Since about the second issue of Mad, people have been saying, "Remember when MAD used to be funny?" Sometimes, that's just carping for the sake of carping. But sometimes, they're right that it has lost its sense o' humor for a while. There have been weak periods. Still, even at its lowest ebb, I've always found it worth purchasing for Mort Drucker's caricatures, Frank Jacobs's poems, Sergio Whatzisname's cartoons and one or two other class acts. The last few years, it's been on a decided upswing, and every issue has a couple of pieces that are as humorous as anything they've ever run.
Want a free sample? My buddy Tom Galloway just called my attention to this parody of The Onion from the current issue. Satirizing a satire is not easy but whoever wrote this pulled it off, I think. (The author's credit is presumably in the current issue, my subscription copy of which has not arrived.)
The above has nothing to do with the fact that I have a new book called Mad Art that is due out in the next few weeks. But I never miss an opening for a plug.