As a child of the 60s, MAD Magazine was my favorite "literature" in the world. I had the original issue that featured "Star Blecch" with Captain Kook and Mister Spook. That was back when Mort Drucker was drawing the TV spoofs as well as the movie spoofs. Later, when he took a leave of absence due to illness, Angelo Torres took up the artist reigns of the TV and movie spoofs. When Mort returned, they split up the duties, with Mort taking the movies, and Angelo taking the TV shows.
In 1970, I got a hardback book called "The Ridiculously Expensive MAD" for Christmas. I made the mistake of bringing it to school and a teacher confiscated it. I had to threaten her with legal action to get it back.
The staff of Mad Magazine was a close-knit bunch. They always referred to themselves collectively as "The Usual Gang of Idiots." Among my favorite recurring themes were...
Al Jaffee's "Here we go with another Ridiculous MAD Fold-In
Don Martin's one page cartoons
Antonio Prohias' Spy vs Spy
Dave Berg's The Lighter Side of _________
Paul Coker's Horrifying Cliches
Sergio Aragones' "Drawn Out Dramas" which would populate the margins.
Frank Jacobs' numerous poems and song parodies.
Rest in peace, Al Feldstein. You left behind an amazing legacy.
