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Where are the Mad Magazine collectors?
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1,272 posts in this topic

... in FN+ or better grade, with the inserts fully attached to the spines, and without the fold-ins creased. Now THAT is a challenge.

 

The fold-ins began with issue #86. What was the last issue featuring a fold-in?

 

I've found that issues #86 and up in uncreased condition are much tougher to find than the earlier magazine issues. Creased copies are so common that dealers are of course quite careless about penalizing their assigned grades for back cover creases.

 

:mad:

 

 

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Despite being a die-hard Mad freak, I didn't even know about the existence of these books for a long time.

 

150018.jpg

 

And I didn't know of the existence of these books before I read your post!

 

(thumbs u

 

There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad

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Despite being a die-hard Mad freak, I didn't even know about the existence of these books for a long time.

 

150018.jpg

 

And I didn't know of the existence of these books before I read your post!

 

(thumbs u

 

There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad

 

I've got 10 copies of it but only 1 each of the books pictured. Golden Trashery was the toughest one for me to track down in a condition I could embrace. Mad for Keeps went through at least 6 printings and is the easiest to find. Mad Forever falls somewhere in between. All 4 are books that were way ahead of their time in the sense that very few compilations of comic book material of any kind existed!

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Found a few Mad's yesterday. This one seems to be the best of the lot, the back cover is :cloud9:

 

Found a small lot of Mad's again, including issue #94, my personal favorite cover of those I owned back in the day.

 

MAD_94_zpsrqa2rrjp.jpg

 

Oh man! Great score! All those issues in the two batches you bought were really nice.

 

???

Edited by Hepcat
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... in FN+ or better grade, with the inserts fully attached to the spines, and without the fold-ins creased. Now THAT is a challenge.

The fold-ins began with issue #86. What was the last issue featuring a fold-in?

Al Jaffee is still doing fold-ins for Mad Magazine. I think he's 95 years old or something in that realm, and Mad's writers help him with topical comedy ideas. (May he continue for as long as possible!) Only a few issues since #86 haven't featured fold-ins.

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With what issue did Mad magazine go to colour interiors on glossier paper? ???

It can probably be looked up, and if I have time later I'll let you know. I remember it being a pretty big deal, because Mad also started taking advertising around the same time. As you know, William Gaines wanted the most autonomy possible, and didn't want to be in any way beholden to advertisers who might pressure him to water down the satire or avoid certain topics. He was a purist. However, by the mid or late 1990s, a few years after Gaines had departed this planet, it was clear that young readers -- who grew up in world where nearly everything was in color -- had difficulty getting accustomed to the black-and-white format.

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Can anyone report on the Mar Archives? Are they as good as the other Archive editions?

I find that the Russ Cochran box set is the best reprint of the comics.

Me too. Since I already had the Russ Cochran color set, which reprints all of the Mad comic books in a very easy-to-read large format, I haven't sampled any of the other Mad archives. (I'd really like to find an edition that faithfully reprints all of the magazine issues from about #24 through the late 1950s, since most of the early reprints of that material were in paperback form that didn't preserve the full-spread magazine formatting.)

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Despite being a die-hard Mad freak, I didn't even know about the existence of these books for a long time.

 

150018.jpg

 

And I didn't know of the existence of these books before I read your post!

 

(thumbs u

 

There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad

Yep, and it's very tough to find with the slipcover and all the interior goodies intact (it was loaded with stickers, bumper stickers and other stuff similar to what was found in the Trash/Worst/Follies issues).

 

I consider it a somewhat thematically separate collectible from the three books posted because it was printed during a different era of Mad. The three books above are from the late 1950s and the reprint stuff from the earliest magazine issues. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad is from 1969, a decade later. Still a highly desirable Mad collectible of course!

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There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad

I've got 10 copies of it but only 1 each of the books pictured.

If you ever feel like parting with one (if it's complete), let me know.

 

All 4 are books that were way ahead of their time in the sense that very few compilations of comic book material of any kind existed!

It's fun to think of how many of these books ended up passed around in college dorms and such back in the late 1950s. Another compilation book that's of interest to Mad fans is the Humbug Hardback. (Since many of the Mad artists jumped ship with Harvey Kurtzman and wrote/drew for Humbug for several years.) The Humbug Hardback was basically that comic's answer to "Mad for Keeps," but it has a limited print run and is almost never seen today.

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Never owned this issue, but it's got a great Frankenstein cover.

 

MAD_89_zpsrejblldf.jpg

 

That is perhaps the Mad issue at the very top of my most wanted list!

 

:luhv:

Edited by Hepcat
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Despite being a die-hard Mad freak, I didn't even know about the existence of these books for a long time.

 

150018.jpg

 

And I didn't know of the existence of these books before I read your post!

 

(thumbs u

 

There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad

Yep, and it's very tough to find with the slipcover and all the interior goodies intact (it was loaded with stickers, bumper stickers and other stuff similar to what was found in the Trash/Worst/Follies issues).

 

I consider it a somewhat thematically separate collectible from the three books posted because it was printed during a different era of Mad. The three books above are from the late 1950s and the reprint stuff from the earliest magazine issues. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad is from 1969, a decade later. Still a highly desirable Mad collectible of course!

 

I'd argue that it's more desirable that the first 3, actually. It's certainly more well known. Really the key difference is the publisher, World vs. Crown. REM reprints a few comics from the Kurtzman era as well as magazine material from the early 60's to it's then present. If anything it continues from where Golden Trashery left off with the added addition of multiple bonuses/inserts and cover reproductions, fold-in's and ad parodies.

 

I would never, at this point, part with any of my complete copies (6 of the 10), sorry to say. I did that once and it pained me.

 

As far as the Humbug book you mention goes, it's not really in the same category as it was basically Kurtzman, et.al. taking leftover copies of the comic book and having them bound in hardcover to sell through the office to make some money to keep the enterprise going.

 

They more than likely contacted a local bindery and had a batch made up, but there was no editorial process involved. Just bound the run and had a die stamp made for the spine, etc. It's an interesting item, to be sure, but it's a totally different thing than the Mad compilations...like having a batch of file copies bound to sell as well as keep in the office for reference. I've seen bound file copies of all sorts of old comics come up for sale, Kurtzman just figured it was probably an alternative way of recycling old stock to keep some cash flowing on a sinking ship.

 

There was a Humbug Digest put out in pb, that had been compiled by an editor, though.

 

 

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A cool find last weekend. Rescued from a "hoarder" house. Although I have all the MADs several times over. Many of these were real nice shape and VERY cheap. What really got me though were the early MAD "ripoff" magazines. These are hard to find in any shape. I was very glad to fill in some holes.

 

madcomics2716_zpsjn9f7k7v.jpg

 

Oh man! Phenomenal score! Lot of really great mags there, and those early Cracked issues are super difficult to find.

 

(thumbs u

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There is one book missing from that collection. The Ridiculously Expensive Mad

I've got 10 copies of it but only 1 each of the books pictured.

If you ever feel like parting with one (if it's complete), let me know.

 

All 4 are books that were way ahead of their time in the sense that very few compilations of comic book material of any kind existed!

It's fun to think of how many of these books ended up passed around in college dorms and such back in the late 1950s. Another compilation book that's of interest to Mad fans is the Humbug Hardback. (Since many of the Mad artists jumped ship with Harvey Kurtzman and wrote/drew for Humbug for several years.) The Humbug Hardback was basically that comic's answer to "Mad for Keeps," but it has a limited print run and is almost never seen today.

 

If I remember correctly an overstreet price guide estimated that there were maybe 50 copies of the Humbug hardback. I have only seen one for sale before and it was part of a huge MAD collection that was selling for tens of thousands of dollars.

 

If you are a Kurtzman fan here are some other things to look out for... Trump and Help magazines, Little Annie Fanny, Goodman Beaver, Jungle Book, Hey Look, and some others that slip my mind at the moment.

 

 

 

Great resource! I wonder how many truly bent Mad collectors have taken on the task of amassing a complete set of 93 paperbacks?

 

???

 

 

I I have a ton of the paperbacks. I am sure that I am missing only a few of the ones that came out in the late 80's early 90's.

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:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Just saw that Al Jaffee is going to be at the Baltimore Comic Con in September. yay!!!!! :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

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Rest in Peace, Jack Davis

 

From the Mad page on Facebook:

 

"MAD Remembers Jack Davis, Artist

 

It is with great sadness that we note the passing this morning of long-time legendary MAD artist Jack Davis.

 

Jack was one of the founding members of MAD Magazine’s “Usual Gang of insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.” An enormously gifted and versatile artist, Davis’ work appeared in the very first issue of MAD and virtually every issue over the next four decades.

 

“There wasn’t anything Jack couldn’t do,” said MAD editor John Ficarra. “Front covers, caricatures, sports scenes, monsters — his comedic range was just incredible. His ability to put energy and motion into his drawings, his use of cross-hatching and brush work, and his bold use of color made him truly one of the greats.”

 

“More than any one piece, it was Jack’s immediately recognizable style that revolutionized comic illustration,” said MAD art director, Sam Viviano. “There is not a humorous illustrator in the past 50 years who hasn’t been influenced by him.”

 

A list of Jack’s most legendary pieces would run several pages in length. Among his most iconic parodies from MAD’s comic book days are of The Lone Ranger and High Noon. From the magazine, his notable parodies include spoofs of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gone with the Wind, and M*A*S*H.

 

Jack’s final cover for MAD, depicting Howard Stern being plunged into a toilet bowl by Alfred E. Neuman, is beloved by Stern and remains a MAD classic.

 

“Jack will always be remembered for his charming modesty and southern gentleman manner — which completely belied his rascally sense of humor and wry wit,” said Ficarra.

 

Everyone at MAD and DC Entertainment send their heartfelt condolences to Jack’s wife, Dena, and the entire Davis family."

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