Al Jaffee RIP
The usual gang of idiots lost a legend.
The great illustrator Al Jaffee, for 55 years a cartoonist at legendary MAD magazine and inventor of the famous fold-in on the backcover, died at a hospital from multi-system organ failure. He was 102 years old, here’s the orbituary in the New York Times, Snip from MAD-mags Al Jaffee-tribute:
“Al Jaffee was an incredibly gifted man who touched our hearts and never failed to make us laugh,” said Jim Lee, Chief Creative Officer and Publisher of DC. “He garnered the highest accolades and praise in the world of illustrations and comics.“
Al was named the Reuben Awards’ Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 2008 and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame in 2014. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a comic artist, beginning with his first publication in Joker Comics in 1942 and continuing through his time at MAD until his retirement last year.
“Al was, at heart, a rascal,” said John Ficarra, former MAD Editor-in-Chief who worked with Al for over 35 years. “He always had a playful twinkle in his eye and brought that sensibility to everything he created.”
In my teenage years MAD-mag was a must read. In germany, we were in the lucky situation to have Herbert Feuerstein as editor in chief who made the mag his own without losing it’s original tone that drifted from biting satire to nonsense and disrespected every and anything.
The first thing to do when you bought a MAD-mag back then, even before reading the jokes on the intro pages, but after having a chuckle at the monthly movie riff on the cover, was folding the fold-in on the back to look at the hidden joke. It was like a monthly ritual celebrated with every issue of the best stupid satire mag out there.
Like fellow cartoonists Don Martin, Sergio Aragones, Mort Drucker and Dave Berg, or Alfred E. Neumann himself and Spy vs. Spy, Al Jaffee was a cornerstone of this legendary cultural institution, and MAD magazine was formative for the humor and attitude of whole generations, influencing everything from Monty Python and Terry Gilliam to National Lampoons, Seinfeld and Larry David.
Al Jaffee was the longest drawing cartoonist in history and retired in 2020 at the age of 99. The usual gang of idiots lost a legend.
Goodnight Al, and thanks for all the laughter.
A few years ago, The Gothamist interviewed then 95 year old Jaffee, and, below, a selection of original drawings, scribbles and layouts from the production process of MAD Magazine via Heritage Auctions, where you can find tons and tons of his work.
