What, Me Worry? MAD, Norman Rockwell Museum

‘What, Me Worry?” is the line that launched 550 issues of MAD, the current-events satire magazine. It’s the mantra of MAD, the fictional Alfred E. Neuman’s claim to literary fame, and the title of a show that offers a captivating look at MAD’s art, humor, and history. The show is at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. The Rockwell Museum is a temple to the artist whose illustrations defined an age, but it covers all manner of illustration art. It’s a place that does everything right.

First, that gap-toothed, freckled, floppy-eared, forever-young philosopher, geek, and cover boy beckons. His come-hither look is geek outré. Alfred is as well known as Whistler’s mother, Washington crossing the Delaware, and Mickey Mouse, but he wasn’t MAD’s mascot from the start. His puss appeared here and there in MAD starting in 1955, when what had been a comic book transitioned to what the trade called a slick, or a glossy magazine. It wasn’t until the end of 1956 that Alfred first ran as a pretend write-in candidate for president — he ran 15 more times — and got his first cover as MAD’s official mascot.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

‘What, Me Worry?” is the line that launched 550 issues of MAD, the current-events satire magazine. It’s the mantra of MAD, the fictional Alfred E. Neuman’s claim to literary fame, and the title of a show that offers a captivating look at MAD’s art, humor, and history. The show is at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. The Rockwell Museum is a temple to the artist whose illustrations defined an age, but it covers all manner of illustration art. It’s a place that does everything right.

First, that gap-toothed, freckled, floppy-eared, forever-young philosopher, geek, and cover boy beckons. His come-hither look is geek outré. Alfred is as well known as Whistler’s mother, Washington crossing the Delaware, and Mickey Mouse, but he wasn’t MAD’s mascot from the start. His puss appeared here and there in MAD starting in 1955, when what had been a comic book transitioned to what the trade called a slick, or a glossy magazine. It wasn’t until the end of 1956 that Alfred first ran as a pretend write-in candidate for president — he ran 15 more times — and got his first cover as MAD’s official mascot.