Mad #182

Lots of you have read Mad Magazine, it’s been a cultural thing for decades now. In fact, we have Mad to thank, as you can probably guess, for our work on the Disillusionist. A satire magazine inspired by THE satire magazine. It’s not rocket science. So, what’s up with Mad #182? Lemme tell ya.

When kicking around ideas with Pearson he mentioned a magician with a bent wand. I thought that was pretty funny, so I expanded upon it to pitch the first cover, a magician (you’ll see that soon enough!) I think the idea of a magician works well to launch our comic, because magicians practice illusion. And we’re disillusioned, I tell you.

So, you can imagine that while looking on the Internet for ideas, I was surprised when I found a Mad Magazine cover with Alfred E. Neuman pulling a rabbit out of his hat, which was then pulling Alfred out of a hat and over and over. I showed this to Pearson and we had a laugh.

Now, fast forward to a few days ago, and Person shows up with a gift for me:

That’s right, the magical Pearson tracked the mythical issue down, all for little ol’ me! Published in 1976, and the man found it. Imagine my surprise. It was a wonderful gift, and the work it took to find it is much appreciated. The day we DO get an office, this is getting framed and put on a wall.

Thanks, Pearson, you’re a thoughtful guy and a generous lover, I’m sure.

So, thus is the importance of this issue; an issue I can proudly say is part of my collection.