In celebration of its 65th anniversary, MAD Magazine hosted a star-studded “Mad About MAD” panel at New York Comic Con. To commemorate the major milestone, MAD Editor John Ficarra and Art Director Sam Viviano were joined by a host of the magazine’s most renowned artists and writers.
As a special audience surprise, MAD’s longest-running contributor and Guinness World Record-holder for “Longest Career as a Comics Artist,” Al Jaffee, joined the panel. Jaffee continues to be the creative genius behind the iconic MAD “Fold-In” as he celebrates his 62nd anniversary with the publication.
Additionally, long-time MAD editor and contributor, Nick Meglin, joined the honored MAD panelists. As the author of The Art of Humorous Illustration and Drawing from Within, Meglin was a key force behind the satirical magazine’s contents and direction through the years.
The ridiculously MAD panel also featured appearances by contributors Dick DeBartolo, Desmond Devlin, Mark Fredrickson, Hermann Mejia, Teresa Burns Parkhurst, Tom Richmond, Angelo Torres and James Warhola, along with MAD staffers Charlie Kadau, Joe Raiola, Dave Croatto, Ryan Flanders, Patty Dwyer and Jacob Lambert.
‘The Usual Gang of Idiots’ started the panel with a glorious pledge to our country in their traditional satirical style, discussed their past few years of material, and overall had a great time with laughs from the entire audience. Attendees were also treated to sneak peeks of next week’s MAD #548 (on stands next week) and the new book Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day, available October 11. Everyone in attendance also left with an exclusive convention issue of MAD.
