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Mad for Decades: 50 Years of Forgettable Humor from MAD Magazine
In the embarrassing tradition of MAD About the Fifites, MAD About the Sixties, MAD About the Seventies, MAD About the Eighties, and MAD About the Nineties comes this inevitable and shameless repackaging of the absolutely worst stuff from all five books. MAD for Decades is a ridiculous look back at a ridiculous half century that you’re sure to find ridiculous—because it was and is. Ridiculous, we mean.
864 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 27, 2010
The material in this book is not merely warmed over - it's gotten stuck to the cast-iron frying pan!
MAD for Decades features reprints (and, in most cases, re-re-re-reprints) of material from the magazine from 1952 through 1999. This book is a comprehensive cross-section of the satirical periodical since its original inception as pulpy comic fare. Most of the old standbys are represented herein: "The Lighter Side," Spy vs. Spy, movie and television satires, and about four thousand articles penned by Dick DeBartolo. Not to be seen, however, are the prerequisite "MAD Fold-Ins" by Al Jaffee - this, of course, is due to limitations within the medium (as it would be tough to present a proper "Fold-In" within the confines of a hardcover book the approximate size of a small cinder block).
What is interesting is that, while the material herein is primarily dated (jokes about "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." television series, and Ronald Reagan, and preInfinite Crisis Superman, for instance), it is repackaged as such so that this becomes exactly the point! MAD Magazine as zeitgeist for generations! ...keeping in mind, of course, that 90% of MAD Magazine's material is based on then-current trends, movies, television, and whatnot, thereby making all reprints of MAD material "representative" of the time in which it was originally published.
This tome is notably heavy on the five-and-six-page "satires" of movies and television. This is likely due to the fact that the bulk of shorter articles have already been recently published in the form of "Bathroom Companions," leaving the more meaty articles for the decade-specific books from which this material was culled (once again).
Perhaps the most noteworthy complaint about the book is the lack of attention to detail. Sergio Aragones' beloved "MAD Marginals" are present, clearly... but in several cases, are treated with such off-handedness that they are partially "cut off" the edges of the page, thereby eliminating crucial detail. In another couple of instances, internal notes (perhaps denoting page numeration?) are clearly visible, scrawled directly onto the artwork. And in other places, jokes pertaining to other pages within specific issues are left intact (so that a gag about rock band KISS's comeback tour is meaningless, directing readers to turn to page 43 - while "page 43," in this case, covers material originally published in the 1950s!
And of course, there is the detail of the "MAD Paradox" which has never been made more clear than through the publication of this particular book. That is to say, who exactly is the intended audience? The magazine uses profanity symbols to cover up the usage of obscenity ("@#$%&҉*¢!" exclaims one character in a spoof of "The Exorcist"), which leads one to believe that the magazine is aimed at a younger audience. However, the magazine spoofs R-rated fare such as "The Godfather" and "Silence of the Lambs" - films that a younger audience would likely not have exposure to! True, it can be said that with modern-day home video equipment, anybody can watch any thing regardless of age... but these satires stretch back into a time when the only way to watch a movie was in the theatre, or perhaps a truncated "No swears, no sex" version on network television.
So, who exactly is MAD aimed at, anyway?
MAD for Decades features reprints (and, in most cases, re-re-re-reprints) of material from the magazine from 1952 through 1999. This book is a comprehensive cross-section of the satirical periodical since its original inception as pulpy comic fare. Most of the old standbys are represented herein: "The Lighter Side," Spy vs. Spy, movie and television satires, and about four thousand articles penned by Dick DeBartolo. Not to be seen, however, are the prerequisite "MAD Fold-Ins" by Al Jaffee - this, of course, is due to limitations within the medium (as it would be tough to present a proper "Fold-In" within the confines of a hardcover book the approximate size of a small cinder block).
What is interesting is that, while the material herein is primarily dated (jokes about "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." television series, and Ronald Reagan, and preInfinite Crisis Superman, for instance), it is repackaged as such so that this becomes exactly the point! MAD Magazine as zeitgeist for generations! ...keeping in mind, of course, that 90% of MAD Magazine's material is based on then-current trends, movies, television, and whatnot, thereby making all reprints of MAD material "representative" of the time in which it was originally published.
This tome is notably heavy on the five-and-six-page "satires" of movies and television. This is likely due to the fact that the bulk of shorter articles have already been recently published in the form of "Bathroom Companions," leaving the more meaty articles for the decade-specific books from which this material was culled (once again).
Perhaps the most noteworthy complaint about the book is the lack of attention to detail. Sergio Aragones' beloved "MAD Marginals" are present, clearly... but in several cases, are treated with such off-handedness that they are partially "cut off" the edges of the page, thereby eliminating crucial detail. In another couple of instances, internal notes (perhaps denoting page numeration?) are clearly visible, scrawled directly onto the artwork. And in other places, jokes pertaining to other pages within specific issues are left intact (so that a gag about rock band KISS's comeback tour is meaningless, directing readers to turn to page 43 - while "page 43," in this case, covers material originally published in the 1950s!
And of course, there is the detail of the "MAD Paradox" which has never been made more clear than through the publication of this particular book. That is to say, who exactly is the intended audience? The magazine uses profanity symbols to cover up the usage of obscenity ("@#$%&҉*¢!" exclaims one character in a spoof of "The Exorcist"), which leads one to believe that the magazine is aimed at a younger audience. However, the magazine spoofs R-rated fare such as "The Godfather" and "Silence of the Lambs" - films that a younger audience would likely not have exposure to! True, it can be said that with modern-day home video equipment, anybody can watch any thing regardless of age... but these satires stretch back into a time when the only way to watch a movie was in the theatre, or perhaps a truncated "No swears, no sex" version on network television.
So, who exactly is MAD aimed at, anyway?
September 23, 2018
MAD Magazine at its best (or worst, depending on how you look at it). Wonderful spoofs of movies and life in general.
November 20, 2016
When most people think of MAD Magazine, it's probably the intentionally cheezy movie and TV parodies in comics form that spring to mind (along with iconic mascot Alfred E. Neuman). MAD, however, was very much an act of rebellious artistic subversion in its early days: this is the snark we laughed at in the pre-Internet age before sharing memes on Facebook.
Publisher and MAD mastermind Bill Gaines had very infamously been the sole member of the comics industry to stand up to attempts by watchdogs and the government to censor the medium in the 1950s, and when everyone else rolled over and showed their belly, Gaines used MAD as a pulpit to ridicule the establishment, starting with the fact that he discovered the first huge loophole in the censorship of the Comics Code -- he simply started calling MAD a magazine instead of a comic book and was able to use comics the exact way he wanted, censor-free, while all of his contemporaries were busy making sure none of their material were deemed too offensive or radical for mass mainstream distribution.
This omnibus-style edition, collecting five decades' worth of material in one handy volume, is a treasure trove of American cartooning: all the greats are represented here -- Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Will Elder, Don Martin, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffe, Sergio Aragones, Dave Berg -- in a set that begins with lampooning the Lone Ranger, Superman, and Tarzan, and ends with poking fun at The Matrix and Everybody Loves Raymond.
While in later years, MAD focused far more on pop culture, the early chunk of the book representing the 1950s and 1960s I found most eyebrow-raising: there was some really subversive material for the time that wasn't just parodies of TV or films, but a snarky overall thumbing of the nose at the supposedly squeaky-clean, conformist ethics of the post-WW II, pre-Vietnam era, in which it really seemed like Gaines and his crew were really trying their best to make sure comics didn't completely devolve into an art form that was only really appropriate for kids -- by today's standards, it's fairly tame, but when you contrast it against the highly sanitized television shows and films of the time (comics were far from the only for of entertainment to bow to attempts at censorship), this wasn't just trying to make a buck by making people laugh: it was an overt act of rebellion against the status quo.
MAD For Decades is an excellent overview and introduction to an institution that sadly, has become a bit forgotten, but was at one time a wellspring of comedy -- if not for MAD's Usual Gang of Idiots building the roads with pen and ink on cheap pulp paper, we would have never had Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, The Daily Show, or South Park. Clocking in at 800-plus pages, it's not the kind of book you'll likely read through in a single sitting, but leave lying around to chink away at when you've got some time to kill and need a few laughs.
Publisher and MAD mastermind Bill Gaines had very infamously been the sole member of the comics industry to stand up to attempts by watchdogs and the government to censor the medium in the 1950s, and when everyone else rolled over and showed their belly, Gaines used MAD as a pulpit to ridicule the establishment, starting with the fact that he discovered the first huge loophole in the censorship of the Comics Code -- he simply started calling MAD a magazine instead of a comic book and was able to use comics the exact way he wanted, censor-free, while all of his contemporaries were busy making sure none of their material were deemed too offensive or radical for mass mainstream distribution.
This omnibus-style edition, collecting five decades' worth of material in one handy volume, is a treasure trove of American cartooning: all the greats are represented here -- Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Will Elder, Don Martin, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffe, Sergio Aragones, Dave Berg -- in a set that begins with lampooning the Lone Ranger, Superman, and Tarzan, and ends with poking fun at The Matrix and Everybody Loves Raymond.
While in later years, MAD focused far more on pop culture, the early chunk of the book representing the 1950s and 1960s I found most eyebrow-raising: there was some really subversive material for the time that wasn't just parodies of TV or films, but a snarky overall thumbing of the nose at the supposedly squeaky-clean, conformist ethics of the post-WW II, pre-Vietnam era, in which it really seemed like Gaines and his crew were really trying their best to make sure comics didn't completely devolve into an art form that was only really appropriate for kids -- by today's standards, it's fairly tame, but when you contrast it against the highly sanitized television shows and films of the time (comics were far from the only for of entertainment to bow to attempts at censorship), this wasn't just trying to make a buck by making people laugh: it was an overt act of rebellion against the status quo.
MAD For Decades is an excellent overview and introduction to an institution that sadly, has become a bit forgotten, but was at one time a wellspring of comedy -- if not for MAD's Usual Gang of Idiots building the roads with pen and ink on cheap pulp paper, we would have never had Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, The Daily Show, or South Park. Clocking in at 800-plus pages, it's not the kind of book you'll likely read through in a single sitting, but leave lying around to chink away at when you've got some time to kill and need a few laughs.
April 14, 2010
Pocas lecturas ligeras son mejores que recordar los buenos momentos en que reiamos de las sátiras de estos irrespetuos caricaturistas. Lo compartimos cientos de veces mi hermano y yo (aunque yo no compraba las revistas por falta de presupuesto infantil). No había personaje famoso que pasara desapercibido por Mad, ni pelicula que no le hicieran parodia. Cualquiera que se jacte de ser Ochentero recardará los buenos momentos de risas. BIA, aqui te tengo el regalo. AJ
June 24, 2008
I was a big fan as a kid -- my optimal reading years would have been the mid-70's.
So far, the stuff from the 50's just sucks. SUX.
The 60's was lame.
The 70's -- optimal years.
The 80's -- plenty to skewer.
The 90's -- 's alright.
So far, the stuff from the 50's just sucks. SUX.
The 60's was lame.
The 70's -- optimal years.
The 80's -- plenty to skewer.
The 90's -- 's alright.
January 2, 2010
It feels like a history of my life. I starting reading MAD magazine back in my teens. This was a fun (and for me nostalgic) read.
A friend gave me this last night, and I stayed up most of the night reading it.
A friend gave me this last night, and I stayed up most of the night reading it.
October 6, 2008
Such a guilty pleasure, but a pleasure none-the-less.
February 2, 2013
Fifty years of the best - or is it the worst? - from Mad Magazine. Some of it's brilliant, some of it's stupid, but all of it's funny! If you ever loved MAD, buy this book!
October 19, 2015
Today I learned that Mad Magazine either isn't, or possibly never was, as funny as I recall it being.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews