History of Mad

Debuting in August 1952 (cover-dated October–November), Mad began as a comic book, part of the EC line published from offices on Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan. In 1961, Mad moved its offices to midtown Manhattan; since 1996 its location has been at 1700 Broadway.

In the planning stages the new publication was referred to as "EC’s Mad Mag" ("The title was my suggestion," Al Feldstein once said) but was shorted by Kurtzman to just "Mad."

The phrase "Tales Calculated to Drive You" above the title Mad referenced radio's Suspense which often used the opening, "Tales well calculated to keep you in… Suspense!" With wordplay on "jocular," the vertical subtitle, "Humor in a Jugular Vein," hinted at a sinister satirical edge.

Early artists

Written almost entirely by Harvey Kurtzman, the first issue also featured illustrations by Kurtzman himself, along with Wally Wood, Will Elder, Jack Davis and John Severin. Wood, Elder and Davis were the three main illustrators throughout the 23-issue run of the book; Severin, a mainstay of Kurtzman's EC war comics, left the comic book by the tenth issue. Kurtzman included his own finished art only sporadically, primarily on covers. However, he was known as an exceedingly "hands-on" editor and a visual master, and thus many Mad articles were illustrated in strict accordance with Kurtzman's detailed layouts. A handful of other artists also contributed to the original run, including Bernard Krigstein, Russ Heath and most conspicuously among the non-regulars, Basil Wolverton.