“What I create is the atmosphere.”
I’ve been in a MAD frame of mind recently because of our friend, producer David Levin, who introduced us all to the magazine’s inner workings on Pulp Secret last year, and brought by a couple of his MADdest friends (editors actually) to talk a few weeks ago. Meeting them put me into the frame of mind to read David Hadju’s The Ten-Cent Plague about the repressive moment in the 1950s when states across America actually tried to censor books (in this case, comic books).
So much of it revolved around the mythology of EC comics’ and MAD’s publisher William Gaines that I started routing around for something to read on the history of MAD. Unfortunately no one’s seen fit to research anything resembling an objective view, so I settled for this 1972 virtually authorized biography. Which made me try and find one of his obituaries that so influenced me on the eve of my joining Hanna-Barbera and the cartoon business full time in June 1992.
Why such an influence? I was new to the cartoon business, never having had anything to do with making anything with characters or stories (I’d produced quite a few animated commercials), and I was scared to death because I had no idea what to do. Then I read one of Gaines’ mythologizing quotes and I started to feel like, even if I couldn’t begin to be the kind of eccentric character he was, maybe I’d have a chance.
“My staff and contributors create the magazine,” Gaines said. “What I create is the atmosphere.”
»
On May 25th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I believe someone or other is using this biography as the basis of a movie.
I think it’s a friendly look at an interesting fellow, probably American Splendor style.
On May 28th, 2008 at 1:43 am
HI FRED AND GANG!!!
I THOUGHT I’D HOP BACK ON THE BLOG COMMENT FREEWAY WITH A “MAD” COMMENT.
I GOTTA SAY IN GENERAL THAT MAD MAGAZINE HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL INSPIRATIONS TO ME AS AN ARTIST. IT HAS SENT ME TO SUMMER SCHOOL AND DETENTION MANY TIMES. (AND I DON’T REGRET IT A BIT!!! HA! HA! HA!) GUYS LIKE JACK DAVIS, MORT DRUCKER HAVE TAUGHT ME SO MUCH. WILLIAM GAINES IS A GENIOUS FOR HAVING THE FORE SIGHT IN PRODUCING THIS MONUMENTAL PIECE OF AMERICAN CULTURE.
THANKS FRED FOR TALKING ABOUT IT AND BRING BACK MEMORIES.
TAKE CARE AND I KNOW WE’LL TALK SOOOON!
YOUR CARTOON PAL….JEFF
On June 3rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
[…] was writing about my MAD mood recently, and it prompted me to buy my sons MAD’s Greatest Artists:The Completely MAD Don Martin which […]
On August 22nd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
[…] wrote about this book when I read it in May, and I think I said then it was not well written, but the closest thing to […]