A lot of what makes MAD magazine fun for readers is its anarchistic counterculture appeal. In the 1950s, it was the antithesis to Ozzie and Harriet, edgy and unabashed in its skewering of public figures. And for more than 50 years, its voice came from the gifted pen of Frank Jacobs, a former ad man and freelance journalist whose scalpel-like wit and scathingly funny satire set the direction for what would become the golden age of MAD. He was the genius lyricist and poet laureate behind the magazine's biting musical and verse parodies; the guy who got Irving Berlin's goat by setting the great songwriter's lyrics to a medley of politically taboo laments. Jacobs turned "West Side Story" into the wry and surrealistic "East Side Story," where the ideological standoff between the Communists and the Capitalists mirrored American national politics: "If they thought the gangs on the West Side were tough, they should have taken a look at... those two rival gangs at the U.N.!" Another subject to derision was Charles Schulz's Peanuts; writing from the point of view of the Red Baron battling "der American beagle," Jacobs gave new meaning to "happiness is a warm puppy."
In this collection, Jacobs selects highlights from the nearly 600 pieces he contributed to MAD, including some of his favorites--"Babar's Final Adventure"; "The Reagan," based on Poe's "The Raven"; and his 1961 songbook of show tune parodies that spawned a copyright lawsuit. Not every piece works, but the ones that do reap huge rewards. "You never know when you've hit one out of the park or popped up to the infield while you're writing them. You have to always give it your best shot." --Nancy Powell, freelance writer and technical consultant