1. An early prototype for the Alfred E. Neuman character appeared in the magazine with the name Melvin Cowznofski.

2. Alfred E. Neuman’s name was originally Alfred L. Neuman. The name change happened in issue #30 (Dec. 1956) because art director John Putnam felt the “E” had more panache.

3. The cover for issue #38 (March 1958) was finger-painted by a celebrity chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs.

4. Mad #44 (Jan. 1959) featured the debut of Alfred E. Neuman’s girlfriend, Moxie Cowznofski. She looked like a cross between Alfred and Mrs. Cunningham from Happy Days. Not a pretty sight.

5. Mad was the first national magazine to feature President John F. Kennedy on its cover. The issue (#60, Jan. 1961) was printed six weeks before the election, with the reversible front and back covers congratulating Kennedy and Richard Nixon for winning the election. That way vendors could display the magazine with the winner’s respective cover facing front.

6. The great Sergio Aragones has contributed cartoons for every issue of Mad since his debut in 1963, except for one issue. The post office actually lost the artwork Aragones created for the issue.

7. Lawrence of Arabia was the first movie to be spoofed on the cover of Mad (#86, Apr. 1964). The spoof was titled “Alfred of Arabia”)

8. Between the two of them, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have purchased the original art for 11 covers of Mad featuring spoofs of their movies. Spielberg owns the artwork for the cover to issue #1.

9. Though he has appeared on hundreds of covers of Mad over the past fifty-plus years, Alfred E. Neuman has never been pictured in profile. In fact, he has no profile.

The preceding facts can be found in the excellent Mad Cover to Cover collection by Watson-Guptill Publications.

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