Al Jaffe, Mad Magazine Popular Cartoonist Passes On, At 102

Al Jaffe, one award-winning Mad Magazine cartoonist, has passed away.

He died at the age of 102.

Fani Thompson, who is his granddaughter, revealed that Jaffee died on Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure.

Mad magazine, through it cartoonist with its wry, sometimes pointed send-ups of politics and culture, was essential reading for teens and preteens during the baby-boom era and an inspiration for countless future comedians.

It was gathered that for decades, virtually every issue featured new material by Jaffee. His collected Fold-Ins, taking on everyone in his unmistakably broad visual style from the Beatles to TMZ, was enough for a four-volume box set published in 2011.

It was also noted that Jaffee devised a picture of 1964 GOP presidential contenders Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater that, when collapsed, became an image of Richard Nixon.

”That one really set the tone for what the cleverness of the Fold-Ins has to be,” Jaffee told the Boston Phoenix in 2010.

The deceased most iconic creation at the magazine didn’t come about until nearly a decade after his 1955 debut with Mad magazine.

In a long statement issued out on the magazines verified Facebook handle, mourned the Legendary cartoonist saying,

“MAD Magazine mourns the loss of the incomparable Al Jaffee, creator of the MAD Fold-In, “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” and many other MAD features through the decades. A humble and kind creator, Al’s presence, his astute social commentary, and his endless amusement at life’s ups and downs shaped the fabric of the magazine.

“Al Jaffee was an incredibly gifted man who touched our hearts and never failed to make us laugh,” said Jim Lee, Chief Creative Officer and Publisher of DC. “He garnered the highest accolades and praise in the world of illustrations and comics.“

Al was named the Reuben Awards’ Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 2008, and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame in 2014. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a comic artist, beginning with his first publication in Joker Comics in 1942 and continuing through his time at MAD until his retirement in 2020.

“Al was, at heart, a rascal,” said John Ficarra, former MAD Editor-in-Chief who worked with Al for over 35 years. “He always had a playful twinkle in his eye and brought that sensibility to everything he created.”

“It was an event when Al would visit the MAD offices to drop off a Fold-In,” said former MAD Art Director Sam Viviano. “The entire staff would gather for an hour just to listen to him talk about his amazing life and career.”

“Al embodied the true spirit of MAD, and so many humorists, cartoonists and creatives will find inspiration in his work for generations to come,” said Suzy Hutchinson, MAD’s current Art Director. “He was a national treasure, and it was an honor to work with and learn from such an ingenious, caring, and wholly creative soul, the best of the Original Gang of Idiots.”

An archive of Al’s work is held at Columbia University.

He will be MADly missed.”