MAD Magazine is probably one of the single most important publications of the twentieth century. Certainly one of the most fascinating.
Yeah, we all have an affection for The Usual Gang of Idiots, but there are some truly fascinating stories in there, both personal and in the world of comics. Paul Peter Porges was a Holocaust survivor. The creator of “Spy Vs. Spy”, Antonio Prohias, was the most prominent political cartoonist in Cuba, and narrowly escaped being murdered by Castro. The publisher, Bill Gaines, had run EC Comics and was the victim of one of the worst anti-free speech witch hunts in American history.
In short, yeah, it’s a lot of stupid gags, but there’s some amazing history behind them. And also some smart-assed remarks. So this video of Al Jaffee talking a bit about his past…namely where the feature Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions came from. Not to mention a few put-downs from the man himself.