MAD Magazine Letter Pages Recurring Features
MAD Artist Cartoons in Letter Responses
in Alphabetical Order by MAD Artist, then in Order of Appearance in Regular Issues
An artist’s work was used to respond to a letter or to illustrate an editorial note in the letters section. The drawing may have been new or editorial changes were made in a recycled drawing.
| Artist | Letter Title | Image Description | Issue / Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergio Aragones | The Shadow Knows | Bonus panel of Aragones shaking the money out of publisher Bill Gaines | 184 — Jul 1976 |
| Sergio Aragones | A MAD Look at King Kong | Self-caricature of Aragones about to be crushed under King Kong’s foot in response to reader hoping “we haven’t seen the last of Aragones’s ‘Kong’” | 194 — Oct 1977 |
| Sergio Aragones | Drawing Praise | Aragones draws Mort Drucker and himself winning the National Cartoonist’s Society Reuben Award | 275 — Dec 1987 |
| Dave Berg | Lighter Side of Gardening | Berg draws himself with a “Berg’s Eye View” shirt (eyes peer from below a manhole cover) — reader says you never know where he’ll “sprout up” (original caricature appeared in Cartoonists PROfiles #28 — Dec. ’75) | 180 — Jan 1976 |
| Dave Berg | The Game of the Name | Berg covers the topic of his Lighter Side feature with “Guess What?” responding to reader’s challenge to read the strips before guessing the topic title | 211 — Dec 1979 |
| Dave Berg | Explaining Dave Berg | Berg makes the cover of GQ Magazine — “‘Lighter Side’ Fashion: Berg Takes a Bold Bite!” (image borrowed from Lighter Side in #259) | 283 — Dec 1988 |
| Dave Berg | Crazy About MAD | #281 Lighter Side image recycled with altered word balloon to play on reader’s suspected paranoid schizophrenia | 285 — Mar 1989 |
| Dave Berg | MAD or Bust | Altered Lighter Side images show a big busted Berg with his doctor after reader complains about how women are usually depicted | 289 — Sep 1989 |
| Dave Berg | Toupee or Not Toupee | In response to reader wanting more articles about wigs, editors reply with an altered #296 Lighter Side image showing a bald Berg as new Hair Club for Men member | 303 — Jun 1991 |
| Dave Berg | Friend of Wildlife? | 2nd instance of recycling the #296 image — play on reader’s view that MAD is anti-hunting, anti-trapping | 305 — Sep 1991 |
| Dave Berg | There’s a Soccer Born Every Minute | 3rd instance of recycling the #296 image — Berg’s head replaced with soccer ball after reader wants more soccer references | 310 — Apr 1992 |
| Dave Berg | Wrestling With a Ripoff | “Killer Kaputnik” — another MAD-inspired grappler | 316 — Jan 1993 |
| Dave Berg | Random Shots | 4th instance of recycling the #296 image — Berg’s covered in buckshot after reader complains about school/gun issue | 318 — Apr 1993 |
| Dave Berg | All’s Fair In Love and Berg | 5th instance of recycling the #296 image — movie love-scene “torrid-ness” question causes an editorial word balloon rewrite | 321 — Sep 1993 |
| Dave Berg | Paging Doctor Neuman | Altered #292 image in the same “Oh My God!” word balloon referring to reader’s Dr. Thannoli | 349 — Sep 1996 |
| Dave Berg | It Must’ve Been Old-Timers Day | Altered #334 image in the same “Oh My God!” word balloon cites reader’s observation that Dave Berg plays baseball for the Florida Marlins | 376 — Dec 1998 |
| Dave Berg | Pipe a Personality | In response to a reader noting Berg says he doesn’t smoke but has a pipe in his mouth in #388’s Lighter Side, editors offer a “cut and paste” panel to make the point obvious | 391 — Mar 2000 |
| Dave Berg | Not ’N Sync | Word balloon added to show office staff singing in 5-part harmony | 393 — May 2000 |
| John Caldwell | John Caldwell: The Gifted One | Drawing proves a person can burp, fart and sneeze simultaneously | 428 — Apr 2003 |
| John Caldwell | The Big Pledger | “Porta-potty bathroom attendant” is the readers’ choice to keep a fellow reader out of the teaching profession | 458 — Oct 2005 |
| John Caldwell | The Best of the Breast | Reader says MAD missed the “triple nipple” in #500’s Man Boobs article, but Caldwell had it all along | 501 — Oct 2009 |
| Bob Clarke | Whatever Became Of…? | Clarke ages The Fonz (Henry Winkler) | 187 — Dec 1976 |
| Bob Clarke | MAD Peek At Car Rental Companies | Running back, O.J. Simpson, leaps over Clarke’s car | 189 — Mar 1977 |
| Bob Clarke | Ransom Note Cover | Self-portrait of Clarke being held hostage in reference to his Alfred cover on #191 | 193 — Sep 1977 |
| Paul Coker | Horrifying Cliches | Reader requests Coker “Deleteting an Expletive!” | 172 — Jan 1975 |
| Paul Coker | Unweddings of the Future | An “Unwedding” cake with feuding bride and groom | 185 — Sep 1976 |
| Paul Coker | MAD’s Christmas Carols for 1976 | Coker presents his President-Elect Santa Christmas card | 190 — Apr 1977 |
| Paul Coker | MAD Salutes The Turtle | Turtle as mail carrier | 211 — Dec 1979 |
| Jack Davis | MAD’s College Football Coach | Coach Hades headed for Midweatern U.? | 177 — Sep 1975 |
| Jack Davis | Ain’t It “Gaines”… | Reader thinks it’s great that “a dirty, fat hairy slob” had published MAD for 32 years — Gaines with sandwich (original caricature appeared in Cartoonists PROfiles #28 — Dec. ’75) | 253 — Mar 1985 |
| Dick DeBartolo | The Face is…Familiar? | DeBartolo was enlisted to draw a reader’s face because all the artists were busy | 339 — Sep 1995 |
| Mort Drucker | In Good Hands | Drucker draws actor Ed Reimers from the All State Insurance TV ad | 52 — Jan 1960 |
| Mort Drucker | The Envelope Please… | Drucker provides a self-caricature to mark winning the National Cartoonist’s Society’s Reuben Award | 266 — Oct 1986 |
| Mark Fredrickson | What, Me Wordy? | Alternate cover for #450: “There’s no letter from that schmuck, Joe Fonseca of Kitchener, Ontario in this issue!” is printed over Alfred’s ass | 455 — Jul 2005 |
| Al Jaffee | MAD Game of Basebrawl | Self-caricatured Jaffee strapped to home plate with runners coming | 169 — Sep 1974 |
| Al Jaffee | MAD Solutions to Doggie-Do Problems | Role reversal: Dog holds leash to Jaffee’s collar, takes Jaffee to bathroom | 174 — Apr 1975 |
| Al Jaffee | Smoker Vs. Non-Smoker Devices | “Warning: Jaffee determined to be dangerous to smokers!” — from a cigarette smoldering in an ashtray, Jaffee’s head appears out of the smoke | 179 — Dec 1975 |
| Al Jaffee | Future “No-Frills Air Travel” Gimmicks | “No-Frills” nightmare: Jaffee as stewardess | 181 — Mar 1976 |
| Al Jaffee | More MAD E.S.P.??? | Seeing how real airplane barf bags are showing ads, reader recalls #179’s “Future ‘No-Frills Air Travel’ Gimmicks” — Jaffee tries one out | 226 — Oct 1981 |
| Al Jaffee | Al Jaffee’s Birthday! | Jaffee draws a thank you card to readers noting his 90th | 510 — Aug 2011 |
| Peter Kuper | The Drawing Bored | Kuper provides a style guide for black and white Spy facial expressions: “Morose, Wistful, Giddy, Pensive, Coquettish, and Flabbergasted” | 445 — Sep 2004 |
| Jacob Lambert | Drawing’s Attention | Lambert illustrates reader’s mother saying “Your legs aren’t broken.” | 518 — Dec 2012 |
| Don Martin | Don Martin’s Pronouncement | Martin helps a reader pronounce the word “Fonebone” | 151 — Jun 1972 |
| Don Martin | Yecch | In a Martin drawing, the creature Yecch from the #164 article, Lou Silverstone and Martin take a bow | 166 — Apr 1974 |
| Don Martin | Don Martin Cover | Follow-up to #165’s cover: “One Minute Later on the Same Highway” |
167 — Jun 1974 |
| Don Martin | Martin Looks at The Lone Ranger | Silver outranges The Lone Ranger in Martin sketch | 219 — Dec 1980 |
| Norman Mingo | Bicentennial “Madde” Super Special #19 | Alfred takes a “Madde” bow | 185 — Sep 1976 |
| Harry North | The Omenous | North depicts an innocent looking Damien riding on President Jimmy Carter’s shoulders | 191 — Jun 1977 |
| Paul Peter Porges | Disaster Magazine | Porges idea of a real disaster is his ink well toppling onto his artwork | 186 — Oct 1976 |
| Tom Richmond | A Draw Deal | Richmond turns readers “Bob” character into a saucepan | 470 — Oct 2006 |
| Jack Rickard | Sorry State U.S.A. Phone Book | While drawing the back cover for #185, we see Rickard’s hang-up about phones taking on lives of their own | 187 — Dec 1976 |
| Jack Rickard | MAD Star Trek Musical Cover | “Alfred E. Vulcan” enshrined in Trekdom! | 188 — Jan 1977 |
| Jack Rickard | Cover Charge | Kate Jackson gets an Alfred mouth | 195 — Dec 1977 |
| Angelo Torres | Future Shocked | Word balloon changed in panel from #255’s The Clodsby Show to goof on reader from Decatur, Indiana | 501 — Oct 2009 |
| Sam Viviano | Titanic Fanatics | “Jose and Daryl — You’re the schmucks of the world!” — word balloon changed to address dumb letter writers | 373 — Sep 1998 |
| George Woodbridge | The Carterbury Tales | First Lady Rosalynn Carter gets her panel and a reader-provided verse | 208 — Jul 1979 |
| Bill Wray and Peter Kuper |
Monroe Doctorin’ | Monroe’s mother hits on the Black Spy | 364 — Dec 1997 |
| Bill Wray | Hair Apparent | Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Jordan get Monroe dreds | 373 — Sep 1998 |
Compiled by John R. Racano / Descriptions by Doug Gilford
John Caldwell: The Gifted One — from #428, April 2003