Al Jaffee's Mad Life: A Biography

Mary-Lou Weisman

Sep 2010 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

“One of the great cartoonists of our time.” –New Yorker cartoonist Arnold Roth

The remarkable story of one of America’s most prolific and beloved cartoonists, Al Jaffee, with dozens of original color illustrations. Jaffe’s career in cartooning stretches back to 1941—with early humor pieces for Timely Comics, a precursor to Marvel Comics—but the iconic artist remains best known for the brilliant Fold-In cartoons he invented at Bill Gaines’s Mad magazine in 1964. The cerebral and sardonic illustrations have inspired generations of Mad readers—including Stephen Colbert, R. Crumb, Gary Larson and Charles Shultz—to embrace a firm and healthy irreverence towards the status quo. New York Times columnist and bestselling author Mary-Lou Weisman (My Middle-Aged Baby Book) helps Jaffe tell his remarkable story.

About the author

Al Jaffee was born in 1921 in Savannah Georgia. He is an award winning cartoonist and cultural icon. He began his career in 1941 working as comic book artist for several publishers including Timely Comics and Atlas Comics and later at Marvel Comics. He became editor at Timely comics in the late 1940's working on the humor and teen-age comics. He first appeared in Mad Magazine in 1955 shortly after it changed from comic book to magazine. He became known for his work in the satirical Mad Magazine. He started a trademark feature for the magazine - the Mad Fold-In for the back cover - which has appeared in almost every issue since 1964. It is a joke on the triple fold outs in magazines like Playboy. He is Mad's oldest regular contributor after 55 years. His work has appeared in over 440 issues. He is the author of several books including: Mad's Al Jaffee Spews Out More Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and Tall Tales. (2008) In 2008 he was honored by Reuben Awards as a Cartoonist of the Year.