In case you missed it, The New York Times ran an interesting piece about Al Jaffee, the artist who creates — among other things — those Fold-in features that have appeared on the back page of Mad magazine over the past 44 years.
The Times‘ Neil Genzlinger writes:
Mad is, incongruously, a publication that seems to cultivate longevity, as evident from artists like Mort Drucker (first appearance, 1957) and Sergio Aragonés (1963). No current contributor, though, goes back further than Mr. Jaffee. And while other Mad features, like Spy vs. Spy, have changed artists over the years, only Mr. Jaffee has drawn the fold-in. Since the first appeared in April 1964 all but a handful of specialty issues of the magazine have had one.
“A number of months ago I counted, and I came up with something like 396,” Mr. Jaffee said. “I must have done No. 400 by now.”
87-year-old Mad artist Al Jaffee. Photo
by Librado Romero/The New York Times
—He started work on No. 4-whatever, for the issue that goes on sale in mid-May, as he has all the others: with a rough pencil sketch. This one shows an altar scene invoking the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is due out soon, and the fold-in question is, “What frightening ancient relic will be the focus of much attention and fanfare this summer?” The folded-in answer, of course, has nothing to do with Indiana Jones.
It’s a wonderful profile, covering how Jaffee started work for Mad, step-by-step how he creates his Fold-In features and delving into his recent bout with colon cancer.
Perhaps the most interesting part is a portfolio of 23 Fold-Ins in which you have to click and drag the page in order to see the hidden picture.
Make sure you check it out in the Sunday Times.
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