Al Jaffee profile in NY Times
Link | Interactive Fold-In gallery (Thanks, Coop!)“When he brings in fold-ins now, a lot of times, it’s, ‘Geez, this guy’s painting better than ever,’ ” said John Ficarra, Mad’s editor.
And Sam Viviano, the art director, seems in awe of Mr. Jaffee’s old-school technique. “I think part of the brilliance of the fold-in is lost on younger generations who are so used to Photoshop and being able to do stuff like that on the computer,” he said. “It’s matching the colors and keeping the sense of what exists at two levels, the original image and the folded-in image. We’ve never actually known anyone else who could do that.”
Mr. Jaffee does have a computer, but its main benefit, he said, has been to make the typographic tricks in the fold-in easier to create. He doesn’t draw with it, which leads to another surprise: the master of the fold-in never actually folds.
“I’m working on a hard, flat board,” he said. “I cannot fold it. That’s why my planning has to be so correct.”
“The computer would make it so much simpler,” he added. “But I think I’m going to remain a dinosaur.”
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The Mad Magazine fold-in remains to me one of the most brilliant things in the history of magazines.
When I was a kid in the 60s, one of my buddies had a subscription to Mad. We loved it, and worshiped the authors and artists. One time my friend went into absolute hysterics when he found that his dad had committed the blasphemy of actually FOLDING the fold-in.
It's nice to know that at least one of the originals is still out there.
I was sure he would create part of it folded.
What a master (like most of the Mad guys)
I have admired those guys work for a few decades now.
The brilliance is not lost on me. I love these things. I had a few back issues of MAD when I was a kid, and I liked to try to create my own foldins with stylized cartoon images.
Never worked out too well. Wow. This is impressive. Great, clever art like this is so rare- it's been overcome by those pop artists Mr. Jafee so disparages!
Eighty seven and still working!
I was a total MAD (and CRAZY and CRACKED) fanatic as a young teen. Jaffe's stuff was some of my favorites. I remember one feature about recycling, and another about creative ways to deal with dog crap. He substituted little piles of link sausages for the poop-piles, but it still seemed really daring for the time.
I remember that one; it was something about using clear, quick-drying liquid polymers to ease in picking up dog droppings. One of my favorites of his was a way to fool someone into thinking their TV is broken with a slap-on test pattern. Somehow that this would be obvious to anyone older than four didn't matter to me.
Jaffe is a national treasure, and I hope we get many more years of yuks out of him, so long as he's comfortable and capable.
and let's not forget Jaffee's contribution to tech jargon: "Glitch" (the onomatopoeia for stepping in dog doo)
Excuse me for asking, but what's a fold-in ?!?
He never folds them? That is insane. I knew that he did them by hand (obviously for as long as it has been around) but I always assumed he folded them or something. That really is mad!
It's like a reacharound, only drier.
Dargaud:
click the interactive fold-in gallery link.
Every issue of MAD magazine had a fold-in located on the inside back cover. Some went straight for them, some saved them for last. All loved them.
God bless Al Jaffee
I can easily say that MAD magazine and The Usual Gang of Idiots are the cornerstone (and most of the other blocks) of my artistic influence. I literally learned to read on MAD. Al Jaffee is a truly amazing cartoonist, and his work is a constant joy. If you haven't picked up his Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions collections, or any of the other great old MAD paperbacks, go do yourself a favor. Jaffee's a real gem.
-T
I always used to find them on the newsstand - folded.
Jaffee's funniest momemnts for me was when the cartoon he was drawing called for dog poop. He'd draw two little link sausages. Funnier than the article.
87 years old and he still looks like those self-portraits he drew in his cartoons.
“A Veteran MAD Man Remains in the Fold”? Bleagh!
The NY Times screwed up by not calling the piece: “Al Jaffee Snappy Answers to Stupid Reporter’s Questions”.
Also, I bought most all of my copies of MAD used, but sometimes wanted to get a fold-in I would fold myself, so I’d spring for the extra few dimes and get a fresh new one... That is if people at the newsstand didn’t fold it in before I grabbed it!
I collected a lot of football cards and Mad magazines. For a span of several years, Mad was the only thing I read. Al Jaffee and Don Martin were my two favorites.
I also really enjoyed the volumes of small paperbacks of their work.
In retrospect, there was probably a lot of influence over my sense of logic going on there. Most of Jaffee's work that I enjoyed forced the consideration of causal relationships you wold never expect.