MAD Magazine Ends Regular Print Run After 67 Years

MAD Magazine, the iconic American satirical publication founded in 1952 by Harvey Kurtzman and William Gaines, will cease regular newsstand distribution after its August 2019 issue. The decision, reported by The Hollywood Reporter, marks the end of 67 years of uninterrupted publication. Publisher DC Comics announced that while the magazine will no longer be regularly available on newsstands starting autumn 2019, special issues and reprints of classic editions will continue through the end of the year, sold only in comic book stores or mailed to subscribers. The move is widely seen as a desperate attempt to keep the publication alive while fulfilling existing obligations. MAD Magazine was known for its relentless satire of American public life, lampooning figures and institutions and facing lawsuits, including a famous one from Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers over song parodies. Its cover featured the freckled mascot Alfred E. Neuman alongside figures like Barack Obama, Richard Nixon, Mark Zuckerberg, and Donald Trump. At its peak in the 1970s, circulation reached two million copies. The magazine influenced cartoonists such as Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Art Spiegelman, filmmaker Terry Gilliam, comedian John Belushi, and the creation of Saturday Night Live and contemporary stand-up comedy.