January 29, 2009

The Covers of Frankenstein : Mad No. 89


A classic Mad cover from 1964 spoofs the monster mania of its time with the Frankenstein Monster assembling an Alfred E. Neuman model kit.

Artist Norman Mingo was first hired on in 1956 to provide painted covers, a necessary style upgrade after the title had converted from comic book to magazine format. Mingo, then 60 years old, with a long and illustrious career already behind him, would go on to produce a lion’s share of magazine and paperback covers for Mad until 1979. He passed away in 1980.

Over the last decade, the venerable magazine has undergone profound and perhaps inevitable changes, notably the introduction of color content and — gasp! — advertising. Now comes the news that with issue #500, this coming April, Mad will shrink from a monthly to a quarterly schedule. Blame so-so sales complicated by a slumping economy and the slow-motion collapse of print media. What, me worry, indeed.


Mad official website.

Mad cover gallery.

Norman Mingo on American Art Archives.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's some of the arlier comic book MAD's Frank n. Stein! by Kurtzman & Elder:
http://www.lambiek.net/artists/e/elder/elder_frankenstein.jpg

Pierre Fournier said...

Yeah, Frankenstein has almost been a regular character in Mad through the years. We'll be looking at more Mad Frankensteins in the near future. I think I even have a surprise in store: A Mad Frankenstein cover that no one in America has seen!

rob! said...

Mad going quarterly makes me very, very sad.

Jimmy Calabrese said...

I love those model kits and Mad. So I always lked this cover art.

Christopher said...

boy!this Mad cover really takes me back!..I don't think I've seen it since I saw a copy of the Magazine laying in a stack of back issues in a neighbors garage sometime in the mid to late 60s.I was such Monster freak.I was afraid to ask the dude if he wanted to part with it..I was probably thinking how I might come back later and steal it!...If he'd only GO INSIDE!

Doug Gilford said...

Mad cover site has a new address at:
www.madcoversite.com

Pierre Fournier said...

Thanks, Doug. I have updated the link.