The MAD Staff Picks Their Favorite Back Covers: Senior Editor Charlie Kadau

Classic MAD Dept.

MAD has a long history of running a wide variety of material on our back covers: fake ads, magazine parodies, comics, and more. To wrap up 2012, each member of the MAD staff selected a favorite back cover and explained why this one stands out above hundreds of others. Come back on Monday to see another pick, and to read them all, click here! 

MAD #210, October 1979
Selected by Senior Editor Charlie Kadau

Charlie says: "It took the nuclear reactor accident at Three Mile Island to finally break Alfred E. Neuman’s cool, clueless exterior. This could have been a front cover — and these days, it more likely would have — so I particularly like that it was painted by Norman Mingo."

mad magazine the idiotical back covers norman mingo three mile island

Artist: Norman Mingo

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MAD Staff, Back Covers, MAD Back Covers, Staff Favorite Back Covers, Staff Favorites, Charlie Kadau, Alfred E. Neuman, Norman Mingo, Three Mile Island

The MAD Staff Picks Their Favorite Back Covers: Senior Editor Joe Raiola

Classic MAD Dept.

MAD has a long history of running a wide variety of material on our back covers: fake ads, magazine parodies, comics, and more. To wrap up 2012, each member of the MAD staff selected a favorite back cover and explained why this one stands out above hundreds of others. Come back tomorrow to see another pick, and to read them all, click here! 

MAD #308, January 1992
Selected by Senior Editor Joe Raiola

Joe says: "At the risk of blowing my own comedy horn, this parody of an NRA ad, which I wrote with my pal Charlie Kadau, is among my favorite MAD back covers. First, in the pre-Photoshop era, Irving Schild’s photographic wizardry was simply astonishing. But what I love best about this is the back story. Soon after the spoof was published, MAD was deluged with hundreds of letters from angry NRA members, each threatening to 'boycott our advertisers' — at a time when the magazine was advertiser-free. You can’t make this stuff up!"

mad magazine the idiotical back covers 308 nra deer irving schild joe raiola charlie kadau

Writers: Joe Raiola & Charlie Kadau
Photo: Irving Schild

Tags: 
MAD Staff, Back Covers, MAD Back Covers, Staff Favorite Back Covers, Staff Favorites, Joe Raiola, Charlie Kadau, Irving Schild, NRA, Ad Parodies

Archie Marries Jughead, Prop 8 Be Damned

Yesterday, when a California appeals court struck down Proposition 8 — the state’s voter-approved ban on same sex marriage — anti-gay forces went ballistic, vowing to continue their fight to support “traditional marriage” Why can’t these knuckle-dragging troglodytes see the future that’s inevitably coming? After all, we did — way back in 2010, with an issue of Archie that foresaw the way things will eventually be — in California and beyond. From MAD #504, August 2010 Writer: Charlie Kadau Artist: R. Sikoryak

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Archie Comics, California, Charlie Kadau, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Prop 8, Proposition 8, R. Sikoryak, Same Sex Marriage, Classic MAD, Society and Culture

R.I.P. Bil Keane, Creator of 'The Family Circus'

Over the years, MAD did a lot of takeoffs on “The Family Circus”. Keane always enjoyed them and laughed along with us.

Here’s just a small sampling. Thanks for the inspiration, Bil.

 


"When Other Comic Strips Start Using the 'Far Side'" Formula (MAD #280)
Writer: Charlie Kadau, Artist: Bob Clarke



"The Dysfunctional Family Circus" (MAD #333)
Writer: Desmond Devlin, Artist: George Woodbridge



"The Congressional Record Comic Pages" (MAD #378)
Writer: Duck Edwing, Artist: Sam Viviano



"A MAD Look Back at The Bush Family Circus" (MAD #404)
Writer: John Ficarra, Artist: Sam Viviano


"The Sopranos Family Circus" (MAD #413)
Writer: Frank Jacobs, Artist: Sam Viviano
Tags: 
Bil Keane, Bob Clarke, Charlie Kadau, Comic Strips, Desmond Devlin, Duck Edwing, Frank Jacobs, George Woodbridge, John Ficarra, RIP, Sam Viviano, The Family Circus
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