MAD

When I was about seven years old, I discovered a magazine that would have as much of an impact on the development of my personality as any I read at that age.

I continued to read the magazine into adulthood, but unfortunately lost track of it a few years back.

However, the magazine is still going strong, thank you, and hopefully still providing youngsters with slightly warped senses of humor to help them maintain sanity in this troubled world.

The magazine I speak of goes by one word: Mad.

The fact is that there is a tremendous amount of intellect that goes into each issue of Mad. The movie and TV show satires in particular are well-thought-out exercises in poking fun at just the right places.

And they stick with you! Looking back, I can offhandly recall Star Blecch (Star Trek), The Zing (The Sting), What's the Connection? (The French Connection), Crymore vs. Crymore (Kramer vs. Kramer), Clod Encounters of the Absurd Kind, Star Roars, and my favorite: A Crock of (blip) Now.

That's not to mention Spy vs. Spy, Marginal Notes, the Fold-In, and relative newcomers Melvin and Jenkins.

The idea is to buy the mag, but the website (and the forums) have lots of laughs on the house.

Here's to Don Martin, Sergio Aragones, Al Jaffee, Dave Berg, and all the others who made Alfred E. Neuman a cultural icon.

http://www.dccomics.com/mad/

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