A Recent MAD Timeline

I got this question via DM recently:

Hi Tom, are issues #9 and #10 the last official MAD Magazine issues before things changed?

MAD has undergone a LOT of changes in the last 3 years, and there has been a lot of confusion about things because their parent company hasn’t been very clear about what is happening, and certainly not about WHY things are happening. In response to this I put together a little timeline of the what and whens of recent changes to MAD:

• October 2013– DC Comics announces they are closing their New York offices and moving them to the Warner Bros complex in Burbank, CA. MAD‘s part in this not addressed.
• January 2014– It’s leaked that DC will not be moving MAD to Burbank with the rest of the publishing group.
• June 2015– DC completes move to Burbank, but MAD is left behind in New York. MAD moves NYC office space twice over the next three years.
• March 2017– DC decides it’s time to move MAD out to Burbank with the rest of the company.
• June 2017- It’s officially announced that Bill Morrison with be MAD‘s new editor effective with the move to Burbank, to take place at the end of the year.
• Dec 2017– MAD‘s New York offices are closed.
• Feb 2018– MAD #550 drops on news stands. This is the final New York produced issue.

• April 2018– MAD #1 drops. This is the first Burbank produced issue, restarting the issue numbering.

• February 2019– Bill Morrison is abruptly dismissed as VP and Executive Editor of MAD with no explanation. He is not replaced.
• July 2019– It’s announced that MAD will be ceasing newsstand distribution, and printed copies will only be purchasable in direct market comic shops and via subscription. It’s also announced that the magazine will be switching to a combination of classic reprinted material and new content, with no details as to what percentage of each to expect.
• Aug 2019– MAD #9 is released. This will be the last issue to be distributed on newsstands.

• October 2019– MAD #10 is released. This is the final issue to feature all new content.

• February 2020– MAD #12 is released. This is the first regular issue to feature a full mix of classic and new material using the new “themed” issue format. It’s about 80% reprinted content.

• June 2020– MAD #14 is released, an Al Jaffee tribute issue announcing his retirement and featuring his final, original Fold-in.

• July 2020– MAD contributors get an email saying the magazine will no longer be soliciting new material, and will not be accepting pitches/submissions. It’s shortly thereafter announced MAD will be switching to a nearly 100% reprint format, with the exception of new covers and rumored to also have a new Fold-in.
• September 2020– MAD #15 is released. This is the final issue featuring a regular mix of new and reprinted content. Issues going forward will have a new cover and a new Fold-in, and any new material will be sporadic.

• December 2020– MAD #17 is released. This is a “Sergio Aragonés Tribute” issue, featuring his final “A Mad Look at..” and last original work for the magazine (EDIT- Some new Sergio marginals appear in #18, presumably previously submitted but unpublished material.)

• February 2021- MAD #18 is released. A “Spy vs. Spy” tribute issue featuring the final original Peter Kuper Spy vs. Spy.

That brings us up to date as of this writing. The current situation with MAD is that it is published bimonthly, is available in print only through direct market comic stores or via mailed subscription, is basically 100% reprinted material curated around an issue theme with a new cover and a new Fold-In done by Johnny Sampson, and there may be occasional new pieces here and there but no official plan for such. Most of the “new” pieces seen in the last several issues have been work that was previously finished and just had not seen print, with a few exceptions. I am not sure how many never-before-printed pieces we’ll see in future issues, but there may be the occasional one commissioned for special reasons.

Of course, anything can happen in the future. For example Sergio may do a new something and #17 will cease to be his last appearance in MAD. (EDIT- #18 does feature some never before printed marginals as mentioned above). This is just up to now.