Once upon a time, imitations of MAD Magazine were about as prevalent in this great land of ours as Denny's restaurants…and you can make up your own joke about which is funnier or which tastes better or whatever you like. While you're working on that, I'll mention that we are now down to one, and it hasn't even come out very often lately.
I speak of Cracked Magazine, which has managed to be around for over 47 years, which may be longer than the combined lives of Sick, Nuts, Crazy, New Republic, Panic, Blast, and all the rest. But this century has not been kind to Cracked, which only got four issues out in 2004, the last of which — it came out in September with a Bush vs. Kerry cover — may be the most recent.
Now comes the news that Dick Kulpa, its most recent proprietor, has sold the humor mag to an Arabian concern. Here's the news item that will tell you what is known about the transaction. I gather from an e-mail I received from one of them that the publication's freelance writers and artists have been caught by surprise, and that none of them have a clue what this means. I'm guessing it means someone's going to pump a little money into the operation, maybe putting out a few more issues, trying to promote a brand-name that can be exploited for movies or videogames or other venues. I hope they do keep publishing because I'd like to see what an American humor magazine looks like with foreign owners.