The Mad Magazine TV Special (1974) Mad Magazine is an American humor magazine founded in 1952 by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media, as well as the cultural landscape of the 20th century, with editor Al Feldstein increasing readership to more than two million during its 1974 circulation peak. From 1952 until 2018, Mad had published 550 regular issues, as well