Mad No. 1

Mad (comic book) #1

by Harvey Kurtzman (Editor), Will Elder (Illustrator), Jack Davis (Illustrator)

The very first issue of MAD! Including classic spoofs of multiple comic book genres--sci-fi ("Blobs!"), horror ("Hoohah!"), crime ("Ganefs!") and westerns ("Varmint!").

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels, Satire, Comedy, Dc Comics, Amazon

36 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 1952

Reviews

[Tassa DeSalada]

This is where all that MADness started - the usual gang of idiots. The seeds are all here. Super cool to see the beginning.

[Drew Canole]

The original MAD was quite similar to the war and horror EC comics. The comic has 4 short 8 page stories drawn by some of the top talent in comics at the time. All the stories play on some classic tropes and crank everything up to 11. Lots of "chicken fat" in each panel with lots of little jokes in the text and background.

Cover by Harvey Kurtzman who is also the editor - I believe he's like the Stan Lee of EC comics, helps with the story ideas and does the dialogue too.

Hoohah! (Jack Davis)
Classic car breaks down outside of a haunted house trope.

Blobs! (Wallace Wood)
Science fiction story of a future Earth world where everyone is basically a baby because technology has completely taken over all of our tasks and civilization is controlled by a Master Monster Machine.

Ganefs! (Bill Elder)
Crime story with two goofy criminals (the dumb big guy and "smart" small guy)

Varmint! (John Severin)
Western story at a busy outback bar with a sharpshooter.

[Juho Pohjalainen]

Who is this Melvin chap anyway?

[Justin Lambert]

Having grown up loving Mad Magazine, was amazed at how much the very first issue sucked.

[Willy Boy]

5 stars for this classic of american popular art; but don't you know you ought to be reading it on honaset to goodness leaves of paper (derived from hemp if you are concerned about deforestation (I know such an edition doesn't exist at time of writing - and it won't, unless we want it hard enough)). Are you not paranoid, or something? Monolithic corporate hegemony aside (maybe that's your thing. maybe it's a good thing), you'll ruin your eyes looking at those gadgets!

[Jaylon Jiron]

First edition mad

was funny but not 2014 funny just joined at Jaylon jet Jaylon aha Josh's have h. ha ha aha. what I did that cause I need 14 words to submit

[Garth]

Reading EC’s Tales from the Crypt, there was an ad for the first issue of Mad. It made me want to start them from the beginning so I’m going to add them to my reads this year.

Debut issue of the iconic publication Mad, which would change to magazine format with issue 24. Cover by Harvey Kurtzman. "Hoohah!", script by Harvey Kurtzman, art by Jack Davis; Two youngsters run out of gas and enter a house they think is haunted. "Blobs!", script by Harvey Kurtzman, art by Wally Wood; Alfred outlines a terrible thought he has about the end of humanity. "Enter Cosmo McMoon!" text story by Harvey Kurtzman. "Crow Vadis?" text story by Harvey Kurtzman. "Ganefs!", script by Harvey Kurtzman, art by Bill Elder; A perfect crime is hatched but Bumble fumbles. "Varmint!", script by Harvey Kurtzman, art by John Severin; Textron is hunting the killer of Melvin and kills every suspect.

[Paul]

Unlike later MAD Magazine and no Alfred E. Newman.

The #1 issue is the beginnings of MAD. It had other styles and context like later issues. It is very good. I just hope that all issues will be available to be seen and read.

[Ron]

Old school mad magazine

[Stephen]

MAD

I've never read this one before but I have seen the cover. It brings back memories of my childhood when I would get a copy of Mad at the 5 & 10¢ store along with some comic books. I don't remember the first one I read or who bought it but I was hooked.
For me it was a real treat to be able to read this first edition. If you like this type of humor read this one or any of them. I hope to get more of the early editions that are available for Kindle.

[Kee]

For magazine review, I looked at the lighter hearted Mad Magazine. I haven’t been following up on the Mad Magazine and I was surprised at how contemporary this magazine is! Not only does the magazine cover recent topics as a parody of Netflix show House of Cards, but also the current events like the recent Oscars or the Star Wars franchise makes it relevant with comical illustrations.

Upon further research, I was surprised at the edgy nature of this magazine. In the aftermath of Charlie Hebdo massacre, there was an NPR article about how Mad Magazine’s editorial staff also feared physical harm. For that reason, it became apparent satirical magazines are more than just humorous view of current event but a moral vindication of what the reality is about.

[Paul McComas 3rd.]

Going back to my childhood.


When I was just becoming a teenager I went to a friend's house for a visit. He was reading a comic book, but there was something different about this comic book. When I asked about it, he showed me a copy of MAD MAGAZINE. I don't remember what number it was, but as I turned the pages, I knew that it was different from all the other comics that were available at that time of of our lives. I couldn't get enough of of MAD comics. To make a long story short, "MAD" became so popular that the stores had trouble keeping them in the racks.
I want to thank Amazon for making them into e-books. Now I can relive some of the "good ole' days", but not as cheap as the good old days!

[Rusty]

When I Spent A Dime

When I Spent A Dime

Yep. That's what Mad comics cost back in 1952. And my friends and I wet ourselves laughing after we forked over the money..... a "Liberty Head". Our folks had no idea what the humor was....ah, but we did. Words and expressions like "hoo hah", "What, me worry?, "veeblefetzer", "Mr. Fonebone" and "axelotel" crept into our everyday conversations. Harvey Kurtzman became our mirth mentors along with Will Elder and other young-Turk comic artists. This first issue is a watershed moment in the art of graphic humor and should not be missed......even at .99¢. (Hoo ha!!!)

[Utena]

Although it was a first issue, I found it completely uninteresting. I suppose with it, at the time, just coming out they were a bit in a hurry to see how the issue would fare before offering up more funnier issues.

[Colleen]

Classic

I really enjoyed reading the 'old school' Mad. I grew up on reading this magazine in the 70s and really enjoy the older issues. Gaines and his crew were comic geniuses!

[Tatianna Maenza]

Mad

great
funny too
wish the other books were free but u know whatever . . . . . . .

[John M Klish]

short and sweet...

... good fun read with light chuckles. You have to like MAD first, definitely a different kind of magazine to read.

[Mark Haddad]

fat

This book was fat and yummy







N n n n m m m b he hb hang hb o pig

[Tammy Kesteloot]

It's ok... slightly entertaining.... I guess that this magazine was much more interesting to me back when I was a kid.

[Jacob]

Upon seeing some MAD on Comixology (not enough, tbh—not sure why they stopped releasing digital back issues, but Comixology only offers issues 1 - 23), I decided it's high time I caught up on one of the most influential and renowned comic magazines. I'm not sure what I expected—I only have a fuzzy impression of MAD, perhaps from flipping through an issue or two at Barnes and Noble as a teenager—except that a first issue will probably be pretty raw. First issues of things—even great things!—often are.

And yes, I would describe MAD #1 to be pretty raw, albeit in an endearing sort of way.

No, the problem isn't so much the growing pains of being a fresh-faced magazine that (unbeknownst to them at the time) would go on to be a cultural hit—it's that I finished #1 a few days ago and I already forget every single story within its 30-some pages. Even reading the titles of the stories (so helpfully offered in Goodreads's blurb) failed to stir but the faintest of memory. Let's see, we have "Blobs!" which is, I think, something about blobby people? A story called "Hoohah!" which is... uh... and a story called "Ganefs!" which, hmm. And then things wrap up with "Varmint!," which I might remember as a cowboy who doesn't change his mind easy and is on the trail of a man who killed his friend. That one was alright; the repetition was annoying, but then the pure quantity of the repetition made it somehow funny.

I mean, I think these stories are supposed to be satirizing stuff that was popular at the time (I believe this released in 1952!), so while the genres getting riffed here are still familiar (Western, sci-fi, crime, and horror), few of us backtracking to MAD #1 will really have the appropriate era context. Which is why I think satire—to be long-lasting, anyway—needs more to be successful. Simply lampooning something popular only goes so far as that thing remains popular. Like, for a more modern example, Twilight was all the rage for eight years (2005 when the first book published to 2013, a year after the last movie released) and it made all the sense in the world for satirists to skewer Twilight. But now? The importance of Twilight has massively decreased. Which isn't to say everyone has forgotten about it, but it's definitely fallen off the pop culture center stage. Now Twilight satires just feel kinda sad. But to use a film example, satires like Scream and The Cabin in the Woods work because they're telling compelling stories along with the satire.

I'll be curious if MAD evolves (at least within the first 23 issues) and can find a way to made their brand of satire feel compelling, rather than trivially interesting.

[Rick Ray]

MAD is a humor publication edited by Harvey Kurtzman that initially started as a comic book before changing to the magazine format after the 23rd issue. Notable for its satirical tone, MAD served as an outlet for Kurtzman and other contributors to lampoon popular culture and current events. As the last surviving line from EC Comics, a lot of the early MAD comic strips serve as gags that parody the typical genre fiction styles found in older EC publications. Horror, war, sci-fi and crime comics were the prevailing works out of EC, and Kurtzman had to give it his best in terms of parodying each genre.

Kurtzman writes every story in this first issue, while artwork is provided by Jack Davis (Hoohah!, Wally Wood (Blobs!), Will Elder (Ganefs!) and John Severin (Varmint!). The stories aren't necessarily the most memorable but each one is sharply drawn and a breezy read. Elder's Ganefs! featuring two polar opposite criminals and some snappy Kurtzman dialogue was the best story of the bunch, and the type that feels most reflective of the tone that MAD is best known for.

[Randy John Steele]

A Blush Before You Flush

Might I date myself? ... No! Not something auto erotic, this! -- but something unknown about Mad is to said. There was a time -- as I recall -- Mad was a regarded a rag: a magazine kept in the bathroom near the toilet paper next to the Sears catalog. Some still think it deserves that kind of respect! Of those who do think such of Mad. might have yet to read this edition of its maiden issue. Authenticity of narrative voice is hardly avoided here. You might blush before you flush, but time reading Mad on the throne lacks an equal. Anyone who wants to experience genuinely good fun at reading a literary quality rag is encouraged to read this kindle issue of Mad! It might never be an experience about to one would brag, but reading Mad is fun. Think of it a guilty pleasure! So it goes! Rock on 🔥

[jboyg]

Mad Magazine 1950s Debut (c+)

Oh,halcyon days of my long departed youth, the grail is at last within our grasp,but not quite what we expected. From ages 9 thru 13 I bought every issue of MAD hot off the presses and loved every one: Don Martin,Wally Wood, Mort Drucker and the usual gang of idiots. An idiot's paradise. How I longed to see the original artifact: issue no. One! Be careful what you wish for.

[Lora Graham]

This was actually boring

I read this to complete yet another Kindle Challenge. This was for the “Fall Colors” achievement, in which you had to complete a graphic novel, comic or manga by the end of the quarter. I chose this because I used to read Mad back in the late 80s/early 90s and I thought it would be cool to read the very first issue. There may have been 5 funny words in this entire mag, and they weren’t all consecutive. I knew I should’ve picked Archie.

[Rick Barnes]

Best of the best

They didn't think twice - or didn't feel the need to. If you didn't want to be offended by some low-brow humor well, you can just put this comic back on the shelf. Because we are exercising our pointless, though not always, sense of inappropriateness or as we like to call it, potty mouth. Or bathroom humor.

[Dan Fiorella]

It's Mad

The pace is a bit slower and I'm sure the gags were new in the day, but it's a fun read and a fascinating look at the birth of an institution, one I wouldn't mind being committed to.

[Ed Mangelsdorf]

Funny then. Funnier now...

Funny then. Funnier now, almost 70 years later. Too bad Mad couldn't maintain this level of humor and artistry over the long haul... 😢 Good thing we can still access the historical / hysterical files today... ESPECIALLY today!

[Zaid]

Was into MAD way before I discovered the Kurtzman era. Now this baby is locked away in my safe as my most prized and valuable comic. The beginning of an unrivaled legacy in comic satire and more. All the Kurtzman era is, but this gem started it all.

[ana]

Funny

[Arjun Rajkumar]

This is where it all started. Not the greatest issue but the artwork and the thought process behind MAD comics is clearly there to see!!