Mad‘s Al Jaffee…1921-2023
The Spill rarely goes out of its New Yorker-centric orbit, but I simply cannot ignore the passing of Al Jaffee, “King of The Mad Magazine Fold-In,” (according to The New York Times) who died yesterday at age 102.
I know that Mr. Jaffee made a run at The New Yorker at some point (or points) in his long career. At least a couple of his cover submissions to the magazine were shown at an exhibit of his work at the old MoCCA headquarters on Broadway, just below Canal Street. But it is of course his “fold-ins” for MAD that will forever be remembered by legions of the magazine’s readers.
Several generations of New Yorker cartoonists received their early comic/cartoon education from MAD, and I would guess that each and every one took the time to fold-in Mr. Jaffee’s work each month. I know I did.
Just a few obits, out of many: Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, , Deadline.com,
and cartoonist Jason Chatfield’s New York Cartoons