Tag Archives: Mad Magazine

Virtual Fold-Ins

Humor, Well Worth Reading, , ,

I wrote back in April about the New York Times profile of renowned Mad magazine fold-in artist Al Jaffee, but I just noticed that they digitized a number of his fold-ins (you can even drag them into proper position using your mouse…ohhh, interactivity!)

Not all of the subject matter holds up; I prefer the earlier, anti-Vietnam stuff (and what’s up with the New York Times’ statement that “The Whitewater scandal haunted the Clinton White House for years”? Shouldn’t that be “scandal”?).

Still, it’s a fun selection from an incredible career.

Al Jaffee Profile in the New York Times

Humor, ,

Old fans of Mad magazine will be happy to see a profile of long-time artist Al Jaffee in the New York Times. Jaffee is best known for the fold-ins that have graced the inner back page of every issue of Mad since 1964; his long-running “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions” feature is also a Mad staple.

At 87, Jaffee still draws each of the fold-ins by hand, using careful planning to account for the transformation in the eventual crease. As the article states,

Mr. Jaffee does have a computer, but its main benefit, he said, has been to make the typographic tricks in the fold-in easier to create. He doesn’t draw with it, which leads to another surprise: the master of the fold-in never actually folds.

“I’m working on a hard, flat board,” he said. “I cannot fold it. That’s why my planning has to be so correct.”

“The computer would make it so much simpler,” he added. “But I think I’m going to remain a dinosaur.”

His fans are numerous, and they include Steven Colbert, who is quoted. “‘I have a vast Mad collection, but they’re not collector-worthy,’ Mr. Colbert said in a telephone interview — too heavily folded. ‘Perhaps I should have bought two.'”

I still have a later-vintage collection sitting at my mom’s house, but they should be in better shape than Colbert’s. I could never bring myself to fold them.