Wanted: Birthday Wishes for Al Jaffee

©2010 MAD Magazine and E.C. Publications, used with permission

MAD #508 is hot off the presses and will be showing up in mailboxes and news stands soon… I’ll post a table of contents and some sneak peeks of my contribution to the issue when that date gets closer.

One thing readers will find in this latest issue is a call for some birthday love for the great Al Jaffee… he of the fold-ins, snappy answers and lots of other cartoony goodness over the last five decades or so in MAD. Al turns 90 on March 13th. Here’s what you’ll find in MAD #508 on the subject:

AL JAFFEE IS TURNING 90!

On March 13, long-time MAD writer/artist, creator of the Fold-In and Snappy Answers, and accused (but never convicted!) shoplifter Al Jaffee is going to be 90 freakin’ years old! To celebrate, we’re asking all fans (and enemies) to send in letters, cards, poems, drawings, paintings, sculptures, operettas, WHATEVER – so we can pass the love straight to Al! The sky’s the limit!

You can send your birthday wishes to:

The Big Jaffee
c/o MAD Magazine
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

The deadline is March 1st – so get crackin‘!

It’s important to keep in mind that Al is going to be 90 years old… that’s NINETY… NINE-ZERO… and as such, he doesn’t have a clue what an “email” is and he thinks an “Internet” is something you use to pull fish into your boat after catching them. Thus, please do not send e-mails or any digital well wishes because that’s not the idea. They want real, physical birthday wishes sent via physical delivery (and NO, this is not being sponsored by UPS… although they tried). I am thinking about sending him a box of Twinkies, since they are the only thing I can think of that has a shelf life as long as he apparently does.

So, send Al something that says you appreciate how he single-handedly ruined the mint condition of millions of copies of MAD with his furshlugginer fold-ins over the last 50 years, and kept us laughing doing it!