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Some talk about William Gaines, the eccentric owner-founder-publisher who relentlessly kept overhead low and spirits high.
(In the business, the new format was called a slick.)
The very first issue, in 1952, included a crime story titled Ganefs!
The editors favorite words seemed to be Blecch!
Most of all, though, it was about irreverence.
Every president caught flak fromMad, no two more than Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Let there be Brisk, Witty Dialogue!
But, along with the Comedy, let us show the Stark Reality of War!
Let our Show have Integrity!
And the Public saw that it was Good!
And on the Seventh Day, the Creators rested in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel!
(Al Jaffee is still there, in fact, after nearly 60 years on the job.)
Stapled to this cardboard is your check!
like call us about writing more stuff for us!
He did, and still does.
Future Reaganites, too, for that matter, though they probably missed the point.
We would not have hadSpymagazine withoutMad, norThe Daily Show,norColbert,nor CollegeHumor.com, nor Gawker.
(Nor, probably, the sound and ethos of the blog youre reading now.)
(The Onion,in fact, is probablyMads truest heir, and has tacitlyacknowledged its debt.)
Besides, a deliberately cheap-looking print magazine probably cant be the cultural force it once was.
You could tweet it but then youd be the sucker, standing there with your stupid expensive phone!
Handing over your privacy to a bunch of millionaire California dorks in hoodies?
Youre exactly the shmuck thatMadwould make fun of, arent you?
Yeah, they got you again!
