| Magazine Name: |
Mad |
| Alternative Names: |
MAD |
| Owner: |
Warner Bros. |
| Publisher: |
DC Comics, E.C. Publications, Inc. |
| Country / Region: |
USA (New York) |
| Language: |
English |
| Format type: |
Magazine |
| Category: |
Humour, cartoons |
| Political alignment: |
None |
| Frequency: |
Monthly |
| Publication Years (print version): |
1952 — now (71 year) |
| ISSN: |
0024-9319 |
| Circulation: |
140,000 (2015) |
| Official Pages: |
|
| Website: |
madmagazine.com [read with translation] |
|
«Mad Magazine» or simply «Mad» is a well-known American magazine of satirical and «denouncing» comics on current political, economic, social, cultural topics, events, weaknesses and problems of American society. From English, the name of this magazine can be translated as «Dirt», and in a figurative sense as «Psycho», «Madman». Initially, it was a book of comic parodies, which was published from 1952 with an irregular frequency by the American company «EC Comics». Since 1955, this publication was formed into a magazine, which since then has been published 8 times a year. In each issue of the magazine there is a certain fictional character, a lop-eared boy with freckles and a playful smile, who gets into new situations every time. According to some sources, this is directly the founder of the publication, William Gaines. «Mad», through cartoons and satire, showed its readers the true essence of things, precisely voicing out loud what was already clear, but what no one dared to say for themselves. In the future, he became the prototype for the animated television series Simpsons, which is actually an animated version of this magazine.
The magazine put the fashion on the publication in American newspapers of the so-called «comics strip», short comics in one line. The magazine was most popular in the 1970s, when its monthly circulation reached 2 million copies. With the development of television and the advent of the Internet, the relevance of the magazine has decreased, now what previously could only be found in «Mad» was almost everywhere. By the 1990s, he had exhausted almost all possible topics for parodies and began to repeat himself, the jokes becoming rougher and more unpleasant. Nevertheless, «Mad» has firmly entered the history of American periodicals and its legacy is reflected in many films, animation, literary works, games, and even a Broadway production is dedicated to it. Another credit of Mud was that it formed a whole generation of skeptical Americans who were no longer so carefree about the world. The magazine also had opponents who considered its humor unethical, rude and cruel, even provocative.
«Mad» was also published in other countries in local versions: in Europe, Asia, Africa. Longest duration (35 years) It was published in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Local versions differed in content from the American version, and featured cartoons by local artists on local themes.
In 2019, the editorial board of the magazine officially announced its closure, it was assumed that new issues would no longer be published, but instead only the previous successful versions would be republished. However, the editors continue to publish this magazine, it focuses mainly on politics and the place of the United States in the international arena, is still popular in certain circles and is published every month with a circulation of 140 thousand copies.
