Customer Reviews

The Mad World of William M. Gaines

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This is the interesting story on how Mad Magazine was created and the interesting life of it's creator, William M. Gaines. Very funny and also very serious. A lot of interesting stories surround Gaines and his empire. I highly recommend it to any Mad fan.

As a fan of MAD Magazine and EC Horror, I was introduced to William M. Gaines when MAD reprinted this biography throughout a few issues of MAD XL. Until then, I had only known that he was the founder and former publisher (until his death in the early 1990s) and that Dave Berg always drew his portrait with the beard poking through the picture frame. As I read through the serialized version of the book, however, I discovered so much more -- but more importantly, I was entertained beyond belief.

As it was written by MAD writer Frank Jacobs, The MAD World of William M. Gaines is not the typical, dry biography of a millionaire publisher -- and whether you're a MAD fan or not, Gaines lead an eccentric lifestyle that's simultaneously interesting, inspiring, touching, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Many comic book fans may not know just what an impact Gaines had on the comic book industry and even broader issues such as censorship. But you don't have to be a MAD fan, or even a casual comic book fan, to enjoy this book -- it's just plain fun.

I strongly recommend anyone with an interest in MAD Magazine (or any of the EC Comics) or any interest in comic book history whatsoever pick this up.