Another Al for All Time

Can you name a source for your worldview, your sensibilities… and your sense of humor?

I would cite Stan Lee, of course. Joseph Heller. And Mad Magazine.

Irreverent. Subversive. And knowingly beholden to the world we live in.

Al Jaffee, the Mad legend, was born on March 13  1921, living to the age of 102.

I was reading Mad Magazine paperback compilations before I read the magazine; the older stuff, the long-form comic book parodies of movies and TV shows. And Al Jaffee’s Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. And Jaffee’s Fold-Ins – Mad’s take on Playboy centerfolds – taught us to look at things differently, to see beyond the obvious, and to expect the unexpected.

Mad didn’t just satirize culture; it changed the way we thought about it. And helped us to question the madness around us.  Jaffee turned the act of folding a page into a lesson in critical thinking. You couldn’t just take things at face value. There was always more to see if you looked the right way.

There’s so much absurdity around us. We can’t just fold up. We have to fold-in.

Happy birthday, Al Jaffee.

What do you think?

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