RIP Al Felstein, corruptor of youth
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2014 2:24 pm
Al Feldstein, whose 28 years at the helm of Mad magazine transformed the satirical publication into a pop culture institution, has died. He was 88.
yes, I was a fanIn 1956, publisher William M. Gaines put Feldstein in charge of the magazine, which gleefully parodied politicians and mocked traditional morality.
Feldstein and Gaines assembled a pool of artists and writers who turned out such enduring features as "Spy vs. Spy," ''The Lighter Side of..." and "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions."
Building on a character used by Mad founding editor Harvey Kurtzman, Feldstein turned the freckle-faced Alfred E. Neuman into an underground hero — a dimwitted everyman with a gap-toothed smile and the recurring stock phrase, "What, Me Worry?"
