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Here's a nice little facsimile edition you might be interested in - the very first issue of Mad comic, which lasted for 23 issues before being transformed into a 'magazine'. However, when it first debuted, it was a a regular comicbook, plain and simple. I actually have the Millennium edition of this issue, plus various reprints in books and magazines, but it's nice to now have it in something close to its original form to add to my ever-expanding collection.
'Close to'? Yeah, because today's comicbooks aren't the exact size that they were back in (at least) the '50s and '60s (and even into the '70s and maybe the '80s as well), so it'll be a few millimetres less wide than the original and possibly there'll be a slight discrepancy in height, though unless you have an actual first issue from 1952 with which to compare, you shouldn't be aware of the difference. (Apart from the fact that I just told you about it.)
So grab a piece of history while you can, because I hear this issue is selling well!
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11 comments:
I picked this up and was just looking at earlier today. It's a sweet little comic for sure with fantastic art. I was puzzled that it was offered in two varieties, with one being a blank cover version. I get why they do that, but is that really a facsimile. But as point out, they are smaller as well, so I guess it's all good.
It's so different from its magazine incarnation that I wonder whether it would've been as popular if it had stayed as a comicbook, RJ. It's a very neat presentation and I'm glad to see that DC are now putting the barcodes on the back of their facsimiles so as not to compromise the covers too much. Wish Marvel would do that with reprints whose originals never had a barcode.
Thank you for mentioning this comic. Like Rip I ended up with a blank cover version, which in no way detracts from the material.
Back in the 1950's I loved the b/w paperback reprints of the comic stories but the reduced size was difficult to read. When both the US and UK Mad Magazines appeared they didn't use interior colour, so this reprint is a treat. While I have seen the odd book format reprint before, somehow this recaptures the original best.
As a sidebar, seeing the publisher's address reminded me that the first freelance client I had as a graphic designer when I moved to NYC 50 years ago was at that address.
To be honest, T47 (long time, no hear), the blank covers don't work for me. I want a facsimile to look as much like the original as possible. And that first cover is so iconic that it's almost a crime for the publishers not to use it.
I've got a few paperback reprints (owned them since the '70s) and you're right, they were harder to read - and that was when my eyesight was a lot better than it is now. Can't throw them out though, had them too long.
And isn't that amazing you were actually in the Mad building! Were they still operating from there?
The blank cover is something of an enigma. There is a wrap around white sheet of thin paper then an actual printed cover, plain yellow front and back with the masthead and bar code printed. Inside there is the regular comic cover?
I recognized the address, 225 Lafayette Street as soon as I heard it. Sadly by then MAD had moved to Madison Avenue. In 1990(?) I was working at the New York Daily News during a big Union busting strike. A colleague and I left through the picket line at lunchtime and went to the MAD offices. I wished to buy a MAD watch for my daughter and we were given a guided tour of the archives by Bill Gaines himself. Flat files of original art, bound volumes and back issues then he personally unlocked a steamer trunk packed with MAD merchandise, including the watch I wanted.
In an out of character show of friendliness he gave us each a lapel badge, 'What Me Worry?"
So is it the regular comic with cover, with just an extra plain yellow cover (and white sheet) as well? If you were to remove the plain yellow cover, would it just look like the regular comic? Sorry if I appear a bit dense, but the old 'brain fog' is visiting and I'm finding it hard to think.
That's a good anecdote to have in one's memory, T47, and at least you were in the original Mad building, even if they'd moved out by then. And meeting Bill Gaines is another great event to remember. Wasn't he usually a friendly person then?
If you read what MAD artists said about Bill Gates you will have the impression that he was strictly business regarding ownership of rights and original art. It would seem they disliked him as a person. Don Martins views are too strong to be listed here!
From a comic lovers point of view he was a genius regarding the creative people he gave reign to, creating brilliant horror, war and humpur publications.
Bill Gates was what Bill Gaines was called in an alternate universe, isn't that so, T47? And vice versa. Didn't he treat his staff to a vacation somewhere every year? That seems like quite a friendly thing to do. Personally, how did you find him? (Yeah, I know - you opened the door and there he was.)
Gates? My mistyping, sorry. When in the early years Gaines was inspirational to his creative staff, then it seems when more and more material was reused without additional payment to the creatives he was less fondly regarded.
When we met him he was friendly. We were his target audience now grown up and the result of his subversive publications. EC Comics had been subversive in getting kids to question authority and knowing that we were working during a strike action he took pleasure in giving us "What Me Worry?" badges.
Interestingly upon opening the office door on the 13th floor, visitors were greeted by a five foot high fibreglass Alfred E. Neuman rather than a receptionist.
This link will give a good idea of the place:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/02/28/questions-for-mads-maddest-writer-including-where-did-alfred-e-neuman-come-from
That's always been the case with the creatives though, hasn't it? They knew the deal going in that they were selling the copyright and ownership of their work, and that it was the publishers' to do what they liked with (if anything). However, that's probably too big a subject to go into here. I'll take a look at that link shortly, T47, got a few things to do first, but thanks for supplying it.
Had a read of it, T47, and found it interesting that Dick DeBartolo's opinion of Bill Gaines seemed to be the opposite of Don Martin's.
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