MAD | Humor in a Jugular Vein

MAD Magazine was not what it was when it was first introduced in 1952. It was originally published by EC publication known for The Haunt of Fear, Weird Science, Crime Suspense Stories, and many more that were not related to superheroe themes that DC Comics produced since the introduction of Superman in Action Comics. But towards its lengthy life, its publication was shut down and most of the published material survived through its acquisition by other publications. MAD was an “experiment” when the first issue was published. The early days of satirical humous content were not its DNA when it became available on newsstands. EC publication is known for horror, suspense, and science fiction with the MAD comics introduction they experimented with humour in some serious themes. Sometimes, they’re outdated today and would be considered “corny,” but those tropes would entertain readers from that era. MAD would survive and would evolve to become known for its satirical content. But during its heyday, it was simply known as an anthology that had short stories that would be part of its growth.

Title: MAD #1 (Facsimile Edition)
Published: 4 June 2024
Age Rating: Teen
Language: English

The first issue is not in magazine format, and DC managed to keep the original that was printed as a Facsimile Edition. Out of all the reprints that had all the details intact including the ads from that era, this is as close as everyone would ever get to the very first issue of MAD. Of course, by issue 25 they would switch to a magazine format, and the changes to MAD would eventually fully realize the humour that everyone has associated with the magazine.

But the genesis of what made MAD starts with the first issue with four stories that would seem outdated in 2024. The humour may be a little juvenile but you get to read some of the stories that shaped what comedy can do to a serious theme if written with the right timing and suspension of belief.

Below are four stories that were included in the landmark first issue as follows:

• Hoohah!
• Blobs!
• Ganefs!
• Varmint!

Hoohah!

Hoohah!

The terrorizing tales of Hohah are about two people getting stranded near a haunted house when their car ran out of gas. Back then, this trope was not much of a common take on a plot where Galusha, a bumbling guy would-be hero, and Daphne, the girl who would be the damsel in distress ended up in a haunted house of the unknown.

At first, it plays the usual serious horror film that most people have seen, where two people in a car driving through a storm suddenly have used up their fuel without even having a thought of gassing up is played in a humourous side to Galusha.

There, an old man welcomes them to help by letting them borrow a gas can so they can go to the nearest gas station to put petrol on their vehicle. The horror is played for laughs when a shadowy figure from the closet turns out to be kids from a nearby neighbor who portray the creature as the protagonist or at least Galusha ends up the guy in distress and Daphne plays the courageous individual who would eventually save them both But at the end, the revelation was also revealed that the old man is not just the caretaker of the house he turns out to be the headless one that they did not discover as both drive away unknowing that the house was haunted.

Blobs!

Set 1 Million years in the far future, the human race is dependent on machines similar to the Disney Pixar film, Wall-E (2008). Two people on a debate about the future on what’s next. Most of the content if it was written today would eventually canceled as the women portrayed here as housewives have been in common discussion since this was published in 1952!

The discussion about how men learned to hunt and developed technology to the point they can order their android housewife to look like the real human female is played out for laughs but to be honest, no one’s laughing today about this type of narrative. But it is understandable that back then the perspective was different and not taken things too seriously as how it was 72 years ago.

In the end, the debate was about the machines now making machines for them was the end of everything the human race has gotten themselves into like any sci-fi trope not taken seriously as everything was destroyed and goes “back to basics.”



Ganefs!

The definition of a True Crime Story went sideways because of a bumbling henchman named Fumbles, and his very confident boss named Melvin, who had a nefarious plan by threatening the mayor to pay them ten thousand dollars or death would come to his family. The humorous part is how Fumbles out loud explains how they’ll get the money from the drop-off. After two stories ahead this one still has humour.

Despite their plan being almost a success, in the end, Fumbles fumbled it all up to give Melvin the karma after double-crossing the innocent but laughable Fumbles. It’s a reminder that these gangster themes have been known for serious high-stakes drama. But the guys at MAD certainly made it for the laughs that some writers adopt it in their stories to this day.

Varmint!

The last story in this first issue of MAD is set in the Wild West, and it features a character named Textron Quickdraw who is still mourning the death of his friend, Melvin. He arrives in the Saloon drinking a glass of milk when a stranger approaches him who might be the one who killed his friend Melvin.

But after a quick gunfight and the smoke clears, Tex shoots Kickmina Belly revealing he did not kill his friend. Also, Tex has a phrase that he often tells to the people around him “When he makes up his mind, he doesn’t change easy.” After a few pages he kills Gamblin’ Man and the last one that he waited from sun up to sun down was the Pig-faced Kid. But in the end, the one who killed his friend was eventually the twist of a story right after seeing another friend named Saddle-sore telling him that he was glad to be alive and whispered the true killer, which turns out to be Tex himself. For the phrase, he said he killed the killer that turned out to be him because was walking in his sleep.

Classic Advertisement that was found at the back of this issue,

Overall, the best in the four stories would turn out to be the Varmint followed by Ganefs, Hoohah, and Blobs. They are humorous stories for their time, and the narrative in bringing into serious undertones was different back then, but here’s MAD taking shots at these themes before making satirical stories based on popular culture tropes that inspired others to make their own stories today.

Tales Calculated to Drive You MAD by Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Bill Elder, and John Severin and is now available at your local comic shops for $3.99 US | ₱ 260.00 Pesos (** $ 6.71 AUD | $ 4.44 USD). For more about Comic Odyssey follow them via social media on Facebook and Instagram!

RATING: 7.0

** - Currency Converter via Google.com