mad about Mad

Out of the blue, I received an e-mail from Dick DeBartolo. Dick has been a writer for Mad magazine for 40 years and has a daily podcast called The Giz Wiz.

He wrote to me because one of his podcast listeners mentioned my blog's slogan, "My subscription to Life expired, but I still have a subscription to Mad." I came up with it and it resides at the top of the column just to the right.

In his e-mail, Dick also kind of introduced himself and invited me to tour the Mad offices next time I am in the City.

Dick needed no introduction. I have been reading Mad since 1961 and am a big fan of the magazine, so I was certainly familiar with his great body of work and I was elated to receive an e-mail from "Mad's maddest writer."

I mentioned how my Dad worked at Eastern Color Printing Company, where the comic book was invented, and how they printed the four-color inserts for some of the Mad annuals back in the 1960's. Do you remember the Sunday Comic Section, Sing Along With Mad, and the Alfred E. Neuman life-size poster? They were all printed in my Dad's shop.

In response, Dick mentioned how Mad founder, Bill Gaines, claimed that his father, Max Gaines, had invented the comic book. How did that jive with my claim that Eastern Color invented the comic book? Well, Max Gaines worked for Eastern Color. (You can read about it here.)

Anyway, I will be visiting the City next month and plan to stop by the Mad offices for the official tour.