Mad Man

Of all the original Mad Magazine artists, Will Elder may have had the biggest influence. His parodies including "Superduperman", "Starchie" and "Mickey Rodent" set the standard for both Mad's take-no-prisoners satire as well as filling the panels with enough irreverent throwaway gags that you just had to read the parodies again...and again...and yet again, with no diminution of pleasure.

Elder (born Wolf Eisenberg) just died at age 86 and leaves behind a wealth of fine work, some terrific interviews, as well as his notorious "Little Annie Fanny" series with writer (and Mad co-founder) Harvey Kurtzman for Hugh Hefner's Playboy. In fact, watching this short film about Elder's work (in two parts via YouTube), you'd be forgiven for thinking that Kurtzman and Elder were the same guy.





With the originators of the Mad sensibility on the way out, leaving the few like Al Jaffee and Dick DeBartolo still producing (still first-rate) work, it's the end of an era for sure, but this usual gang of idiots has influenced our culture beyond measurement, essentially providing the bedrock sense of humor that continues to grow today.

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