Monu-Mentally Mad

by Al Jaffee, MAD Magazine

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Allan Jaffee was an American cartoonist. He was notable for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. Jaffee was a regular contributor to the magazine for 65 years and is its longest-running contributor. In a 2010 interview, Jaffee said, "Serious people my age are dead."
With a career running from 1942 until 2020, Jaffee holds the Guinness World Record for having the longest career as a comic artist. In the half-century between April 1964 and April 2013, only one issue of Mad was published without containing new material by Jaffee.
In 2008, Jaffee was honored by the Reuben Awards as the Cartoonist of the Year. Cartoonist Arnold Roth of The New Yorker said, "Al Jaffee is one of the great cartoonists of our time." Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz wrote, "Al can cartoon anything."

Reviews

[Tyler Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was arguably the first comic book I ever read. I found it sitting on top of a trash can when I was about nine or ten years old, and hid it from my parents since it was profane. I decided to re-read it this year after finding it in a box of old books.

It has everything you would expect from a 70's parody/satire: Mild racism, sexism, and a few genuinely hilarious moments. Much of the material is outdated and involves objects/problems that don't really exist anymore, but some of it holds up. It opens with a relatively funny Star Wars parody, includinging multiple Weird Al-esque parody songs (they give you the lyrics and the tune, you sing it in your head).

I can't wait to give this to my son when he's about 14 or 15 and for him to not get it at all.