That Al Jaffee tops my list surprises even me. When I sat down to construct this little list, I assumed Don Martin was at the top, but then I thought of Jaffee and all those absolutely brilliant Fold-In back covers he produced over the long decades and amazingly continues to produce I am absolutely gob-smacked by the wit and cleverness and sheer attractiveness of his pages. Jaffee did all sorts of gags for the inside of MAD, most notably "Snappy Answers...". I've bought a few Jaffee books over the years, but I do not have the collection of Fold-Ins which came out a decade ago.
I regret not having it, but it goes for a pretty penny these days, though it's worth it. Maybe it's because you had to work for it, maybe that's why the Fold-In gags linger in the mind -- it's participatory. (I always tried to do it in a way in which I could guess the answer but not crease the cover -- pretty hard sometime.) That and the sheer attractiveness of Jaffee's style which is instantly recognizable on the page. Is there any member of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" who is indispensable? Time has proven that is not the case, with the decades claiming each of them in some way, but Jaffee remains. Sadly I know that like all things, even his delightful images will depart, but until then he remains delightfully MAD.
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