Cracked Mazagine issue 31 - September 1963

Cracked was one of America's oldest surviving national satire and humor magazines. Founded in 1958, Cracked proved to be the most durable imitator of the popular Mad Magazine. Cracked shamelessly aped Mad's layouts and subject matter, and even featured a dumb, wide-jowled mascot Sylvester P. Smythe on its covers (see Alfred E. Neuman). The Smythe character was Cracked's "janitor." Image File history File links This image is of the cover of a single issue of a comic book, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the comic book or the artist(s) which produced the comic book in question. ... A humor magazine is a magazine specifically designed to deliver humorous content, often in the form of satire, to its readership. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Harvey Kurtzmans cover for the first issue of the comic book Mad Mad is an American humor magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. ... Sylvester P. Smythe is Cracked magazines imitation of Alfred E. Neuman, Mad Magazines mascot. ... What, me worry? Alfred E. Neuman is the fictional mascot of EC Publications Mad magazine. ...

Cracked's publication frequency was reduced in the 1990s, and was erratic in the 2000s.^[1] In 2006, the magazine was revived with a new editorial formula that represented a significant departure from its prior "Mad Magazine" style. The new format was more akin to "lad" magazines like Maxim and FHM.^[2] However, Cracked again cancelled its print magazine in February 2007 after just three issues; its online version, Cracked.com, lives on. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Harvey Kurtzmans cover for the first issue of the comic book Mad Mad is an American humor magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. ... Lad culture also Laddish culture is a subculture commonly associated with Britpop music of the 1990s and the BBC TV sitcom, Men Behaving Badly. ... Maxim is an international English language lad mag (mens magazine) based in the United Kingdom and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, of which none are nudes. ... The cover of an issue of FHM China, featuring Britney Spears, wearing a bathing suit & necktie The cover of the first issue of FHM in the United States, featuring Rachael Leigh Cook FHM is an international monthly lads mag. ...

History

Early staff

The magazine's first editor was Sol Brodsky, who was better known as a journeyman artist and later production manager and a publishing vice president at Marvel Comics. Sol Brodsky (born c. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ...

Cracked's original publisher, Robert C. Sproul's Major Publications, generally imitated other companies' successes in various genres, such as westerns, men's adventure, and the Warren Comics mid-1960s revival of horror comics.^[3] The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Editor Terry Bisson later recalled, "The whole company was about lowball imitations. The publisher, Robert Sproul, wanted to put out some imitations of western, romance and astrology mags, and I was hired (at about age 27) to put them together because of my romance mag experience... The pseudomags did pretty well (this was a very low end market)." Many of the Cracked contributors would also work on these titles. A number of monster-themed issues were printed under the Cracked umbrella, capitalizing on such publications as Fangoria and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Sproul published Cracked into the 1980s. Terry Bisson (born February 12, 1942) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. ... Fangoria is a nationally-distributed US film fan magazine specializing in the genres of horror, psycho and exploitation films, in regular publication since 1979. ... Famous Monsters of Filmland #14, October 1961 issue. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

However, even as the company chased publishing trends, its long-running flagship title was Cracked Magazine-- or CRACKED Mazagine, as its cover always read -- deliberately misspelling "magazine." (In the same vein, the magazine's online presence Cracked.com now refers to itself as a "wesbite.")

Artists

Some notable artists have appeared in Cracked's pages, in particular the indefatigable John Severin. Severin had done some work for early Mad and a great deal more for EC Comics' war books, but would come to be best known as Cracked's house cartoonist. For almost 40 years, he was the magazine's mainstay artist, frequently illustrating multiple articles in the same issue, and virtually all of its covers. John Powers Severin (born December 21, 1921, Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American comic book artist noted for his distinctive artwork with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, and for Marvel Comics, primarily on its war and Western comics. ... Entertaining Comics was headed by William Gaines but is better known by its publishing name of EC Comics. ...

The magazine also regularly featured good girl artist Bill Ward, comic book stalwart Howard Nostrand, and gag cartoonists Don Orehek and Charles Rodrigues. In later years, the magazine was a useful training ground for such future independent comic book creators as Rick Altergott, Dan Clowes, and Peter Bagge. Rangers Comics #26: “Angels from Hell” Good girl art (GGA) is a type of art (usually drawings or paintings) depicting attractive women. ... Don Orehek is a cartoonist whose work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Look, Playboy, The Saturday Evening Post, and elsewhere. ... Screenshot of Rick Altergotts website. ... Daniel Clowes (sometimes credited as Dan Clowes) is a comics-author and cartoonist of alternative comic books, including Eightball, and Lloyd Llewelyn. ... Peter Bagge is an American comics artist and creator of Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop. ...

Other name artists who contributed at least once to Cracked include such Mad veterans as Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Jaffee, Angelo Torres, Basil Wolverton, and such future contributors as Bill Wray, and Tom Richmond. Others included Marvel Comics regulars Steve Ditko and Gene Colan. The typical "Cracked" contributor was less accomplished, however; "Cracked" was never able to attract and retain the level of talent that the better-paying, better-selling Mad could. A 1956 Jack Davis page for ECs Picto-Fiction Jack Davis (born December 2, 1924) is an American cartoonist and illustrator. ... Will Elder self-portrait William Elder (aka Bill Elder) (born September 22, 1921 in the Bronx, New York) is an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art yet is best known for a zany cartoon s tyle that helped launch Harvey Kurtzmans... Al Jaffee (born March 13, 1921) is a cartoonist, best known for his work in MAD Magazine. ... Angelo Torres is a cartoonist and caricaturist who appeared in many comic books, as well as a long-running regular slot at MAD Magazine. ... Mad #11 (May 1954). ... Bill Wray is a cartoonist who has worked on animated TV series. ... Tom Richmond (born 1966) is a freelance humorous illustrator, cartoonist and caricaturist whos work has appeared in many national and international publications since 1990. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... Stephen Ditko (born 2 November 1927) is a renowned American comic book artist and writer best known as the co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. ... Gene Colan (born September 1, 1926, the Bronx, New York City, New York) is an American comic book artist who sometimes worked under the name Adam Austin. ...

Articles and features

A typical issue of "Cracked" included two TV or movie parodies illustrated by Severin. The magazine also published "interview" articles featuring the recurring character Nanny Dickering (Nancy Dickerson was then an investigative newscaster). Nancy Dickerson (born January 19, 1927 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, died October 18, 1997 in New York City) was a pioneering radio and television newswoman. ...

One of the magazine's longest-running feature was "Shut-Ups," which were two-panel gags in which a character would make an observation or excuse in the first panel, and then be told to "SHUT UP" in the second, as the true situation was visually revealed. "Hudd & Dini," a gag strip about two convicts' failed schemes to escape prison, also ran frequently, as did a Western strip called "Sagebrush."

Mad raid

In 1987, Cracked made waves in the comics industry by seemingly raiding the legendary Don Martin from Mad Magazines' group of regular contributors.^[4] While Martin had already left Mad due to a business dispute, it was still a coup to obtain the services of "Mad's Maddest Artist". Martin worked for Cracked for about six years, and the magazine, in a tweak at its rival, billed him as "CRACKED's Crackedest Artist". Cracked's concurrent attempt to sign Mad's premiere caricaturist, Mort Drucker, was unsuccessful, but the magazine did acquire longtime Mad contributor Lou Silverstone as editor and writer. Former Mad associate editor Jerry DeFuccio also worked at Cracked for a short period. Don Martin (May 18, 1931 – January 6, 2000) was a popular American cartoon artist whose best-known work appeared in MAD magazine from 1956 to 1988. ... Mort Drucker is a cartoonist and caricaturist from Brooklyn, New York. ... Lou Silverstone is a comedy writer whose articles appeared for many years in MAD Magazine. ... Jerry DeFuccio (1925 - 2001) was an American comic book writer and editor, known primarily for his work on Mad Magazine, for which he was an associate editor for 25 years. ...

Though Cracked's sales always lagged far behind those of Mad, Cracked survived and thrived for over four decades through low pay rates and overhead, and by being part of large publishing groups that could bundle Cracked in with its other magazines as a package arrangement for distributors. Cracked also appeared monthly during the period when Mad was being published just 8 times a year, thus picking up readership from Mad fans that couldn't wait out the six weeks for their next "comedy fix." The magazine would sometimes include attention-grabbing giveaways inside its pages, such as iron-ons, stickers, or postcards.

In the 1990s, Cracked also benefited from the collapse of the National Lampoon, picking up Andy Simmons as an editor, as well as such former Lampoon contributors as Ron Barrett, Randy Jones, and Ed Subitzky. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... January 1973 cover of National Lampoon National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that began in 1970 as an offshoot of the Harvard Lampoon. ... Ed Subitzky is an American cartoonist and humorist who has also worked as a television comedy writer and performer, a radio writer and performer, and in many other media. ...

Rise and decline

At its height, Cracked's circulation might have been a third of Mad's, with the overall total generally rising or falling along with the bigger magazine's fortunes. But at its nadir in the 2000s, this sales figure plunged to around 25,000-35,000 per bi-monthly issue,^[5] or about one-eighth of Mad's monthly circulation, which had also plummeted from its mid-1970s peak of over 2 million per issue. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

In late 1999, Cracked's then-parent company, Globe Communications (publisher of the national tabloid The Globe), was sold to American Media Inc., the company that publishes the tabloids The National Enquirer and the Weekly World News. American Media's primary interest in the deal was in acquiring its rival, The Globe, but Cracked came along as part of the transaction. Writer Barry Dutter said, "One thing you have to realize is that AMI never wanted Cracked; it was just part of a package they bought from Globe Communications."^[6] The Globe is a supermarket tabloid published in North America. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the technology tabloid website, see The Inquirer. ... Hillary Rodham Clinton on the cover of the Weekly World News. ... The Globe is a supermarket tabloid published in North America. ...

American Media moved Globe Communication's New York City operations to Florida, where American Media was headquartered. As a result, Cracked's offices moved to Florida as well. Most of the magazine's long-term editors and writers did not move to Florida, leading to a large turnover in Cracked's staff.^[7] Published reports indicate that American Media never had an interest in supporting the magazine, which was only selling in the high five figures, compared with AMI's multi-million-selling line of tabloids. Cracked's distribution under American Media grew increasingly spotty. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area South Florida Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area South Florida Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ...

In 2000, American Media sold Cracked to one of its former Weekly World News employees, Dick Kulpa, who became both Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Cracked. Under Kulpa, Cracked suffered from a lack of financing. Combined with Cracked's weakened distribution, circulation continued to drop precipitously, and Kulpa was forced to turn the magazine into a bi-monthly. Later, after being offered a substantial pay cut, signature artist John Severin parted company with the magazine. Hillary Rodham Clinton on the cover of the Weekly World News. ... Former Alderman of Loves Park, Illinois. ... John Powers Severin (born December 21, 1921, Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American comic book artist noted for his distinctive artwork with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, and for Marvel Comics, primarily on its war and Western comics. ...

Some of the magazine's remaining freelancers provided work for free, hoping Cracked would eventually become profitable again, but this did not happen. In an attempt at publicity, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen was named as the magazine's new "publisher," but this failed to spark interest. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Richard Nielsen (born December 22, 1946 in Rockford, Illinois) is the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick. ...

Dark Horse Star Wars comic editor Peet Janes briefly joined the staff, and the comic's writer Rich Handley was planning to sign aboard as well. However, financial difficulties at the magazine ended Janes' tenure very quickly, and prevented Handley's hire. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Star Wars is an epic science fantasy saga in the space opera genre and a fictional universe initially developed by George Lucas during the 1970s and expanded since that time. ...

In an oddity, Cracked was near the center of the 2001 anthrax scare. An anonymous letter containing anthrax powder was sent to American Media Inc. in September 2001, killing one employee. Cracked's offices were still in the same building, and thus the magazine was among the publications that had to be evacuated. The attack caused Kulpa to put out only four issues that year. The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its FBI case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001 (a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

New ownership and attempted rejuvenation

In early 2005, Kulpa sold Cracked to a group of Arab, Asian, and American investors who announced plans to revive Cracked with a new editorial focus and redesign. Its first steps included naming entrepreneur Monty Sarhan as both CEO and publisher. Sarhan also announced ambitious plans to expand the Cracked brand into other media. Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Monty Sarhan is the CEO and former Editor-in-Chief[1] of Cracked Entertainment, the parent company of Cracked Magazine[2]. The print version of the magazine was revived in 2006, with Sarhan telling reporters, I knew I wanted to cover comedy the way Rolling Stone covers music. ...

A flurry of new staff announcements followed, including former Marvel Comics promotions chief Sven Larsen as associate publisher, and Justin Droms and former Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco as editors. Hollywood producer Thom Mount joined the company's board of directors, and Zena Tsarfin, former managing editor of the hip-hop magazine XXL, was named to that position at Cracked. Named as contributing editors were comics Darren Kane and Jesse Falcon, former Spy staffer Jonathan Yevin, and former Cracked Editor-in-Chief Mort Todd. Michael Hobson, the former publisher of Marvel Comics and Scholastic Books, was named a senior advisor, and Neal Pollack was named an "Editor-at-Large." In 2005, Geoff Wolinetz, Nick Jezarian and Josh Abraham, co-founders of a "literary whimsicality" site, YankeePotRoast.org, were named as contributing editors, and Jack O'Brien and former National Lampoon managing editor Jay Pinkerton joined as full-time editors. In 2006, actor/comedian Michael Ian Black was also named as another "Editor-at-Large." To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Justin Droms is the Editor of Cracked, a national humor magazine. ... Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comics writer and editor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Thom Mount (born May 28, 1948) is the former President of Universal Pictures and one of Americas most well-known independent producers. ... Zena Tsarfin first broke into the publishing industry as an intern for the magazine High Times at the tender age of 19 and despite that still managed to graduate cum laude with dual degrees in Journalism and Political Science from Brooklyn College. ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Jesse Falcon is an improv and sketch comedy performer based in New York. ... Jonathan Yevin, a graduate of the Gallatin program at New York University, has had his writing contributions grace the pages of many magazines - from laddy Stuff to manny Mens Fitness. ... Former Editor-in-Chief of Cracked Magazine. ... Michael Z. Hobson is the former publisher of both Marvel Comics and Scholastic Books. ... Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... Scholastic Inc. ... Neal Pollack is an American satirist currently living in Austin, Texas. ... Geoff Wolinetz is a writer and co-founder of Yankee Pot Roast, an online magazine devoted to literary and pop-culture satire. ... Josh Abraham is a Jewish music producer who has worked with many leading bands including Velvet Revolver, Staind, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Courtney Love, Static-X, Deadsy, Orgy, and 10 Years. ... Jack O’Brien serves as an Editor to both CRACKED Magazine and CRACKED.com. ... Jay Pinkerton (born June 15, 1977) is a nationally published humorist and an Editor of both CRACKED.com and CRACKED Magazine. ... Michael Ian Black (born Michael Schwartz on August 12, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and comedy writer. ...

Todd v. Sarhan

Several months after rejoining Cracked, Todd parted company with the revamped magazine, complaining to the Comics Journal about low pay rates and work-for-hire issues of copyright. Todd complained, "With each visit to the offices I got more dispirited as I saw the direction the magazine was taking. As has been well publicized, Cracked was, instead of ripping off MAD, going to rip off Maxim... A lot of 'revolutionary' humor ideas they've come up with are ones that have been overplayed for decades and ones I rejected for good reason 20 years ago [as Cracked's editor]". The Comics Journal is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips, renowned for its in-depth interviews, often scathing reviews, and an editorial ethos that views comics as a fine art deserving of broader cultural respect. ... A work for hire is an exception to the general rule that the person who creates a work is the author of that work. ... Copyright symbol Copyright is a set of exclusive rights regulating the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. ... Maxim is an international English language lad mag (mens magazine) based in the United Kingdom and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, of which none are nudes. ...

Sarhan wrote in part:^[8] "My impression of Mort was that he was stuck in a time warp, wanted to relive his personal "glory days" when he edited CRACKED and didn’t get what we were trying to do.... A Contributing Editor is a freelancer with whom we have a relationship with. That is all that the title means here at CRACKED. He's a person who is a regular contributor to the magazine, but he is not on staff.... Mort decided to quit as a Contributing Editor because, he said, he had a few TV projects in development. My personal opinion is that he was stuck in the CRACKED of the past and that he didn't like being a freelancer, answering to editors far younger than him here at CRACKED and having his ideas regularly rejected. If your work isn't going to get published, it makes no sense to stay.... Anyone who has spent five minutes on this website knows that we are not a MAXIM clone. It's a ridiculous assertion. We focus on comedy and humor, not women in bikinis. Yes, it's true that we look to MAXIM as a guide for some things. After all, since it's [sic] launch over eight years ago, it has gone on to become one of the most successful magazine titles ever. Who wouldn't want to emulate that success?"

Revamp, relaunch, rejection

Issue 1 of the new Cracked - August/September 2006

The company spent most of 2005 accumulating contributors for its planned relaunch. In October 2005, the company introduced Cracked.com, a website featuring humor articles, videos, comics and blogs.^[9] Although the redesigned print magazine had originally been slated to debut in January 2006, this did not occur and the print version's launch was pushed back by several months. Image File history File linksMetadata CrackedCruiseCover2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata CrackedCruiseCover2. ...

On August 15, 2006, the revamped Cracked Magazine finally appeared. The first issue was a significant departure from Cracked's previous incarnation, notably in its sharp reduction of comics and illustrated content. The new format was more text-heavy, and was overtly indebted to modern "lad mags" like Maxim, Stuff and FHM, although the media website Gawker.com wrote, "Very little remains of the old Cracked -- a Mad ripoff that had tread water in various incarnations for almost half a century. Much was made of the new direction now ripping off Maxim instead, but aside from a "look and feel" resemblance in terms of layout, the much more obvious (attempted) homage runs to Spy."^[10] Maxim is an international English language lad mag (mens magazine) based in the United Kingdom and known for its revealing pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, of which none are nudes. ... Stuff is a mens magazine featuring interviews, pictorials, and other articles of interest to a predominantly male audience. ... The cover of an issue of FHM China, featuring Britney Spears, wearing a bathing suit & necktie The cover of the first issue of FHM in the United States, featuring Rachael Leigh Cook FHM is an international monthly lads mag. ... Founded in 2002, Gawker. ... January 1994 cover Spy magazine was a satirical monthly founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter, who served as its first editors, and Thomas L. Phillips, Jr. ...

The Washington Post's Peter Carlson harshly reviewed the debut, listing some of the issue's contents and then adding, "Are you chuckling yet? Me neither." Later, Carlson quoted Cracked's Michael J. Nelson, who'd contributed a short guide to the worst comedy movies ever. Wrote Nelson in his article, "Bad comedies are worse than anything else in the whole of human history." Added Carlson, "Reading Cracked, you understand exactly what he means." ^[11] ... Michael J. Nelson. ...

The new Cracked had hoped to position itself as a publication that covers the world of comedy, as well as providing its own comedic content. The debut cover featured a photoshopped image of actor Tom Cruise as the title character from the hit comedy film The 40-Year Old Virgin. Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a comedic film starring Steve Carell and directed by Judd Apatow released on August 19, 2005. ...

However, after just three poor-selling issues, the failing magazine was cancelled in February 2007.^[12] Citing distribution problems for its demise, editor Jay Pinkerton claims that the remaining staff will be focusing its energies toward the Cracked website, as well as unspecified book projects.

References

External links

• Marvel Age #22 (Jan. 1985): "Sol Brodsky Remembered", p. 15 (offline)
• Associated Press: In Comeback, Cracked Vows Crass Comedy
• Press Release: CRACKED Magazine Re-Launches
• Cracked Magazine
• Three panels from the Cracked parody of "Planet of the Apes." Art by John Severin.
• Cracked Mazagine Cover Gallery