Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine [Hardcover]

Maria Reidelbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

Traces the evolution of MAD from its position as an obscure ten-cent comic book to its near cult status, discussing its reflection of post-World War II popular culture--including movies, politicians, and ad campaigns. Reprint. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Publisher Bill Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman produced the first issue of Mad magazine in 1956 and American satirical humor has never been the same since. Beginning with the comic book company founded by his father, Max, Gaines transformed his father's wholesome comics lines into EC Comics, the profitable publisher of classic 1950s' horror comics, and later introduced Mad and its mascot, the "What Me Worry" kid, Alfred E. Neuman. Although basically celebratory and uncritical, art historian Reidelbach's detailed history of Mad mentions recent criticisms of sexist and homophobic material in the magazine as well as Mad 's (and the comics industry's) contested policies on the ownership of commissioned artwork. Most amusing are descriptions of Gaines--who continues to run the profitable magazine as a "benevolent dictatorship"--and his idiosyncratic management theories ( Mad accepts no advertising, has never conducted a reader survey and does little merchandising). The book is chock-full of Mad material--the usual "trash," as Mad always describes its own contents--as well as information on the many freelance artists and writers who have worked for the magazine.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-- A zany celebration of 40 years of MAD that should please ardent fans and attract browsers with its madcap illustrations that include reproductions of every cover since 1952.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Fine Communications (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156731127X
• ISBN-13: 978-1567311273
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Boy! This SHOULD have been better!, December 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine (Paperback)

COMPLETELY MAD is a fairly thorough, albeit superficial, treatment of the MAD phenomenon. A biased perspective leaves much unsaid. Too much a valentine to Gaines and company. I would have enjoyed more material from the MAD comic book. Much of the information about the "usual gang of idiots" is extremely sketchy, bland and/or uninteresting, meaning that Ms. Reidelbach did not go very far beyond MAD's offices for information; i.e., a superficial and pretty lousy job of research. There was so much opportunity here!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars must-read for fans of mad, October 8, 1998

By 

"fathertoasisterofthought" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine (Hardcover)

This book is a must-read for fans of the magazine or comic books in general. It has lots of samples from older issues, pictures of every cover, and a complete history of not only Mad, but the factors that influenced it, and the early days of comic books. The chapter on the history of Alfred E. Neuman is excellent.

3.0 out of 5 stars A lot wasn't told, January 21, 2012

By 

tr fan "edsel" (Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine (Hardcover)

I have every issue of MAD ever published, and I can truthfully say that MAD has not been what it was since Warner's took it over in the early 70s. Remember the magazine satires like Neurotic magazine, Phony magazine, and Racketeer Illustrated magazine, or the ones of real magazines like Field & Scream, TV Guise, and Reader's Digress, or the newspaper satires like the Daily Square or the Daily Monopoly? I don't think MAD has run even one since Warner's took over. In fact, I don't think they've run anything satirizing the publishing industry either since. In fact, I knew for certain that Bill Gaines wasn't really running the show when back in the eighties they published their first "tie-in" satire, Grimlins, of a Warner movie which had just been released about a week earlier.
There's a lot this book doesn't tell. In fact, it basically "glosses over" what happened to Don Martin. You hear one story, that Bill Gaines refused to give him the copyrights on the items he had done for them over the years. This story doesn't make sense because there was no possible way he could have, because he didn't own them, and hadn't since he first sold the magazine in 1965. Warner's owns them, and it seems I remember reading somewhere that it is very difficult to get permission to use anything they own the copyright on. These are only a few examples; I could name others.
Years ago, there was a book called Decline and Fall, which told the story of the last years of the Saturday Evening Post. Maybe someday someone will publish such a book about what has really gone on behind the scenes at MAD since Warner's took over. Unfortunately, it will probably never happen because those who could tell the story (who are still alive), I've got a feeling are afraid of retributions if they do.