If you were a male born in the early 1960s in the USA, you probably have a constellation of influences from your developmental years which haunt you to this day. The Beatles, The Stones, Led Zep. Johnny Carson. Monty Python's Flying Circus. Raquel Welch. Evel Knievel. James Bond. Benny Hill. Saturday Night Live. Levis 501's. Vuarnet sunglasses. V-8 engines. Mad Magazine.
Yeah, Mad got you somewhere when you were around eleven or twelve and kept its brutal grip on you until you were around eighteen (when you shifted to Playboy), but even then you missed the creepy little magazine. Mad Magazine is actually what first got you interested in politics, national and world events, and the kooky cast of public characters which lead us down our strange path of highly ill-advised and never-ending human folly. In fact, I'm curious right now what Mad has to say about Romney, and Newt, and that feisty little Ron Paul.
Mad is what taught us to be proud of our irreverence and audacity. Mad taught us it was okay to be a smart-aleck, as long as our snarky comments met a certain level of intelligence (not very high, granted). Mad gave us a keen awareness of, and appreciation for, an entire array of human dysfunction. "What, me worry?" Well, I did worry some in those years, but Mad made me worry a lot less. Mad made life seem a whole lot more fun. Alfred Neuman was a buddy of mine. He inspired me to be comfortable being a trouble-maker . And that attitude is with me to this day.
I'm on my second Jack Daniels, and I was going to write this review later, when I had more time. But I just read what some other goofball wrote about this set, which was only lukewarm and otherwise highly confusing, and I felt like I needed to respond right now. The record needs to be set straight. The truth needs to be told. I'm Mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!
To proclaim Al Jaffe as anything less than a certified genius is a travesty. Reviewing these fold-ins, I was reminded of how insightful the man is, and how clever these fold-ins have been for half a century. A few are black and white, in the first volume, but most are in beautiful color. I'd take an original Jaffe over an original Warhol any day. The clue, or riddle, at the top tantalizes you. Some images allow for you to guess what the fold-in image might be, and others totally surprise you. I had forgotten that the caption at the bottom also folds-in and transforms to say some new phrase that appertains to the point being made. These are brilliant geometric odysseys. All types of political phenomena are covered; a fascinating spectrum of then-current issues are reviewed. This set is vast, approximately 800 pages; really, to review all the plates, you'll need at least a weekend. This is one-fifth of American history with its middle-finger stuck straight up in the air. It doesn't get any better than this. This is what the Founding Forefathers were thinking when they invented that First- Amendment- thing. "People should be able to talk shxx, and say whatever irreverent, naughty stuff they want to say, even if it is really stupid. Or even if it is painfully insightful. " Yep, the gang at Mad grabbed the ball and ran.
I'm a book collector. I know well made books when I see them. I don't get all that excited very often by new publications. This set is of staggering quality. Chronicle Books is to be commended for their effort. Cloth covered, four volume set in heavy-duty slip-case. Premium paper. Vivid color reproduction. Bound to become a collector's item. Heavy as hell, please don't let your wife or children carry it up the stairs to your man-den. Someone might get hurt. Put it in the oak bookshelf, next to your Don Martin set. Prepare a codicil to your will, designating which kid or grandkid gets it, so there won't be in-fighting. Sleep better at night, knowing that a premium-grade symbol of your teen years is near at hand, ready to take you back to your ill-begotten roots whenever you need a reminder of who you really are and where you came from.
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R Duck
Truly a treasure to anyone who has enjoyed the MAD fold-ins of the years!!!!
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 11, 2015
