Customer Reviews

Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have the older version of MAD, which is not from the same company. Kudos for this version in every respect but one (and I may be in error).
First, the old program suffers from a pain-in-the-(insert word here) interface, with no flexibility. This new version is all PDF. Transfer to your PDA and have fun!!!! It has some pretty good extras, like the covers of the paperbacks, which happened to be the only way we could get to see early stories like Starchie.
I gave this 5 stars because of the ease of porting this from one PC to Mac to PDA. Now the big downer: As far as I can tell, there are no audio files. No Gall in the Family Fare? the audio parody of Archie Bunker? Aw, c'mon! Is that such a big deal? In the 7 CD version there are very few sound files, so it's not a space issue.
Lastly, from a former printer, the register is not always great, as if they used poorly printed pages here and there. Print colors bleed. However, buy this one; it will not get any better. Find someone who has the old audio inserts or the original programs. Or, maybe I missed it, but dagnabit! I sure looked for them boogers. [Added] After more looking, they actually show the vinyl record and its reverse side, which is blank, but do not have the sound files. I don't really care about the extras like Spy animations that were not part of the original issues, especially when they leave out a key essential as a vocal version of a classic parody that WAS part of the originals.
It's a great value. It's the most flexible of releases. Those who remember Broderbund's obscenely overly done protection will feel great relief. Put out a great product and people will buy it. Buy this.

Wow. To think I have box after heavy box filled with old MAD Magazines in my house and even that only goes back to the 80s. Now I can toss all those out and just have everything on one coaster sized DVD (yes it is on one DVD desipite it mentioning two somewhere above). But just kidding, I could never part with my paper copies, but still this DVD is a MUST HAVE for any MAD fan. I mean it has every single issue up through 2005 on it (so it is one year shy of being totally complete, but I guess they had to draw the line somewhere). Still 52 years of a magazine on one DVD is pretty darn impressive.

It is easy to get started too. Nothing to really install. After upgrading to Adobe 7.0 which is suggested, I was on my way. The interface is simple, you simply start with the decade you want, then narrow it down to a year, and then are presented with all the covers for the choices for that year. The regular issues are on the left and the specials on the right. I am not a huge fan of Adobe usually, but for this sort of product it does the job. It is easy enough to move pages, zoom in, etc. However I didn't realize everytime I'd look at a new issue, it opened a new tab on my bottom task bar. I must have had 30+ tabs open at one point. Oh well, such MADness. The way the Super Specials and other reprint issues are handled is OK. Instead of being able to flip through all 100 pages in a row like with the regular issues, you are only given the cover, contents, and any pages that were NEW material. All the previously reprinted material is available by clicking the link in the table of contents and you are taken to the issue it first appeared to view it that way. I suppose that makes sense rather than double and triple printing articles to save space. But just be aware, you can't page through the specials like you can the regular issues. The few Color Classics issues from the 90s and 2000s are intact however as those reprints were "new" since they were in color for the first time. Oh and on the regular issues you can also click on the content page listing to be taken right to a particualr article which is handy.

I looked briefly at the extras and there a bunch of interviews, some animated Spy Vs. Spy moments from the early days of MADTV and some "web only" articles that have appeared over the years too. Seems like some good stuff to go back and check out when I have more time, especially the interviews. It would have been nice as the other review mentioned to have some of the classic MAD audio files, but I guess you can't get too greedy.

For a little over $40, to have 50+ Years of MAD on ONE DVD... I wish I could go higher than FIVE STARS because this is a must have for all MAD fans. And even the packing is nice. Instead of a sleeve or even a plastic case, the DVD sits inside a fold out cardboard container designed to look like a MAD Book with several classic covers reprinted on it. So it will look great on a bookshelf or wherever you decide to display it.

If you love MAD, you would be ABSOLUTELY MAD to NOT buy this DVD!

Almost didn't buy this much desired product because of some negative reviews. I'm glad I ignored them because this is everything I hoped it would be. If YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS this DVD should work and look fine BUT you need to use Adobe 8 to avoid having to enlarge it to 150 percent [with A8, 75 percent is all I needed to read it comfortably] I used Adobe 8 and got clear, crisp, clean as the original hard copy scan images and as I had the suggested programs running I found the DVD worked efficently. So enough of the cheap shots people when all fails.....

I have read MAD off and on since the late 80s, but never more than a couple of issues in a row. I have enjoyed it every time I have read it, but it just kept slipping my mind. Recently, thanks to a reborn love of all things EC, I have started reading over the newer issues and the older issues. In one of the new issues, I noticed the "Absolutely MAD" DVD and came on Amazon to buy it.

My one fear was that it would be incompatible with Linux. What information I found on it, though, showed it using PDFs and I figured that if I couldn't read it on Linux then I could read it on my wife's WinXP box.

The results are slightly mixed. Using the Linux version of Adobe Acrobat at about 120% zoom, I could see everything and generally read everything though some images were blurry and some words were harder to read than others. Using XPDF/KPDF I was able to get a clearer picture, but it didn't work too well on the two-page spreads and I had to page-up and -down to see them properly. I can extract the images from the file, and view them in an image viewer and they are crisp and clear, so it does not seem to be an image resolution problem but more of a PDF-to-screen problem.

Again, none of the above problems stop me from being able to read through the comics/magazine, but it will probably not be until acroread 8 is available to Linux users before we can view it as crisp as it is extracted.

Moving away from the technical to the content side, this is top notch stuff. If you like MAD humor there is nothing you won't like here. The evolution of Alfred, Spy vs Spy, the Marginals (which suffer the most from the resolution problems, by the way), and all the other bits that make MAD special. The early issues with their distinct EC feel (and sometimes were more moral stories than humorous stories). The beginnings and the adaptations of the "spoof" stories. The move to a magazine format where it ceased to be 4 main stories and a couple of text stories and became more along the lines of articles. I went through a few years of the mag and I feel sad that I wasn't able to keep up before now.

And, as a bonus to me, I am getting to see the original (23-24 I think) issues in nice color for the first time. I have seen time worn colorized copies and the b&w reprints from about a decade ago, but seeing them in color again is a treat.

I do definitely recommend this and I can vouch that it shows up with most any PDF viewer from the past few years though the image quality will depend on some settings on your own computer.

For those of us who'd grown up with Mad Magazine, the kind who ran to the variety story on the corner looking for every new issue (sometimes paying, sometimes not) and grabbed those special edition paperbacks off the racks (again, sometimes paying...), ABSOLUTELY MAD MAGAZINE: 50+ YEARS is something we all should have sitting on our shelves.

The 2 DVD-ROM set spans the years 1952-2006, including issues 1-460, along with the XL and Super Special editions as well. As a bonus this collection contains video clips of interviews with the magazine's writers and the Spy vs. Spy animated shorts from the early days of the late-night comedy series Mad TV.

The downside to this DVD-ROM set is minimal. Unfortunately, there are resolution problems with some the pages, especially with Sergio Aragones' Mad Marginals. Otherwise, this is an exceptionally comprehensive collection which will provide a longtime Mad Magazine fan with much nostalgia and enjoyment.

This product is a comprehensive digital presentation of Mad magazine. It made a perfect gift for my father, who had all his original copies destroyed by his unruly children once we discovered them (30 year old magazines with "fold-ins" don't hold up well in the hands of eight year olds).

The packaging is terrible, however. The item arrived damaged but I do not see any way it could not have been, based on the design (all paper, double thick in all the wrong parts, ready to be smashed into an accordian-like thing in the mail). The DVD was inserted into the packaging but had come loose. It needed to be cleaned before being played due to scratches.

If there is a second edition, I would look to the recent digital re-prints of Rolling Stone and Playboy for better packaging ideas.

Still, the DVD itself was well worth the price.

This DVD is solid (yeech!) gold!!! As an owner of the original "Totally Mad" CD-Rom, I must say that the ability to jump between decades without switching discs makes this DVD a MUST-HAVE. The packaging is beautiful (unlike other GIT offerings), and .PDF formatting means you can move around or send as many or as few issues as you like to other machines. As a laptop user, I don't want a disc constantly spinning in the drive; it heats things up, AND eats battery life. With the .PDF's, just drag a year or two of issues onto the HD, and you're set.

One thing I did notice is that the search function scans the actual TEXT in the magazines, as opposed to the "Totally Mad" set, which had a search function that seemed to be compiled by a much more "in-the-loop" individual or group of individuals. For example: Type "Heaven Can Wait" into the old search, and "Heaving Can Wait" will come right up. In the new volume, it will not locate the parody, because the "real" title isn't in the text of the article. Also, I had a pal who interned at MAD in the early '90's. If you typed his name in the old TM search, a "Lighter Side" that pictured him will come up. With the new, only 3 issues that had his actual name in the contents page credits (under "intern") will show up, NOT the gag he was written into.

A small price to pay for the ease and convenience of this new set.

I absolutely love it. But then again, I absolutely love scabies, paper-cuts and scalding bouts of diarrhea!!!

Get yours today.

The image quality of the MAD magazine issues presented in this DVD has been discussed in other reviews. While it is true that many of the scanned images lack clarity and focus, most of the image quality of the first 23 color MAD comic books is outstanding.

I grew up reading these classic comic panels in the Ballantine Books paperback series: "The Mad Reader", "Mad Strikes Back", "Inside Mad", "Utterly Mad and "The Brothers Mad." The biggest problem with the MAD paperback books is that they are in black and white. Now, I own the enter collection of MAD comic books and they are in color.

The artwork of Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Jack Davis, John Severin, Bernard Krigstein, Russ Heath and Basil Wolverton probably looks better on this DVD presentation than it did in the original comic books. Apparently, the artwork from these first 23 issues was either carefully preserved or carefully restored -- maybe both.

While yellowed, crumbling, torn and tattered original copies of the first 23 MAD comic books are routinely offered for sale at prices above $100 each, the entire collection of these 23 MAD classics is available on this DVD for under $35. I also enjoyed seeing the covers and contents of all of the other MAD magazines that I read growing up. I am very glad that I bought this DVD.

By the way, it took me a while to discover that the full search capabilities of the MAD DVD are enabled by the file: (DVD drive letter):\MAD1.pdx. Double-clicking on this file after opening Adobe Reader will enable a search of all issues MAD contained on the DVD.

I remember scraping together pennies and nickles from my paper route to buy the magazine with the homely character on the cover ($.50, Cheap! (where's the cent symbol on this keyboard?!?)). It always had me laughing. It is here that I leaned the meaning of the word satire.
I was also astonished when, during a parent meeting, one of my Catholic High School teachers actually RECOMMENDED that we read MAD magazine (I think he was trying to stear us away from National Lampoon). Whatever, this magazine is still enjoyable, and I have passed the tradition down to my teenage son.
I now must sift through the actual advertisements, and I do miss Don Martin's unique views of the world. But the new MAD still entertains.
How can you go wrong with 50 years of MADness for only $50 (Still Cheap!).

Wonderful!
No strange software/driver/player to install: just plain PDF files with clickable index.
I couldn't want more.
Leo