MADness #78: MAD No. 500!!

We interrupt the usual self-deprecation and smartassery that permeates these posts to revisit a moment that was a major milestone for MAD Magazine, both is a positive and negative sense.

April of 2009 saw the release of the 500th issue of MAD. That issue was the culmination of 57 years of idiocy, and the 500th issue was a tribute to the artists and writers who filled all those pages over the decades. No. 500 saw the return of many of the Usual Gang of Idiots who had not had anything in the magazine in years, albeit in cameo appearances. I did a spot illustration for the feature “The Bailout Hymn of the Republic”, written by MAD’s poet laureate Frank Jacobs. I was in good company with that spot, as the article features spot illustrations by Mort Drucker, James Warhols, Gerry Gersten, Angelo Torres, Harry North Esq., Richard Williams, and Hermann Mejia. Other notable names whose work appeared in this issue but had not been seen in a while included Don “Duck” Edwing, Paul Peter Porges, Bob Clarke, Kevin Pope, Bob Staake, Rick Tulka, Paul Coker, and Drew Friedman. There were many other current contributors as well, of course. The issue was a 58 page extravaganza of MADness. Here’s my piece from the issue in-situ :

Unfortunately, issue #500 also ushered in the start of many negative changes for the magazine. Shortly before getting this assignment I and all other members of the Usual gang of Idiots got a letter from MAD Editor John Ficarra telling us that as of issue #500, the magazine would be switching to a quarterly format (from 12 issues a year), budget cuts would be lowering page rates for writing and art, MAD KIDS and MAD Classics were being cancelled, and worst of all several MAD staffers would be dismissed as the staff downsized. This was extremely depressing, not just because I was not going to be doing as much work for them but because MAD had been an important voice in humor, cartooning, and satire for over half a century, and that voice was about to become seriously diminished.

The quarterly schedule only lasted four issues and publication became six times a year in 2010, and the content of the magazine was as strong as ever for the next 50 issues IMO. I quickly adjusted to the new publishing schedule and as I had a piece of some kind in every issue, and often a multi-page parody, it didn’t seem to me like a lot had changed. It was business as usual, just a little less often.

Enough of this depressing crap! Tune in next week for the exciting side story of the most intense short deadline job I ever did for MAD, and it wasn’t even for the actual magazine!!