For more than half a century, MAD Magazine was not merely a humor publication. It was an attitude, a worldview, a survival guide for young readers navigating a confusing modern world filled with advertising lies, political hypocrisy, corporate doublespeak, and pop-culture absurdity. If Superman stood for idealism and Reader’s Digest stood for earnest uplift, MAD stood for skepticism—armed with jokes, cartoons, parody lyrics, and relentless mockery.
Recommended reading for this episode:
MAD Art: A Visual Celebration of the Art of MAD Magazine and the Idiots Who Create It — Mark Evanier (2002)
The MAD World of William M. Gaines by Frank Jacobs (1972)
Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created MAD and Revolutionized Humor in America by Bill Schelly (2015)
Al Jaffee’s Mad Life by Mary-Lou Weisman (2010)
Foul Play!: The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s EC Comics by Grant Geissman (2005)
Tales of Terror!: The EC Companion by Fred von Bernewitz & Grant Geissman (2000)
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu (2008)
COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.
Hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated, and TV Comics. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. Kevin was also the Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic, card, and toy distributor in the country, and the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic related merchandise.
Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.
This podcast is made by humans.
© Kevin Cleary 2026
