publication of its August issue, ending a 67-year run after facing dwindling circulation.

DC, the division of Warner Brothers that publishes the magazine, said after the summer MAD will recycle previously released cartoons and parodies, and be available at comic book stores or by subscription. MAD will publish new content only in special, year-end editions.

MAD, with its iconic gap-toothed mascot Alfred E. Neuman ("What, me worry?), has influenced generations of readers, including comedians. "It's pretty much the reason I turned out weird," tweeted "Weird Al" Yankovic. Josh Weinstein, a writer and producer of The Simpsons, tweeted a thank you to MAD, saying: "There was a moment in so many of our childhoods where you were the greatest thing ever."

—Harold Maass

**Posted by Jade LL** 7/10/2019 12:44 pm

It's a damned shame.

**Posted by greenman** 7/10/2019 1:59 pm

For someone who grew up with MAD, and read it somewhat surreptitiously at friends' houses or the drugstore because my parents didn't want me subscribing, it was a treasure.

In later years it came to seem a little silly or childish at times, of course, but there are still bits from movie and TV spoofs, for example, that I remember. To this day I still think of a favorite boyhood TV show as 'Voyage to See What's On the Bottom,' MAD's title, instead of 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.' The snarky, smart-assed attitude there always gave me a chuckle and was a definite influence on me - as some may have noticed...

Glad they'll still be putting out year-end issues, but it's still kinda sad. However, in the immortal words of Alfred E. Neuman: 'What, me worry?'

Last edited by greenman (7/10/2019 2:00 pm)

**Posted by Siagiah** 7/10/2019 9:07 pm

Yep, I LOVED it as a kid. I also read it at my friend's house. We didn't get it at home. I loved the snarky sarcasm too. As an adult, it didn't hold the same appeal, but there were still some amusing things in it, especially when they'd hide adult humor within the kiddie humor.

**Posted by Pikes Peak 14115** 7/10/2019 11:36 pm

I too was not allowed to read it.
I was also not allowed to wear blue jeans.
Copies of Mad I saw were at derelict friends' houses.
I enjoyed the sarcasm and irreverence.
It was at times, somewhat overwhelming.

**Posted by Siagiah** 7/11/2019 3:54 pm

I wasn't forbidden to read it. We simply didn't get it at home. It was a luxury that we didn't have because my Dad had had to start all over again when his business closed. However, by the time I was a teenager, he was the East Coast manager for Sears Service Dept and everything changed again. By then, I didn't care about it anymore.

However, my friends living in the neighborhood were pretty well off during my younger years and their parents got them all kinds of things I didn't have. So, I read them at their house.

I didn't own any blue jeans as a kid, but I eventually got hand-me-downs from the same neighborhood kids and wore them then. By the time I was a teenager, my Mum bought me my own jeans.