adminNEW YORK. — Award-winning American cartoonist Al Jaffee, renowned for his work on satirical magazine Mad, has died at the age of 102.
Jaffee, who was still working up until three years ago, set a Guinness World Record for his 77-year career.
He died in hospital on Monday of multi-system organ failure, his granddaughter told the New York Times.
Mad magazine was aimed at pre-teens and teens, with Jaffee famed for his fold-ins on the inside back cover.
Jaffee’s famous fans included Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz and his work was referenced in The Simpsons.
His trademark fold-ins were a spoof on the likes of Playboy and Sports Illustrated fold-out inserts.
They featured an image with a question above and a caption below. When the page was folded vertically into thirds, the two outer sections joined to form a new picture and caption which answered the question.
The fold-ins included one Jaffee created in 1968 during the Vietnam War, which showed students outside a job centre accompanied by the question:
“What is the one thing most school dropouts are sure to become?”
When folded, the image changed to a young person in a cannon with the caption: “Cannon fodder.”
A box-set of his fold-ins was published in 2011.
Jaffee was also known for a regular segment called Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, which included sarcastic ripostes to silly questions.
A comic from 1980 showed a man on a fishing boat with a bent reel.
“Are you going to reel in the fish?” his wife asks. “No,” he says, “I’m going to jump into the water and marry the gorgeous thing.”
Al Jaffee’s Mad Inventions were also popular, including items such as a smokeless ashtray.
Speaking to the Guardian in 2016, at the age of 95, Jaffee said he believed satire was becoming harder.
Mad Magazine paid tribute to its long-time collaborator in an Instagram post, which described Jaffee as “a humble and kind creator.
Al’s presence, his astute social commentary, and his endless amusement at life’s ups and downs shaped the fabric of the magazine.” — BBC.
Online Reporter