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Mad - Fold This Book! A Ridiculous Collection of Fold-Ins
Al Jaffee's Fold-Ins have been a staple of the phenomenally successful MAD magazine since 1964. Fold This Book! contains the best of the Fold-Ins, culled from more than 350 issues of the legendary satire magazine. Illustrations throughout, many in color.
- GenresHumor
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
19 people want to read
About the author
Al Jaffee
106 books17 followersAllan 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."
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."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 9, 2024
Wow! I sure remember this from my childhood! But I am only now able to appreciate the tough issues Jaffee addressed (crime, inflation, political corruption...) through humor. I can remember trying to 'see' the picture before folding it in place - sometimes it was really hard. Really took me back to my childhood.
November 19, 2023
A greatest-hits compilation that includes Jaffee’s commentary about his process. Nice to see that his selection of fold-ins focuses on his satirical takes on American politics - what’s depressing is that they’re still valid today!
Good fun, and one doesn’t need to actually fold the pages of this book to enjoy it!
Good fun, and one doesn’t need to actually fold the pages of this book to enjoy it!
April 8, 2020
MAD About MAD Books!!!!!
It’s time to get MAD!!!!!!!!!
Or, in this case, get MAD with multiple books that feature MAD Magazine and it’s crazy cracked view of reality.
Now for the Muggles out there, MAD Magazine is a humour publication that has been around since the 1950s, skewering life and society and movies and television and politics and advertising and even itself. My love for MAD has been around my whole life, as I have expressed before.
But now, back to my plethora of MAD books.
Lets start with a history of MAD with……
Good Days And MAD: A Hysterical Tour Behind the Scenes at MAD Magazine by Dick DeBartolo.
This volume, published in 1994, is a memoir penned by DeBartolo, who is a long time MAD writer and knows tons and tons about the venerable institution. He fills this book with gazillions of stories from over his decades working for Bill Gaines, the cofounder and leader of MAD. Accompanying the tales, which and very short and breezy and to the point, are also gazillions of pictures and cartoons and reprints filling the pages. It makes a smorgasbord of info and fun and interesting stories, and it all feels very real. DeBartolo also puts all through the book tons of forewords, written by all sorts of MAD staff and others, because, well, he forgot that he asked so many people to write a foreword for him. And yes, that is an obvious joke.
The wacky stories range from his and others relationship with Gaines, pranks played, the infamous MAD trips that Gaines paid for, the origin of the MAD radio spots (which I had never heard of till now), the MAD paperback books that I miss so much, the MAD travelling slide show (which I also had never heard of till now), the 60 Minutes feature on MAD, an excellent reprint of the infamous George Lucas letter about the Star Wars parody, and the even more infamous legends about Gaines being cheap cheap cheap with company expenses but very generous generous generous with his personal fortune.
The chapters at the end dealing with Gaines later years and health are sad, and even sadder when his passing occurs. Included is the full page ad MAD put in the New York Times addressing his death.
I didn’t mind when DeBartolo goes off topic and discusses his other careers, such as working on gameshows and magazines and consumer product reviews. But even through we know these stories take place in the 1970s and 1980s and 1990s, he rarely gives an indication of when anything takes place, which is frustrating for continuity buffs like myself. And once in a while, they go into the TMI area.
A history of MAD has to include one defining department….
MAD Fold This Book by Al Jaffee is of course all about the legendary Fold In that MAD puts on the inside back cover of tons and tons of issues going back decades. Jaffee invented the fold in as kind of a parody of Playboy magazines fold out. You read the caption and see the drawing, then fold the page in on itself, which creates a new drawing and caption, all to make a humourous point. This collection, featuring commentary by Jaffee (who is right now in his 90s!!) talks about the creation of the fold in and how he makes them, plus several examples of them and his thoughts on some individual pieces.
For the history buffs, the first Fold In was in MAD issue 86 from April 1964 and its topic was the much publicized Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton affair. MAD number 119 in June 1968 had the first colour Fold In, and MAD had its first Fold In cover on issue 320 in July 1993. Jaffee covers all sorts of topics from politics to the Vietnam War to pollution to the generation gap to pollution to the evils of cigarettes, sometimes striking controversies.
This is an extremely fun and fascinating slim volume, published in 1997, and has an introduction by Peanuts creator Charles Schultz. Jafee does mention the rare occasions when the Fold In was not included in MAD, with explanations as too why. MAD Fold This Book is a great look at this unique creation, and the history it looks at.
One part of MAD history is their mocking adverting…..
Which MADvertising: A MAD Look at 50 years of MADison Avenue by former MAD Associate Editor David Shayne, who also has worked for various television shows, chronicles massively. Published in 2005, Shayne starts at the beginning with how ad parodies were practically part of the MAD DNA pretty much from the start. In fact, Gaines despised most advertising, including false ones, and for cigarettes, and constantly railled against them.
Shayne gives us generous helping of reprints of all sorts of MAD’s attacks on ads, sometimes even showing the original ads. Much efforts were put into these parodies, going back decades, and plenty of background material on the originals and how MAD made the parodies. And quite often, it seems like MAD put more effort the satires then the companies that made the source ads did. This detailed throughout the volume, and seeing how photography Irving Schild went to great lengths to perfect what he was doing. He also quite often used the MAD staff and their families and friends as models for this features. We also find out that some of the artists drawing the parodies worked on real ads, which is interesting.
One of my favourites is a parody of My Fair Lady called My Fair Ad-Man, with song satires inspired by the musical and advertising. It is a great bit of work and excellent part of history. One drawback is that sometimes the text in the source ads and satire ads are too small to read properly, which can be very hard on the eyes.
And eyes are what we watch movies with…..
That awful segue leads to MAD About Movies, the WB Special Edition. This huge collection, published in 1998, features all Warner Brothers movies, who are the corporate owners of MAD. We get an introduction by famous movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, all saluting MAD and its parodies.
This collection is in order of when the films were released, which makes the historical and cultural aspect of them even better. What is also awesome to me, being a longtime film buff, since I have seen most of the movies parodied here. And it is interesting to see how much of MAD’s commentary I agree and disagree with over these classics. Okay, I am stretching that word here, because Under Siege is included in this volume. And they are right that the Steve McQueen vehicle Bullitt sucks.
One of the best parts of MAD About Movies for the Geek part of me is seeing their parodies of Superman The Movie and Superman II, and Batman 1989. These are awesome beyond belief. They also have Siskel and Ebert “guest host” the Mars Attacks satire, and for the insanely die hard fans, MAD includes the parody of Up The Academy, the comedy movie they sponsored in the early 1980s and quickly disowned.
The only downside to the entire volume is the graphic design sucks. For 1998, it looks like no one at MAD knew what computer design was, making this volume look like something from the 1970s.
And a much better design went into…..
MAD About Super Heroes, version 2.5, which was published in 2012. This collection is huge, and has a gazillion movie and television parodies, along with general hero satires. Volume one probably has the earlier stuff like Super Duper Man and Starchie, and can’t wait to see that one someday. I do really like the politicians, as super heroes ones, including Super Delegate, and the Sergio Aragones pages are great as well.
Some of my favourites include X-Men 2, Watchmen, and the graphic novel review for Infinite Secret Crisis On All Earthly Worlds which just feels so much like so many modern event comics. I also really really really loved the Constantine and Green Lantern parodies because those “movies” really really really deserved it.
Whew! And that is a wrap on this look at these MAD books!!!
I have always loved MAD’s crazy cracked view of reality, and yes I love that term nudge nudge wink wink, and I have always loved how MAD magazine gives laughs and learning to its readers. And these books are no exception.
Scoopriches
It’s time to get MAD!!!!!!!!!
Or, in this case, get MAD with multiple books that feature MAD Magazine and it’s crazy cracked view of reality.
Now for the Muggles out there, MAD Magazine is a humour publication that has been around since the 1950s, skewering life and society and movies and television and politics and advertising and even itself. My love for MAD has been around my whole life, as I have expressed before.
But now, back to my plethora of MAD books.
Lets start with a history of MAD with……
Good Days And MAD: A Hysterical Tour Behind the Scenes at MAD Magazine by Dick DeBartolo.
This volume, published in 1994, is a memoir penned by DeBartolo, who is a long time MAD writer and knows tons and tons about the venerable institution. He fills this book with gazillions of stories from over his decades working for Bill Gaines, the cofounder and leader of MAD. Accompanying the tales, which and very short and breezy and to the point, are also gazillions of pictures and cartoons and reprints filling the pages. It makes a smorgasbord of info and fun and interesting stories, and it all feels very real. DeBartolo also puts all through the book tons of forewords, written by all sorts of MAD staff and others, because, well, he forgot that he asked so many people to write a foreword for him. And yes, that is an obvious joke.
The wacky stories range from his and others relationship with Gaines, pranks played, the infamous MAD trips that Gaines paid for, the origin of the MAD radio spots (which I had never heard of till now), the MAD paperback books that I miss so much, the MAD travelling slide show (which I also had never heard of till now), the 60 Minutes feature on MAD, an excellent reprint of the infamous George Lucas letter about the Star Wars parody, and the even more infamous legends about Gaines being cheap cheap cheap with company expenses but very generous generous generous with his personal fortune.
The chapters at the end dealing with Gaines later years and health are sad, and even sadder when his passing occurs. Included is the full page ad MAD put in the New York Times addressing his death.
I didn’t mind when DeBartolo goes off topic and discusses his other careers, such as working on gameshows and magazines and consumer product reviews. But even through we know these stories take place in the 1970s and 1980s and 1990s, he rarely gives an indication of when anything takes place, which is frustrating for continuity buffs like myself. And once in a while, they go into the TMI area.
A history of MAD has to include one defining department….
MAD Fold This Book by Al Jaffee is of course all about the legendary Fold In that MAD puts on the inside back cover of tons and tons of issues going back decades. Jaffee invented the fold in as kind of a parody of Playboy magazines fold out. You read the caption and see the drawing, then fold the page in on itself, which creates a new drawing and caption, all to make a humourous point. This collection, featuring commentary by Jaffee (who is right now in his 90s!!) talks about the creation of the fold in and how he makes them, plus several examples of them and his thoughts on some individual pieces.
For the history buffs, the first Fold In was in MAD issue 86 from April 1964 and its topic was the much publicized Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton affair. MAD number 119 in June 1968 had the first colour Fold In, and MAD had its first Fold In cover on issue 320 in July 1993. Jaffee covers all sorts of topics from politics to the Vietnam War to pollution to the generation gap to pollution to the evils of cigarettes, sometimes striking controversies.
This is an extremely fun and fascinating slim volume, published in 1997, and has an introduction by Peanuts creator Charles Schultz. Jafee does mention the rare occasions when the Fold In was not included in MAD, with explanations as too why. MAD Fold This Book is a great look at this unique creation, and the history it looks at.
One part of MAD history is their mocking adverting…..
Which MADvertising: A MAD Look at 50 years of MADison Avenue by former MAD Associate Editor David Shayne, who also has worked for various television shows, chronicles massively. Published in 2005, Shayne starts at the beginning with how ad parodies were practically part of the MAD DNA pretty much from the start. In fact, Gaines despised most advertising, including false ones, and for cigarettes, and constantly railled against them.
Shayne gives us generous helping of reprints of all sorts of MAD’s attacks on ads, sometimes even showing the original ads. Much efforts were put into these parodies, going back decades, and plenty of background material on the originals and how MAD made the parodies. And quite often, it seems like MAD put more effort the satires then the companies that made the source ads did. This detailed throughout the volume, and seeing how photography Irving Schild went to great lengths to perfect what he was doing. He also quite often used the MAD staff and their families and friends as models for this features. We also find out that some of the artists drawing the parodies worked on real ads, which is interesting.
One of my favourites is a parody of My Fair Lady called My Fair Ad-Man, with song satires inspired by the musical and advertising. It is a great bit of work and excellent part of history. One drawback is that sometimes the text in the source ads and satire ads are too small to read properly, which can be very hard on the eyes.
And eyes are what we watch movies with…..
That awful segue leads to MAD About Movies, the WB Special Edition. This huge collection, published in 1998, features all Warner Brothers movies, who are the corporate owners of MAD. We get an introduction by famous movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, all saluting MAD and its parodies.
This collection is in order of when the films were released, which makes the historical and cultural aspect of them even better. What is also awesome to me, being a longtime film buff, since I have seen most of the movies parodied here. And it is interesting to see how much of MAD’s commentary I agree and disagree with over these classics. Okay, I am stretching that word here, because Under Siege is included in this volume. And they are right that the Steve McQueen vehicle Bullitt sucks.
One of the best parts of MAD About Movies for the Geek part of me is seeing their parodies of Superman The Movie and Superman II, and Batman 1989. These are awesome beyond belief. They also have Siskel and Ebert “guest host” the Mars Attacks satire, and for the insanely die hard fans, MAD includes the parody of Up The Academy, the comedy movie they sponsored in the early 1980s and quickly disowned.
The only downside to the entire volume is the graphic design sucks. For 1998, it looks like no one at MAD knew what computer design was, making this volume look like something from the 1970s.
And a much better design went into…..
MAD About Super Heroes, version 2.5, which was published in 2012. This collection is huge, and has a gazillion movie and television parodies, along with general hero satires. Volume one probably has the earlier stuff like Super Duper Man and Starchie, and can’t wait to see that one someday. I do really like the politicians, as super heroes ones, including Super Delegate, and the Sergio Aragones pages are great as well.
Some of my favourites include X-Men 2, Watchmen, and the graphic novel review for Infinite Secret Crisis On All Earthly Worlds which just feels so much like so many modern event comics. I also really really really loved the Constantine and Green Lantern parodies because those “movies” really really really deserved it.
Whew! And that is a wrap on this look at these MAD books!!!
I have always loved MAD’s crazy cracked view of reality, and yes I love that term nudge nudge wink wink, and I have always loved how MAD magazine gives laughs and learning to its readers. And these books are no exception.
Scoopriches
June 19, 2016
This is a really nice book. Good introductory piece about how the MAD Fold-In came to be, plus it has a double page spread for each fold-in with an explanation about a particular aspect of the fold-in and/or historical context. It obviously doesnt have every fold-in, rather a book that celebrates the fold-in, and also thankful, shows a picture of the Fold-in so you dont have to bend the page. For MAD magazine fans, a really nice purchase.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews