Seeing MAD: Essays on MAD Magazine's Humor and Legacy

“Seeing Mad” is an illustrated volume of scholarly essays about the popular and influential humor magazine Mad, with topics ranging across its 65-year history—up to last summer’s downsizing announcement that Mad will publish less new material and will be sold only in comic book shops.

Mad magazine stands near the heart of post-WWII American humor, but at the periphery in scholarly recognition from American cultural historians, including humor specialists. This book fills that gap, with perceptive, informed, engaging, but also funny essays by a variety of scholars. The chapters, written by experts on humor, comics, and popular culture, cover the genesis of Mad; its editors and prominent contributors; its regular features and departments and standout examples of their contents; perspectives on its cultural and political significance; and its enduring legacy in American culture.

Judith Yaross Lee is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Communication Studies, Rhetoric, and Public Culture at Ohio University. She is the author of three books, including Twain’s Brand: Humor in Contemporary American Culture and Defining New Yorker Humor. John Bird is Emeritus Professor of English at Winthrop University, author of Mark Twain and Metaphor (University of Missouri Press), and editor of Mark Twain in Context.