The magazine known as MAD started at about the same time I did. Maybe that's why I've always had a tremendous fondness for it. I have a complete collection in the next room and it's one of the last things I would ever part with.
Its founding editor in 1952 was Harvey Kurtzman and he departed in 1956, replaced by Al Feldstein who ran things there until 1984. For most of the time, he was aided by a clever gent named Nick Meglin. As I became a world-class expert on the magazine, I came to realize that a lot of the sense of humor I loved in MAD during the Feldstein years was Nick Meglin's sense of humor.
When Feldstein retired, publisher William M. Gaines split the editor job between Meglin and assistant editor John Ficarra. Meglin retired in 2004 and Ficarra has had the position all to himself since then. Earlier this year, it was announced that after 65 years, MAD would no longer be edited out of an office in New York. It would move, as the rest of DC Comics has, to Burbank, California, where it would have a new editorial staff headed by Bill Morrison. I know (or knew) all these men and respect every one of them.
Morrison and his crew are assembling their first issue, which will be #551. It will feature many of the longtime MAD contributors (Sergio Aragonés, Al Jaffee, Dick DeBartolo, et al) and many new folks. Meanwhile in Manhattan, Ficarra and his staff are about to send #550 off to press, which they are doing this week even as they clean out their offices. There's a certain sadness there but they've had a good run with much to be proud of.
The writing especially has been very sharp the last decade or so, hindered mainly by a basic reality of production. Humor in this country has grown more topical and immediate in the Internet Age. When something happens in the news at Noon, we can start reading jokes about it on Twitter well before 12:15 and we can see more that night on Colbert, Meyers, Fallon, The Daily Show, etc. MAD can post something on its website rapidly (and does) but the actual magazine takes weeks to print and distribute. Thus, the topical humor in it just ain't that topical.
That's hurt sales as has the simple deterioration of the magazine marketplace. I wonder if there's a single periodical that's been around 20+ years that's selling anything close to what it did back then. Playboy, TV Guide, Newsweek…they're all way, way down from their old circulation figures and there are fewer and fewer newsracks around.
One of the few upticks in sales came when they began targeting Donald J. Trump, who is becoming as much their cover boy as Alfred E. Neuman. Just as Trump-bashing upped the tune-in for late night TV and Stephen Colbert especially, ridiculing Donald has helped MAD tremendously.
But that of course is a short-term boost. I don't know what the new masters of MAD have in mind for it except surely it involves finding ways to exploit its name and style of humor in multimedia ways. I love it as a magazine but I don't see that as a bad thing at all. I also know Bill Morrison well. He's a bright, talented guy with a great track record for working with others, and a deep understanding and knowledge of the institution's heritage.
I'm just sorry to see Ficarra and his Usual Gang of Idiots — Sam Viviano, Ryan Flanders, Joe Raiola, Patty Dwyer, Charlie Kadau, Dave Croatto, Jacob Lambert and all the rest — outside the MAD loop. I like John tremendously but I told him long ago that MAD is precious to me in many ways. If I ever thought he was not doing maintaining its high standards, I would rip him a new one on this blog and elsewhere, treating him even worse than he treats Trump. I am so glad that was never necessary. Kurtzman, Feldstein, Meglin and Ficarra all kept MAD the best humor magazine that's ever existed and I'm sure Bill Morrison will, too.
Because if he doesn't, he's in a lot of trouble.