The Mad Sampler

by William M. Gaines, MAD Magazine, Al Feldstein

A sampling of all the cartons from Mad

Genres: Humor, Comics, Satire

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice one! This takes on 'Lassie' (Lizzy), the two faces of WWII, commercial roulette, the Shakespeare Primer, Mad's insurance, Mad's Auto repair, Famous lost words, College songs and cheers (really funny), the guide to parents and come good cartoons. Lots of fun! 4 Mad stars.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the humour in this book is certainly antiquated by today's standards, understandable for a book first published in 1960, there are some redeeming qualities to it, including the parodies of Shakespeare and the TV shows of the period (like 'TV's Wonder Dog Lizzie', a parody of 'Lassie').

The best quality of this book in my opinion is its good satire of society in general and of political correctness, highlighted in the segment 'The Two Faces of World War II' which shows how people's perceptions were changing over time because of this phenomenon.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This humor has not aged well for me and is also hampered by the fact most of these presentations lose impact crammed into the confines of cramped paperback pages at times even with unnecessary whitespace.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usual MADness. A flashback to the late 1950 for me and the days of my adolescence.

[Duane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best sample of Mad humor. I do enjoy the art style, but the humor is boring and forced in my opinion.

[Michael David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not among the good MAD collections I have read.