FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2024

Opens June 8, 2024

Stockbridge, Mass.—February 8, 2024—Norman Rockwell Museum is pleased to announce this summer’s landmark exhibition exploring the art, satire, and cultural impact of MAD Magazine, one of the longest-running humor publications in America. A counter-cultural touchstone and a venue for some of the nation’s best satirical art and writing, MAD rapidly evolved from a comic book series into a smash-hit magazine that spoke truth to power for seven decades. Opening June 8 and running through October 27, What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine presents iconic original illustrations and cartoons from MAD’s longtime regular contributors, dubbed the “Usual Gang of Idiots,” as well as next-generation visual satirists who found a home within the magazine’s zany zeitgeist.

“MAD was a groundbreaking magazine that influenced generations of readers and set the bar, and the tone, for contemporary humor and satire. We are delighted to present original selections from the magazine’s brilliant, irreverent artwork that captured and lampooned nearly all aspects of American life, and we are grateful to the collectors and artists who have made originals available for this exciting installation,” said Norman Rockwell Museum Chief Curator Stephanie Haboush Plunkett.

Titled for the defiantly nonchalant mantra of Alfred E. Neuman, MAD’s mascot and cover boy, What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine brings together original artwork, artifacts and memorabilia, photos, published ephemera, video content, interactive features, and more to tell the culturally riveting story of the magazine’s history and influence. A selection of over 250 original illustrations and cartoons gathered from artists and collectors will be on display. The exhibition is co-curated by acclaimed illustrator and art journalist Steve Brodner and Norman Rockwell Museum Chief Curator Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, in collaboration with an eleven-member advisory group led by former MAD art director Sam Viviano. The advisory group consists of MAD contributors and other leading illustrators, humorists, writers, and scholars; see a full listing of advisors with bios below. The exhibition is made possible in part by sponsorship from the Halperin Foundation.

“MAD was much more than a magazine to my generation. It represented a portal to adulthood,” reflected exhibition co-curator Steve Brodner, widely considered among today’s foremost satirical illustrators and caricaturists. “MAD was a heat-seeking missile designed to blow open the hypocritical core of most things. In so doing, it engendered in readers an ability to come closer to what might today be called critical thinking.”

Brodner continued, “This exhibition distills that time in print when MAD stood alone in publishing: smart, snappy, current, and bravely idiotic. Its mission connected with us every issue. MAD gradually changed the world, one kid at a time.”

Subversive, silly, serious, and shocking—often all at once—MAD was controversial from the start. Ostensibly geared to kids, the publication touched on the big social, political, and cultural issues of the day: from McCarthyism and the Cold War to political corruption, consumerism, and celebrity culture to the defining social and liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s that continue to reverberate today. Adored by some, criticized and attacked by others, the publication enlightened and offended in equal measure. In MAD’s pages, sharp satire fused with a penchant for silly gags and a love of the double entendre, giving the magazine its unique and often, yes, “MADdening” appeal.

Most strikingly, MAD shaped the worldview of generations of Americans through the power of visual communication. The scope of this contribution is equivalent, if different in tone and emphasis, to the role of Norman Rockwell and other artists across decades of illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post and other mainstream publications. If MAD’s subversive, shake-’em-up values and viewpoints diverged from Rockwell’s warm and gently humorous illustrations—as they almost always did—the impact of the magazine’s visual comedy was no less profound. In its sly and seditious art and spirit, MAD was a counter-cultural magazine that became, ironically yet irrevocably, a cultural powerhouse.

“During recent eras in American society, MAD Magazine was a crucial venue for cultural commentary and norm-busting humor delivered through predominantly visual media. Its popularity, controversial nature, and overall impact together affirm the profound potency of illustration and visual communication,” said Norman Rockwell Museum Director/CEO Laurie Norton Moffatt.

Norton Moffatt continued, “Norman Rockwell Museum is pleased to present this exhibition in the spirit of our mission to present, inform, and inspire new conversations about the role and relevance of illustration art in society and culture. As we do this, we are keenly aware that MAD Magazine raised issues—often presciently—that continue to drive contemporary debates and struggles over power, privilege, social justice, and the many social divisions that remain to be worked through.”

MAD History and Legacy

It is difficult to imagine a time when satirical, irreverent humor was not common across media, but in the 1950s, anti-establishment humor was not—yet—the cultural norm. An iconic illustrated humor magazine surreptitiously enjoyed by millions for more than 70 years, MAD was the first publication to ironically and humorously poke holes in all aspects of American life—from movies, television, music, art, and advertising to superheroes, celebrity culture, and the political scene of the day. Special features such as the Fold-In (spoofing other magazines’ fold-outs), Spy Vs. Spy, Drawn-Out Dramas, The Shadow Knows, and The Lighter Side of... were among fans’ favorites and continue to resonate today.

First published in 1952, MAD originally launched as an EC comic book series founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, with its inaugural issue titled Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad. The publication’s now-legendary parodies of Superduperman (issue #4) and Starchie (issue #12)—takeoffs on the classic DC Superhero and Archie comics—launched MAD into the stratosphere. In 1955, with MAD #24, the comic was reimagined as an illustrated magazine, releasing it from the censure of the Comics Code Authority. Between 1952 and 2021, under the expert guidance of successive editors Kurtzman, Al Feldstein, Nick Meglin, and John Ficarra, 585 issues were published, along with a number of specials, paperbacks, and compilation projects. Now part of the Warner Bros. Discovery family, managed by DC, MAD continues with curated reprints, compilations, and some new features, and is available at Barnes & Noble’s newsstands, Bookazines, or via subscription to fans nationwide.

MAD’s unique blend of irreverence, wit, cultural critique, and sheer goofiness shaped the comic sensibilities and aspirations of generations of artists, writers, filmmakers, comedians, and other cultural figures. Comedy productions as diverse as Laugh In, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, South Park, The Onion, and The Daily Show all bear MAD’s indelible influence, and celebrity fans including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert, among many others, have paid affectionate public tribute to MAD. When comic artist Al Jaffee, creator of the mind-bending MAD Fold-Ins, died last spring, Stewart quipped that he was “grateful to the incredible Al Jaffee for taking my irreverence virginity.” In a similar vein, Peter Kuper, Spy Vs. Spy illustrator and an exhibition advisor, reflected on the awakening that MAD delivered. “I had read comic books since I was seven and became a rabid enthusiast for any character in spandex, but when I discovered MAD, I was introduced to a completely different superpower: subversion,” Kuper said.

Actor Michael J. Fox spoke for many celebrities when he told Johnny Carson in 1985 that he knew he had “made it” in show business after “Mort Drucker drew my head.” Caricaturist and illustrator Mort Drucker had a long and distinguished tenure as a MAD artist, contributing brilliant film and television satires for 55 years. Drucker’s work will be the focus of MAD About Mort Drucker, a special gallery devoted to his art within the exhibition.

While MAD was an equal-opportunity offender, many fans perceived that the magazine stood firmly on the side of ordinary people against the pretensions and hypocrisies of money, power, glitz, and fame. MAD didn’t engage in “victim humor,” noted former MAD editor John Ficarra, a member of the exhibition’s advisory group. “You will find plenty of jokes, observations and flat-out insults about corrupt politicians, greedy drug companies, and others in power who failed in their responsibility to help those less fortunate. MAD never punched down,” Ficarra said.

Among the gleeful targets of MAD’s wide-ranging parodies were Norman Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post cover illustrations and advertising art. As a famous and revered illustrator, Rockwell served as both inspiration and occasional foil to MAD’s contributors. Rockwell’s long affiliation with The Saturday Evening Post placed him at the other end of the culture spectrum from MAD; the two publications regarded each other “across a wide gulf of respectability,” according to illustration historian and Post art critic David Apatoff, another member of the exhibition’s advisory group.

The exhibition features several Rockwell parodies. A highlight is Richard Williams’ 2002 painting, Alfred E. Neuman’s Triple Self-Portrait After Norman Rockwell, created for the cover of the book Mad Art: A Visual Celebration of the Art of MAD Magazine and the Idiots Who Create It by Mark Evanier. The painting is a satirical redo of Rockwell’s humorous 1960 portrait of himself painting himself; in Williams’ rendering, it is Alfred E. Neuman who sits in the artist’s chair, peers into the mirror, and paints, hilariously, the back of his head.

If MAD tended not to punch down, it did pack a punch—to places in politics and culture that often needed shaking up. Amid the silliness and sight gags, the magazine offered a cultural critique that fans found bracing, even hopeful. “MAD became my Holy Grail. It was a forum where I was freely able to engage my intellect,” reflected comics historian and exhibition advisor William H. Foster III. “MAD never surrendered to the darkness. It gave hope. It was an umbrella that shielded us to think freely and work for better circumstances for everyone.”

Exhibition Overview

What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine explores the influence and cultural impact of America’s leading satire magazine. The exhibition features iconic original illustrations and cartoons created by MAD’s “Usual Gang of Idiots”—the many talented artists and writers who worked with the magazine for decades. Represented are both regulars and occasional contributors of art to MAD, including Sergio Aragonés, David Berg, Paul Coker, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Will Elder, Duck Edwing, Frank Frazetta, Kelly Freas, Al Jaffee, Harvey Kurtzman, Don Martin, Norman Mingo, Harry North, Antonio Prohías, Irving Schild, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Wally Wood, and George Woodbridge, among others, as well as MAD’s classic and next-generation writers, including Dick DeBartolo, Stan Hart, Tom Koch, John Ficarra, Arnie Kogen, Frank Jacobs, Larry Siegel, and others.

Also on view is the art of next-generation visual humorists such as Scott Bricher, Emily Flake, Drew Friedman, Peter Kuper, Teresa Burns Parkhurst, C.F. Payne, Tom Richmond, Dale Stephanos, Sam Viviano, James Warhola, and Richard Williams, among others. Additionally on display are other publications and rarely seen artworks that reflect MAD’s ethos, including Panic, with illustrations by Joe Orlando, and Foo! featuring art by Charles and Robert Crumb.

This compelling and timely exhibition features more than 250 original works of art, including MAD About Mort Drucker, a special highlight gallery devoted to the art of Mort Drucker, the award-winning caricaturist and illustrator who contributed film and television satires to MAD for more than five decades. Paintings, drawings, cartoons, ephemera, artifacts, and media tell MAD’s indelible story and explore the impact of this irreverent yet deeply relevant publication on American humor, media, culture, and society.

What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine begins by tracing the publication’s history and genesis, and the development of its clueless but lovable mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. The work of its legendary editors, art directors, and eras comes into focus through the lenses of art, advertising, popular culture, politics, and celebrity—inviting visitors to reminisce over (or, for younger visitors, newly encounter) the events, trends, and personalities scrutinized by MAD’s merciless comic eye. Exhibition sections explore MAD’s wickedly funny caricatures of presidents and political figures; television, movie, and music parodies (including its beloved song parodies); brand-name advertisements (including a memorable Rockwell parody for “Crust” toothpaste by Kelly Freas); and more. Bringing MAD into recent decades, the exhibition also examines the magazine’s portrayals of race, gender, and ethnicity, and its inclusion of a wider range of artistic and satirical talent.

Other sections of the exhibition showcase MAD’s iconic covers and the many smirking guises of cover boy Alfred E. Neuman, as well as beloved special features like Spy Vs. Spy, MAD Fold-Ins, Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, and The Strip Club. Also highlighted are fan letters and quotes from readers both famous and ordinary, revealing the surprising breadth of MAD’s devotees. Interactive features include digital MAD Fold-Ins, a complete guide to MAD cover art, and videos highlighting both MAD’s significance and the process by which artists, writers, art directors, and editors mingled creative talents to produce a fresh and “snappy” magazine over many decades.

Publisher William Gaines respected and fostered this artistic process, recalled Dick DeBartolo, “MAD’s Maddest Writer” and an exhibition advisor. When a reporter addressed Gaines as the “genius behind MAD Magazine,” Gaines stopped him with: “No, I am not a genius. If I’ve done anything to make MAD successful, it’s to provide the writers and artists an atmosphere in which to thrive!”

And thrive MAD did, inspiring new cultural forms and norms. A final section of the exhibition explores MAD Magazine’s far-reaching cultural legacy and influence—arguably greatest in the 1950s through 1970s, yet carried into the bloodstream and DNA of contemporary culture to shape the worldview, art, and humor of millions.

“This may be the perfect time for a MAD Magazine exhibition—a defining moment for old fans to rediscover the magazine and for young people to discover it for the first time,” reflected exhibition advisor Scott Bakal, award-winning illustrator and MassArt illustration professor. “It is a time to experience the brilliance of what MAD Magazine is and maybe, like it has for me, create a new generation of writers, artists, and creators to be the next ‘Gang of Idiots.’”

Exhibition Curators

Steve Brodner is today’s foremost satirical illustrator and caricaturist. Acclaimed in the fields of journalism and the graphic arts as a master of the editorial idiom, he is a regular contributor to The Nation, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. Brodner’s art journalism has appeared in most major magazines and newspapers in the United States, such as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, Time, Mother Jones, Harper’s, and The Atlantic. His newsletter, This Week, can be found daily at stevebrodner.substack.com and weekly in The Nation. Norman Rockwell Museum presented an exhibition of his work in 2008 titled Raw Nerve: The Political Art of Steve Brodner.

Stephanie Haboush Plunkett is the Chief Curator of Norman Rockwell Museum. She has organized many exhibitions focused on the art of Norman Rockwell and the field of illustration, and leads the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, the first scholarly institute devoted to illustration. Her recent publications include “The Shifting Postwar Marketplace: Illustration in the United States and Canada, 1940-1970” in History of Illustration; Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School: Classic Techniques and Expert Tips from the Golden Age of Illustration; Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms; Norman Rockwell: Drawings, 1911 to 1973; Tony Sarg: Genius at Play; and Leo Lionni: Storyteller, Artist, Designer.

Exhibition Advisors

Lead Advisor Sam Viviano is an award-winning humorous illustrator specializing in caricature and cartooning for magazines, books, and advertising. His first cover illustration for MAD appeared in issue #223, in June 1981. Eighteen years later, he became Art Director of MAD—a position that he held from 1999 to December 2017. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Family Weekly, Reader’s Digest, TV Guide, Family Weekly, Institutional Investor, HITS, Dynamite, and Bananas, among others.

David Apatoff is an illustration historian and The Saturday Evening Post’s art critic. He is the author of several books and articles on art and has served as a museum curator, and has a special fondness for American illustration. He is author of the popular blog, illustrationart.blogspot.com.

Scott Bakal is an award-winning illustrator, photographer, and professor of illustration at MassArt in Boston. His clients include Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Family Circle, Reader’s Digest, Playboy, Smithsonian, Discover, Vancouver Opera, Variety, The Wall Street Journal, Tor Books, Wizards of the Coast, and Yoga Journal.

Dick DeBartolo is known as The Giz Wiz and MAD’s Maddest Writer, having been featured in every issue of MAD for the past 50 years. As the Giz Wiz, he appears on Ask The Tech Guys, hosts The Giz Fiz, and does a weekly podcast with Chad Johnson on The Giz Wiz. Dick is also The Giz Wiz on ABC’s World News Now.

John Ficarra was hired as Assistant Editor for MAD in 1980, shortly after his debut as a contributing writer. He became MAD’s Editor in Chief in 1985 (with Nick Meglin until 2004), a position that he retained until 2018. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Newsweek, AARP Magazine, and numerous other publications. He is currently a regular contributor of humor to the digital weekly Air Mail.

Emily Suzanne Flake is an American cartoonist and illustrator. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, and many other publications. Her weekly comic strip Lulu Eightball has appeared in numerous alternative newsweeklies since 2002.

William H. Foster III is an emeritus Professor of English at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut. A scholar focusing on African Americans in comics and books, Foster compiled his research in Looking for a Face Like Mine and Dreaming of a Face Like Mine. He was a catalogue essayist for Norman Rockwell Museum’s Imprinted: Illustrating Race exhibition.

Keith Knight is the creator of the weekly comic strip The K Chronicles (1993), the weekly single panel comic (Th)ink (2003), and the daily strip The Knight Life (2008). In a style and wit reminiscent of MAD, Knight addresses serious social and political issues while incorporating signature humor. Woke, a television series partially based on Knight’s life, debuted on the Hulu streaming service in 2020; the second season became available in April 2022.

Peter Kuper’s work appears in The New Yorker, The Nation, and MAD, where he has written and illustrated Spy Vs. Spy for every issue since 1997. He is the co-founder of World War 3 Illustrated and has produced over two dozen books including Sticks and Stones, The System, Diario de Oaxaca, Ruins, and adaptations of many of Franz Kafka’s works. His most recent graphic novels include Kafkaesque and an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In 2011, Kuper began teaching Harvard University’s first course dedicated to comics and graphic novels.

Judith Yaross Lee is Distinguished Professor Emerita at Ohio University. Dr. Lee is an award-winning teacher and scholar who has served as Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Central Region Humanities Center. She is internationally recognized as an authority on American literary humor from Mark Twain to the present, and is the author/editor of Seeing MAD: Essays on MAD Magazine’s Humor and Legacy (University of Missouri Press, 2020), among other notable books on American humor studies.

Louis Henry Mitchell is Creative Director of Character Design at Sesame Workshop. He has designed and styled contemporary and classic Muppet characters as well as Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons and floats, including Big Bird and Super Grover. A gifted educator and portraitist, he is also a member of the Norman Rockwell Museum Board of Trustees.

About Norman Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell Museum illuminates the power of American illustration art to reflect and shape society, and advances the enduring values of kindness, respect, and social equity portrayed by Norman Rockwell. A comprehensive resource relating to Norman Rockwell and the art of illustration, American visual culture, and the role of published imagery in society, the Museum holds the world’s largest and most significant collection of art and archival materials relating to Rockwell’s life and work, while also preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting a growing collection of art by other American illustrators throughout history. The Museum engages diverse audiences through onsite and traveling exhibitions, as well as publications, arts, and humanities programs, including the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, and comprehensive online resources.

NRM is open year-round, six days a week; closed Wednesdays. Admission is charged, Free for Kids & Teens. For details, visit the Museum online at www.NRM.org.

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