"Snark"ing MAD

 MAD Magazine is an amazing magazine that is filled to the brim with snark. I even have my own issue of a 2015 edition of MAD. With their handcrafted ads, running gag comics (like Spy v Spy), and mascot icon Alfred E. Nueman, there’s a lot to unpack between each cover inside the magazines. 

MAD’s style of humor has always been sarcastic and snarky with how they throw out their jokes. Whether the topic is of authority, media, or consumer culture, they always have something to say. Usually it’s that of asking readers to question instead of readily accept – as if they want to spur on another Enlightenment Era.

Enlightenment Era 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Their style of snark, which is both educational and humorous, I feel is hard to put into words. It feels like they’re making the “wise guy” trope or playing into the stereotypical sarcastic voicings of a rebellious teenager. Lousy-mouthed and loud, but still hits the nail on the head. Like they’re saying something only to get a ruse out of the parents but are actually saying something that has real depth to it.

And within that, there’s also self-mocking humor that shows that “we will make fun of you and ourselves,” which is smooth movin' on their part. This gives them a show of authenticity and helps stop critics in their tracks by showing that MAD is “self-aware” of their own actions.

The comics below are good examples of these notions. The first two pictures are of that within the same comic and it discusses Melvin of the Apes! By “Egad (Long Grain) Rice Burrows,” obviously a satire on the serial story of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, later continued on by his son after his death. For now, let's also ignore the third image to discuss in a moment.

 

 

In this comic alone, through simplifying the characters to their very roots and stereotypes, MAD uses this snarky humor to point out the flaws of the original series as well as talk about society and consumer culture/materialism.

Melvin speaks and acts like a stereotypical jungle man, solving problems in the jungle with just the announcement of his "Jungle King" title while showing off to his pretty girl Jane. He is then found by explorers who discover him to be a missing child of a British couple due to an impossible birthmark on the tongue. At first, Melvin is stubborn in refusal, claiming to be against the notions of a white man’s world, but then the explorer shows him materialistic goods that he can have in place of his simple, happy life.  

Then, Melvin is gone like the wind. 

So now let's jump to the third picture as Melvin rides off into the sunset in his new sportscar.

In the third picture, this is where MAD openly makes fun of themselves and their readers. They make grotesque caricatures of their ideas of “viewers of MAD," suggesting that only the insane, wicked, or dumb would dare read the hot garbage they dare print and release.

As I mentioned earlier, this is not only giving snarky humor in a self-attacking way, it also takes the ability to have outsiders pull the rug out from under their feet. They, instead, have pulled it out themselves. In addition, this is also a subtle slap at readers to say that as they criticize others’ for their hypocrisies and other faults, MAD too shouldn’t be exempt from such treatment. Even those who tell you to wake up and look around should be questioned and judged.

One final comic that I think exudes snarky humor would be the comic on Shakespeare. In the comic strip, we get a huge one page intro from the man himself as he discusses how he's ditched being a playwright to now being a rapper. On the next page, there are excerpts of his other plays and characters as they give certain scenes a rap format.

Now, how is this snarky humor that questions authority or makes a statement on a certain culture? Easily! In his intro Shakespeare calls out that he's heard many youths fall asleep when listening to his plays. This is calling out the youth culture who just don't find such ancient storytelling entertaining.

So he switches it up to rapping, something more modern and what the kids at the time dig. This switch talks about the fluidity of time and how ways of entertainment change. The rigidity of learning the same information in the way of the original generation cannot always be applicable to those of a newer one. In this way, MAD is being snarky to the English teachers about forcing kids to read Shakespeare while also sneakily teaching kids key scenes of Shakespeare.

Both educational and humorous! This is truly the MAD Magazine's way.