I initially didn’t think anything was happening to MAD itself when comedian and senior editor Dan Telfer announced being laid off via Twitter. Then the deluge of news began about how the beloved satirical magazine was “ending” after 67 years. MAD‘s death was another SCLM demonstration of how they get the facts wrong in their rush to obey its if it bleeds, it leads attitude plus their general arrogance which often demonstrates their frequent ignorance. The truth is, MAD is going into zombie mode. After the last issue containing original material is published, the magazine will be reprints from its very long, elaborate archives with an annual, end-of-the-year issue which is supposed to contain new stuff. To trick people into buying the reprints new covers will be commissioned so at least one artist a month gets paid.
MAD is just the most recent casualty of the inept and decrepit AT&T juggernaut which has no clue how to manage all the properties they acquired to force people to use their shitty DirecTV or Uverse offerings. It’s not the first time neither. DC Comics can’t get its collective shit together with the continuous reboots, relaunches then quick cancellations of Vertigo (home of Sandman and other more adult titles) and I shouldn’t hold my breath with Young Animal (current home of Doom Patrol). Let’s also get ready for what a debacle their streaming service shall be as it holds the Cartoon Network and [adult swim] content hostage.
What is more frustrating is that I just picked up a new issue of recently the rebooted MAD via Telfer’s involvement (he used to write for The Onion, At Midnight and is a great DM on Nerd Poker) and it was as funny as its Twitter posts. MAD had become more… “adult.” How I’m defining “adult” is a tad difficult because it wasn’t in the same league as The Onion or South Park in which they use dirtier language or situations to convey their humor successfully, but not always with the latter. MAD had upped its game by making more contemporary jokes and punchlines. For example:
- A parody of Willy Wonka. Wonka was replaced by Guy Fieri as he took an updated group of teens through a tour and the four bad teens had the new vices Roald Dahl would point out: vaping, being a self-righteous vegan, careless obesity and selfie-obsession.
- Digs at Tiger Woods’ “sex addiction” anyone under 15 probably wouldn’t understand.
- An updated Goofus & Gallant, yet MAD wasn’t the first to do such a thing.
Back in the Seventies, I loved the humor but I was in grade school then. Mocking authority was what it did best and it was funny to me since I didn’t quite understand irony, the absurd or how foul language can be used effectively in comedy. Calling someone a clod was hilarious alongside farts. MAD sadly sowed its own demise as its audience would outgrow it to ingest more sophisticated material from stand-up comedians and its true successor, The Onion.
Let’s see if someone can save MAD and preserve its roots while helping it evolve without licensing the name to an SNL knockoff (the Fox show did give us Patton Oswalt, Blaine Capatch and Phil Lamar), a lame Animal House imitator (ever heard of a movie called Up The Academy? don’t bother watching) or the uninteresting cartoon attempt.