I have fond memories of Mad Magazine when I was a kid in the
1960’s, and had a copy of the Bedside Mad paperback. Then
a few years ago, for old time’s sake, I bought a copy of the Bedside Mad that I came across at a used book store. What I didn’t realize as a kid was that the Bedside Mad documents pretty well the transition of Mad from horror and mock horror to the magazine we knew in the 60’s. Among the
many things to recommend it, at least for me, is that it
parodies one of my favorite movies, The Caine Mutiny…or is that the Walking Stick Rebellion?
Ohh, man: Mad books. I used to have, like, two dozen of these. My personal favorites were Raving Mad, Invisible Mad and Indigestible Mad. I can’t distinguish one from another now, though, so I couldn’t expound on specific stories. Still, I got to enjoy classic works from Wil Eisner, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, et al. as well as Mad artists like Don Martin. Yeah…
…and it’s probably from reading these things in my youth that probably messed me up for life.
I remember having a book called Al Jaffee’s Snappy Answer to Stupid Questions when I was a kid in the 70s. I must have read it a hundred times.
Ah, yes. “Outer Sanctum”, too. “Now stick around, kid, while I proceed to rot your mind.”
“I guess Whitewald tired just when the case got moving, Van.” “Now who ever heard of a white-wall tired moving van?”
I probably have ever Mad paperback ever printed in my closet and at least 200 magazines hanging out in there too.
The best part of Mad, is that now I realize that that’s how I learned about a lot of current events. I didn’t understand Watergate until I read Mad’s primer.
To someone on the phone:
"Are you on the phone?"
–“No, I’m digging wax out of my ear with this plastic scoop.”
–“No, I’m talking to myself through this U-shaped tube.”
To someone standing in the doorway, dripping wet:
"Is it raining?"
–“No, I’m drenched in liquid sunshine.”
–“No, I was sneezed on by the Jolly Green Giant.”
To someone in bed:
"Are you asleep?"
–“Yes. I’m having a dream about some idiot asking me if I’m asleep.”
–“No, I’m dead. Leave the flowers and get out.”
To someone carrying suitcases to the car:
"Are you going on a trip?"
–“No, I’m a gigilo. These are some of the old bags I have to take out.”
How’s that for a 30 year memory span?? LOVE that book. Indispensible wisdom we could all use. 
You can get all of the mags, up through the end of '98, on CD-ROM now. About fifty bux (cheap) at Best Buy.
There were easily a half-dozen of these books, if not many more. I think I have three (Snappy Answers…, More Snappy Answers…, and Even More Snappy Answers…). There are at least 3 more, as they are listed in the back of the books. Pure hilarity!
I picked up one of them just a couple of years ago from a second-hand book shop.
I grew up with the odd Mad Magazine floating around the house, thanks to my father (it was his idea of an ideal Father’s Day gift).
My favourite was always Spy vs Spy.
I particularly like the Robinson Crusoe parody in Bedside.
The way he sneaks up on Joe Friday with a diabolical smile on his face, with the scent rising from his “sox”–and also
the way they used the word “Potzrebie”. Probably it was the
first time.
Funny, but I like the Mad paperbacks from the 1950s and early 60s the best.
Fortunately, I know enough about the pop culture of the time to like them, but, IMHO, Mad’s satire seemed more adult then.
The first Mad Magazine I saw as a kid had a hand with the middle finger sticking up. My friend had it, but by the time I went to the store they were gone. I believe there were many complaints. At about this time there was a back page fold-in section that showed a doubld date, but when folded showed two guys kissing. They must have been required to tone down the stuff after that because I never saw stuff that bold again.
Sergio Argones is absolutely wild!!
And brilliant!
He draws enormously complex backgrounds is very brief periods of time, & sneaks “onside jokes” into the backgrounds.
I love his comic book “Groo” as well.