#MAD Paperbacks

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

FROM THE ABSOLUTELY MAD MIND OF THE LATE, GREAT AL JAFFEE -- "PRESS A BUTTON, ANY BUTTON."

PIC(S) INFO: Resolution at 1701x2873 -- Mega spotlight on front & back cover art to "Al Jaffee's MAD Inventions... And Other Patently Absurd Contrivances," published by Warner 94-407, c. 1978, 4th printing. Artwork by the late, great Al Jaffee.

PIC #2: Back cover art -- Resolution at 1752x2873. Artwork by Al Jaffee (1921-2023).

Source: www.biblio.com/book/al-jaffees-mad-inventions-al-jaffee/d/1464887062.

[wolfgang1097]

What's up, it's me, Ari. This may be a bit of a personal ramble, but I cannot help but say that I have had a strange obsession (and crush) on these two dudes for about a year and a half now.

(Screenshots were taken from MADtv).

I can't help but get quite a bit of an adrenaline rush whenever I check out the animated shorts from MADtv and/or check out the paperback strips, a good deal of which I personally wish were made into animated shorts for MADtv way back when. Then again, some of them from the first three paperback books were, from what I realized. Yes, I am one of those folks who wished there were new shorts for season three instead of rerunning the two seasons of the shorts through season five (unless I'm mistaken). There were plenty of ideas to go around and I personally believe that several strips from The Fourth Declassified Files of Spy vs. Spy would have been perfect for season three, along with some select strips from Spy vs. Spy the Follow-Up Files (other than the Tall Bed and Cat's Cradle strips/shorts, from season two), and of course some of the magazine strips plus a few of the one panel opening gags.

Anyway, I was first exposed to these two goofy, cheeky, demented weirdos was thanks to the Mountain Dew commercials, which aired when I was just seven years old, and some of the animated shorts from MADtv, courtesy of my two older sisters because they were fans of some of the live-action characters of the show, especially Stuart Larkin. From what I remember, MADtv frequently aired reruns of their older seasons on Comedy Central when I was a kid in the 2000s.

I don't know why, but whenever I watch the MADtv shorts or check out the magazine and/or the paperback strips (regardless of era), I personally tend to get a mixture of Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner, Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead (kind of), and even Jackass vibes. Maybe it's their wild, zany, outrageous, and insanely hilarious antics. They may be insane, but at the end of the day, they split my sides.

Thank you for checking out my ramble. Peace.

I do not claim ownership of any content. Spy vs. Spy belongs to MAD Magazine and Antonio Prohias.

[vertigoartgore]

2002's Captain Britain by Alan Moore and Alan Davis Trade Paperback cover by cover artist Alan Davis and colorist José Villarrubia. Source

[smbhax]

Cover illustration by Jeffrey Catherine Jones

Info from ISFDB

[weirdlookindog]

H. P. Lovecraft - At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror. New York : Ballantine Books, 1971.

Cover art by Michael Whelan

[oldshowbiz]

Godfrey Cambridge illustrated by Mort Drucker and Neal Adams

[swiftiesbuddie]

is City of Heavenly Fire with Clary and Sebastian on the cover in paperback really so rare that a new one cost $123 and used $51 on amazon??

[seamayweed]

half of your fate, chapter 6 | 44.3k | explicit | noncon | my country: the new age (2019) | eventual main pairing: nam seon ho/seo hwi/yi bang won | nam seon ho-centric

(fun fact: the dragon pattern in the background is from the yellow dragon banner / military flag used to inform of the king’s supervisory visit to individual garrisons; i'm going to just assume it's the one yi seong gye used too when he was still a general)

[whatimdoing-here]

It's snowing and your hair wants to be emo but you have to be an adult on a work call. I also have to catch up on my 5 Tuesday shows, and I really want to get through this book and the next before the NEXT book comes out in 2 weeks but it's not happening.

Also if you love good world building books with beautiful covers and fantasy elements, but are overwhelmed by the size of the Priory of the Orange Tree, read this series

[fairer-tales]

just finished in memoriam. i have so many thoughts about it but i am so inarticulate rn i just know that it made my heart ache and weep in more ways than one.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

WHAT, AL WORRY? JUST PRESS ANY BUTTON AND WATCH THE MAGIC HAPPEN.

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1712x2147 -- Spotlight on textless cover art to "Mad Inventions" paperback, from "MAD" magazine, cover art by the legendary Al Jaffee (1921-2023), published by Warner Books in 1978.

PIC #2: The original, published book cover art, with different color grading. Artwork by Al Jaffee.

Sources: www.reddit.com/r/ImaginaryTechnology/comments, Biblio, various, etc...

[wolfgang1097]

Is it just me or does Black Spy have a hearty appetite?

Here is a compilation of Black Spy basically having a healthy appetite (usually to the point of fault):

And this last one, of course, is probably the most disturbing food related prank/trap, which I had exposed in a previous post:

We all knew exactly where this was gonna go...

Anyhow, this makes me wonder why Black has quite a bit of a healthy appetite. I mean, we all know he has fallen for food related pranks on multiple occasions, especially in a few of the strips from one of the paperbacks (specifically "The MAD Fifth Reports of Spy vs. Spy," which was later reprinted for the first portion of "Spy vs. Spy Casebook of Craziness," except for the "Spy jr vs. Spy jr" strip from right at the beginning of that same paperback book). Apparently, some say that Black may not be getting paid enough (considering that it has been shown that his boss has put him through hell on at least a few occasions; *cough*Doggie Bagged*cough*). A few might say that the dude probably just likes food, plain and simple. Both of those assumptions could be possible, especially the first one. Either way, this makes me think that there might be a possibility Black Spy could probably be a potential candidate for the Big Eater trope (at least during Prohias's era, of course), to the point of fault that is. I wouldn't really be surprised as the images I provided basically say it all, or at least most of it.

Bonus:

(Taken from "Danger! Intrigue! Stupidity!" which is, of course, a reprint of "The All New Secret Files of Spy vs. Spy.")

The images of the Electric Spaghetti were screenshots taken from MADtv. That short was originally a one panel opening gag a little over three decades prior during the strips' early years.

I do not claim ownership of any content. Spy vs. Spy belongs to the defunct MAD magazine and Antonio Prohias.

[secretsoftheuniverse1987]

i can love things a normal amount i can just also love things to the degree that within six months i buy the entire series and the films and the little people figurines and decide to start collecting the novels as a fun little hobby to fuel my obsession

[smbhax]

Cover illustration by Yoshitaka Amano

Info from ISFDB

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Vintage Paperback - Mad For Better Or Verse (Australian)

Budget Books (1988)

[voidpunkverse]

At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft

1974 (3rd) Reprint of the 1968 Panther edition, based on the 1966 Gollancz edition.

Cover art for this reprint is neither signed nor listed in any database, but it’s most likely by Ralph Steadman.