Off the Bookshelf: Mad Paperbacks ( What, Me Worry?)

A Jack Davis cover for the ages. Mindboggling. How many can you identify?

Redartz:  Ah, it is indeed. Hi folks! Previously in "Off the Bookshelf", we have discussed paperback collections of Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbes. There was another popular series of paperback reprints in our beloved Bronze age, often found on drug store and supermarket racks alongside those old Peanuts books. "Mad"; originally a comic book published by E.C. Comics and later a full-size magazine, has been an iconic part of popular culture for decades. Beginning in 1954, many of the humorous features from those publications were presented in collected book form.Originally reprinting material from the comic books, they soon carried the wacky, iconoclastic bombast from the magazines. 


And what incredible talent was represented here. Creators such as Don Martin, Antonio Prohias (Spy vs. Spy), Sergio Aragones, Jack Davis, Al Feldstein, Paul Coker Jr., Dave Berg and many others gained popular followings among the Mad readers, and found their work spotlighted in the paperbacks.

 Berg 's "Lighter Side of..." strips were among my favorites, finding innumerable foibles in modern society to puncture. Another of my faves were the tales of avian espionage that Prohias provided (I always rooted for the black spy). Those cartoons, the movie parodies, the political satires, the Madison Avenue jibes- all filled those pocket-size tomes with edgy fun (perhaps not edgy now, but back then it was). You could often find a couple of these books stashed among my comics on a family trip, or piled among the detritus in my school locker. They were a great bargain; you don't find that many laughs per page in many other books. And I loved the covers- frequently painted by Mad Magazine ace Norman Mingo, they found countless ways to beat us over the head with Alfred E. Neuman. 

 


 





















I give Mad a lot of credit for starting me off on the right (some would say wrong) foot. Long before I discovered Dr. Demento or Saturday Night Live, those Mad paperbacks showed me our culture in a slightly subversive, twisted mirror, and my head (thankfully) would never be the same. 

The Quarter Bin: Inauguration Special!

Martinex1:  Our friend and frequent commenter, Colin Bray, made a great suggestion at election time to take a look at comic covers with Presidents depicted.   We couldn't pull it off in time for the polls, but who says this isn't the age of second chances - so here we are on inauguration day with a look back at the White House denizens who have made it onto four-color covers. 

Pick four favorites and we can have a grand discussion!  I suspect that there are some here that you may have not seen before.  We've included work from the Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Aluminum Ages.  We've included past presidents, living presidents, and even fictional presidents.   And a special nod of the hat to Mad Magazine which has had a healthy history of lampooning the oval office.  Colin supplied a wonderful sampling of comics with the Mount Rushmore background, so those are here as well (the "faces" could almost have been a topic unto itself).

Lincoln and Washington definitely make appearances as do our more modern Presidents, so you have plenty of choices to pull from.  From serious to parody, from biographical to satirical, from fictional to factual - it is all here today at the quarter bin.

Let's keep it civil and clean and cordial with a bipartisan handshake and discuss the comic covers at hand!  Make a difference and share your comments.  Where else can your vote have four outcomes?

Thank you Colin for the concept and contribution!  Cheers all!

P.S.  Since Colin made a suggestion from across the pond, I figured it was only fair to share a couple of covers that spotlighted UK leadership, so I give you Captain Britain, Prime Minister James Callaghan, and the Queen as alternative choices!   Enjoy!

Redartz: In response to a remark from Garett, and in the presidential spirit of the day, here are a few pages from Dell's 1957 "Life Stories of American Presidents", with art by John Buscema: