From the Archives:
Two weeks ago, DC Comics announced Mad Magazine was going quarterly and also discontinuing two spin-off publications, Mad Kids and Mad Classics. The legendary satirical rag has seen a steady decline in quality and readership since its founding in 1952. Editor, John Ficarra, said, "The feedback we've gotten from readers is that only every third issue of Mad is funny, so we decided to just publish those."
The changes also came with personnel cutbacks, including many in the Mad department. However, the issues will be larger, as the magazine expands to 56 pages (from 48). Apparently, there is no word on how subscriptions will be handled, though one commenter on the DC Forums was told, "You paid for 12 issues, you'll get 12 issues." I assume subscribers to the canceled titles will receive a form, asking if they wish to switch to the regular Mad Magazine.
Print is dead, guys.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
1 comment:
Interestingly, Mad's major competition - which was little to no competition at all, then - Cracked, has done very well for itself, as it made the move online very early.
Originally a very pale imitation, Cracked has since overtaken the usual gang of idiots by adapting to its new market (adults) and the new technology. Mad might want to consider doing the same.
Unfortunately, being under DC Comics' banner doesn't help; DC is averse to giving fans what they want for some reason, preferring instead to recycle other companies' old storylines and force-feed its audience one MEGA-event after the next.
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