'An Al Jaffee Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions: Fishing Incident' (Mad #216, July 1980).
Al Jaffee was most famous as one of Mad Magazine's "usual gang of idiots". He was their longest-running contributor, working for them since his debut in their pages in 1955 up until the final issue in 2020! In all those years, he only had one brief interval between 1957-1958 when he worked elsewhere. His best known comic series, 'Mad's Fold-In' (1964-2020) and 'Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions' (1965-2010) were among the most iconic and oldest continuous features in Mad. As of 2022, the fold-in is the only feature which still survives with new material in its pages, created by Johnny Sampson. Jaffee also launched the lesser-known but also long-running 'Don't You Hate...?' (1967) feature and the short-lived pacifist pantomime comic 'Hawks & Doves' (1970-1972). In newspaper comics, Jaffee drew 'Tall Tales' (1957-1963) and scripted 'Debbie Deere' (1966-1969, drawn by Frank Bolle) and 'Jason' (1971-1974). He was also the artist behind 'The Shpy' (1984-2020), a humorous spy comic published in the New York Jewish magazine The Moschiach Times. By the time of his death at age 102, Jaffee was the oldest of all Mad contributors, being a senior to other of their veterans: Angelo Torres (b. 1932) and Sergio Aragonés (b. 1937). Being active in the comic industry since 1941 and only retiring in 2020, Jaffee was additionally the longest active comic artist ever. In 2016, these 79 years in the business - 64 of which were spent working for Mad - landed him a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. He is also notable as an innovator of the comics medium. His famous Fold-Ins in Mad invited readers to fold the pages to read a secret message, while his 'Tall Tales' presented gags in a 7 inch (17.78 centimeters) vertical panel format.
'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions: Fishing Incident' (Mad #304, July 1991).
Early life
Abraham Jaffee was born in 1921 in Savannah, Georgia, the son of a department manager of Jewish-Lithuanian descent. His mother didn't adapt well to life in the USA. Homesick, she took her sons on a vacation to Lithuania in 1927 and decided to stay there. It was a severe traumatic experience for Jaffee. Life in sunny and modern Savannah had been sweet, but suddenly he was dropped into a cold, poor and very rural village of Zarasai where nobody spoke English. He was a victim of antisemitism, bullying and even parental neglect, as his mother would often lock her children up so she could pray without being bothered. Unfortunately she sometimes plain forgot that her kids were unable to eat or go to the bathroom during that time. Despite all odds Jaffee gradually learned to cope with his new environment. To everyone's surprise, his father arrived in Zarasai one year later and took his sons back to the USA. The days of paradise didn't exactly return, though. He had lost his business and moved the family to a different town. After spending a year in the US, Jaffee was once again taken out of his comfort zone when his mother returned and took them back to Zarasai. It wasn't until 1933 - four years later - before Jaffee's father was finally able to return three of his four sons back to their native country. The youngest stayed in Zarasai until 1940, moving back to America right before Hitler invaded Lithuania during World War II.
Early comic influences
Amidst this parental tug of war, Jaffee had two escapist activities. He enjoyed picking up rubbish and turning it into toys. This inventiveness later came in handy when he designed similar wacky gadgets for Mad. His other favorite pastime was reading comics. Among his earliest graphic influences were Milton Caniff, Rube Goldberg, Otto Soglow, Noel Sickles, Alex Raymond and Harold Foster. During his years in Lithuania, Jaffee even specifically asked his father to send him U.S. "funny papers", or "otherwise he would never speak to him again". Cartooning also proved to be an outlet during the days of the Great Depression. Jaffee's father worked as a part-time postal officer at Grand Central Terminal in New York City and was so poor that he had to send two of his sons to foster parents. Only Al was allowed to live with him. To cut costs, they shared the same bed. Severely depressed by this situation, Jaffee found a goal in life when he studied at the local High School of Music & Art. There he met many of his future colleagues, including John Severin, Al Feldstein, Will Elder and Harvey Kurtzman.
Inferior Man
In 1941, Jaffee debuted as a comic artist and writer for Quality Comics through Ed Cronin's packaging service, creating the superhero parody 'Inferior Man' for Military Comics. Jaffee originally made this character a cowardly accountant. Anytime Inferior Man saw danger, he quickly ran into a telephone booth to get out of his super uniform and put his accountant's suit back on. Will Elder liked the character, but convinced Jaffee to turn him into a soldier instead. Knowing less about army life than accountancy, Jaffee terminated 'Inferior Man' after only a few gags. In 1943, Al Stahldrew new stories with 'Inferior Man' for Feature Comics.
'Inferior Man' from Military Comics #13, August 1942).
Timely Comics (Marvel)
After fulfilling his military service in 1942, Jaffee joined Timely Comics (which later became Marvel Comics) where he drew various funny animal comics like 'Super Rabbit' (1943-1952) and 'Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal' (1942-1947). The latter duo were his own creations, but artists like Joe Calcagno, Harvey Eisenberg, Al Fago, Al Grenet and Mike Sekowsky also drew stories about them. Ziggy was a straight character, while Silly was his bumbling sidekick. They often had humorous adventures pitched against their nemesis, Toughy Cat. Jaffee also drew comics about the female superheroine 'Patsy Walker' (1944), until he passed the pencil to Al Hartley in 1949. Two of his colleagues in these days were future comics legends Dave Berg and Stan Lee.
Mad Magazine
In 1952, Jaffee's high school mate Harvey Kurtzman founded a revolutionary satirical comic magazine: Mad. The stories were full of biting, but funny parodies of comics, films, novels, TV shows and advertisements. Compared with the quaint work he penciled before, Jaffee liked Mad much better. He applied for a job and was easily accepted, due to his connections with Kurtzman. Jaffee debuted in the 25th issue (September 1955), mostly writing articles and comics illustrated by Jack Davis. In 1956, Kurtzman left Mad over creative differences and founded other satirical magazines, like Trump (1957) and Humbug (1957-1958). Jaffee initially joined Kurtzman, but as these publications went defunct he quickly returned to his former employer. The experience wasn't a waste of time, though, as Jaffee had the opportunity to use the material he published in Trump and Humbug for his resumé. Jaffee returned to Mad from its 43th issue (December 1956) on and stayed with the magazine for more than half a century. In the early days Jaffee was predominantly a comic writer. It wasn't until 1964, when he came up with his iconic Fold-In that he started illustrating more.
Fold-in from Mad #103 (June 1966).
Mad's Fold-In
Mad's Fold-in was originally a parody of the fold-out posters found in many magazines at the time, from Life Magazine to Hugh Hefner's Playboy. In typical Mad fashion, the traditional action is reversed. Rather than fold a picture out, Jaffee made a drawing where one had to fold the drawing in. Each illustration features an image with a question written in the caption underneath. When the left side and right side of this image are folded in, the answer becomes visible. The concept was so original that Jaffee initially feared that editors Al Feldstein and William M. Gaines would veto it, because it crumples the paper. Both turned out to be enthusiastic, however, with Gaines liking the prospect that "readers would buy two issues at once, with one to fold and another to save".
The first Fold-In appeared in issue #86 (April 1964). Its "secret" satirical messages added to Mad's subversive public image and thus became a tradition. Nearly every next issue featured a fold-in, always appearing on the penultimate page. The early fold-ins were all published in black-and-white, until issue #119 (June 1968) gave it the exclusive honor of being the only feature - besides the cartoons on the back cover - to appear in color. This exclusive arrangement changed in 2001, when Mad switched over from being a black-and-white magazine to a fully-fledged color publication. Only six issues did not feature a fold-in, because Jaffee had his hands full with designing the back cover instead. In issue #521 (June 2013) a reprint was used, because Jaffee's new fold-in happened to refer to mass shootings, which could have coincided (though it eventually didn't) with a public trial about the 2012 shootings in a film theater during the premiere of the Batman movie 'The Dark Knight Rises'.
Fold-in from Mad #216 (July 1980).
Jaffee drew and painted each Fold-In by hand. From the 1990s on, he used a computer, but only to help him previsualize the typography. The drawings he could plan out fine without the computer. While the concept is already complex enough, Jaffee occasionally experimented with different types of Fold-Ins. In issue #88 (July 1964) he made one with a diagonal design, rather than a vertical one. The 214th issue (March 1980) featured one where the inside and outside back covers could be held up to the light, creating yet another image. And the 320th issue (July 1993) featured a foldable front cover, rather than the penultimate page. One Fold-In generated controversy, when he ridiculed televangelists. Several supermarkets in Michigan refused to carry that particular issue. Jaffee's Fold-Ins were compiled in 'Fold This Book!' (1997), with a foreword by Charles M. Schulz, and the more extensive 'The Mad Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010' (2011).
The Fold-Ins are Mad's longest-running feature. Only their TV and film parodies (1952), fake ads (1956), Antonio Prohias' 'Spy vs. Spy' (1961) and Sergio Aragonés' 'Mad Marginals' (1962) are older. Jaffee and Aragonés were the only ones who wrote and drew each episode of their features completely on their own, at least until issue #14 (August 2020), when Jaffee retired. In this same issue he published his final Fold-In, which he had prepared years ago. It was originally intended in case he would unexpectedly die, to serve as a fitting farewell. To everybody's delight, the 99-year old was still there to see his final Fold-In appear in print. He even lived to see the Fold-Ins continue. Since issue #15 (October 2020), Johnny Sampson succeeded Jaffee. As of 2022, Sampson's Fold-Ins are effectively the only new and original feature in Mad's pages, which nowadays relies mostly on reprints.
'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions' (Mad #486, February 2008).
Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions
Another famous comic strip by Al Jaffee is the less regular appearing 'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions', which debuted in issue #98 (October 1965). It features characters asking questions where the answers are already obvious. Instead of giving them a straight answer, other characters come up with three different sarcastic, unusual and witty replies per question. It has been suggested that Jaffee might have been inspired by Rube Goldberg's 'Foolish Questions' gag cartoon, but Jaffee has stated he never saw it until years later. Instead he got the idea when he was working in his house and his son kept asking where "mummy" was. Jaffee usually didn't know, so he just invented crazy explanations to annoy his son. Readers loved the feature, especially young teenagers who like giving sarcastic replies to everybody. As Jaffee went through a divorce in the late 1960s, the 'Snappy Answers' series provided him with the perfect outlet for his frustrations. Over the years, he made countless new episodes using different settings. A steady stream of paperback collections made it his most generally available work.
Jaffee drew his final episode in issue #533 (June 2015), when "Weird Al" Yankovic was guest editor. In issue #9 (October 2019) writer Matt Cohen and artist Johnny Sampson continued 'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions'. With Desmond Devlin as scriptwriter, Sampson made another episode in issue #14 (August 2020). Apart from these two episodes, all 'Snappy Answers' were done by Jaffee. In 2020, the feature was discontinued.
At the time, 'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions' was popular enough to inspire a similar gag comic in rival magazine Cracked: 'Shut Up' (1977-2000), drawn by Don Orehek.
Cover illustration for Mad issue #199 (June 1978).
Mad inventions, gadgets and fake ads
Jaffee also made various parody advertisements and photo collages for Mad. Several of his comics and humorous articles feature wacky inventions and gadgets, explained in step-by-step procedures. Jaffee had a knack for making these absurd ideas look technically possible. In fact, some of them were actually put into practice many decades later, including the telephone re-dial and address books (1961), snowboarding (1965), the computer spell-checker (1967), peelable stamps, multi-blade razors (1979) and graffiti-proof surfaces (1982). In 1966, Jaffee thought up a self-extinguishing cigarette, which Charles J. Cohn in 1973 constructed into a practical device. Cohn was kind enough to credit Jaffee in his patent.
Mad film and TV parodies
Jaffee only made one film parody for Mad, spoofing the 1968 action movie 'Bullitt' (issue #127, June 1969). He scripted the spoof, while Mort Drucker illustrated. Jaffee's resumé only lists two TV parodies. The first was 'ABC TV's Wide World of Sports' (April 1966, issue #102), for which he provided the script, while George Woodbridge made the illustrations. The second was a spoof of 'American Gladiators' (issue #315, June 1992), drawn by Jaffee, but scripted by Dick DeBartolo and Andrew J. Schwartzberg.
Mad covers
In his entire, career Jaffee only designed five magazine covers for Mad, namely issue #199 (June 1978), #217 (September 1980), #224 (July 1981), #258 (October 1985) and #320 (July 1993).
'Hawks & Doves' (Mad #144, July 1971).
Don't You Hate...?
In issue #110 (April 1967) of Mad, Jaffee launched the "Don't You Hate...?" series. Every episode visualizes various annoying situations and asks the rhetorical question if readers ever felt the same. Until issue #158 (April 1973) he wrote and drew all installments on his own. Later episodes were co-created by writers such as Frank Jacobs, Marilyn Ippolito, Jody Revenson, Lou Silverstone and Mike Birtchet, while Paul Coker and Jack Davis co-illustrated two respective episodes as well.
Hawks & Doves
Jaffee created one short-lived gag cartoon series for Mad, 'Hawks & Doves' (1970-1972), which only ran from issue #137 (September 1970) to #148 (January 1972). The gags deal with a strict military officer, Major Hawks and his subordinate Private Doves. To Hawks' anger, Doves creates peace signs all over the military base. The one-page gags were done in pantomime and usually appeared on the back cover, so they could be printed in color.
'Tall Tales' (1961).
Tall Tales
Outside Mad, Jaffee also made the pantomime comic 'Tall Tales' (1957-1963), syndicated in more than 100 newspapers, both in the USA (The New York Herald Tribune) and abroad. At the insistence of the head of their syndicate, he was forced to put text and speech balloons in, which made their success in several non-English newspapers far more limited. 'Tall Tales' was notable for featuring very long vertical panels of 7 inches (17.78 centimeters) tall . Over 2,200 episodes were drawn. In 2008 a compilation book was published by Abrams Books, picking out the 120 best ones. The work had a foreword by comedian Stephen Colbert.
Debbie Deere / Jason
While most of Al Jaffee's comics have been humorous, he did once script a more serious, realistically drawn newspaper comic series as well, namely 'Debbie Deere' (1966-1969), drawn by Frank Bolle. Syndicated by McNaught from 30 May 1966 until 1 November 1969, it was a soap opera about a young newspaper advice columnist. The comic not only featured her dealing with questions from readers, but also her own personal troubles and dramas. Jaffee also scripted 'Jason' (1971-1974).
The Shpy
In May 1984, Jaffee and Mad colleague Dave Berg became regular contributors to the bi-monthly Jewish magazine The Moshiach Times, distributed in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. Jaffee created a humorous adventure comic 'The Shpy' (1984-2020), about a Jewish inspector who has all kinds of gadgets, master disguises and a special car, the Mixmaster. The recurring opponent of The Shpy is Yetzer Hora, whom he always defeats.
'The Shpy'.
Other artwork
Between 1963 and 1964, Jaffee was an assistant-ghost artist on Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's 'Little Annie Fanny'. He was an illustrator for Boys' Life magazine for 25 years and also livened up the pages of 'World's Best Science Fiction' (1977) and 'The Goulish Book of Weird Records' (1979).
Assistance
One of Jaffee's younger brothers, Harry Jaffee, collaborated with him between 1970-1977, doing some backgrounds and lettering.
Recognition
Jaffee won the Best Advertising and Illustration Award (1973), handed out by the National Cartoonists Society. In 2008 he received the Reuben Award for "Cartoonist of the Year", as well as an Inkpot Award. He was inducted in the Will Eisner of Fame in 2013, the same year he donated his archives to Columbia University in New York City. In 2014 he was inducted in the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame.
Oldest active cartoonist
On 18 April 2016, Al Jaffee received an official Guinness Book of Records plaque for being the oldest known active cartoonist in the world. The record was previously held by Kenneth Bald (1920-2019), who was one year older than Jaffee and who received his Guinness Book of Records plaque on 4 March 2015. On 8 May 2017, Bald broke Jaffee's record again, despite the fact that Jaffee also continued to work for Mad. But Bald was definitely older, thus making the difference. When Bald passed away in 2019, Jaffee officially became the oldest known active cartoonist in the world again and remained so until his retirement on 10 June 2020.
Retirement and death
Jafee was a mainstay in Mad for nearly 64 years. For six decades, he kept satirizing all new trends, current affairs and latest media in his work. He outlived many of his colleagues, who either retired or passed away. After Mort Drucker retired in 2011, Jaffee became the only contributor from the pioneer years in the 1950s to still work for the magazine. Even in old age he kept in touch with new technology. In September 2019 the 99-year old launched his own Twitter account. He retired from the comic industry on 10 June 2020. In issue #14 (August 2020) his final Fold-In appeared in print. Other artists paid homage to him, while the issue also reprinted some of his finest work. On 13 March 2021, Jaffee celebrated his 100th birthday, making him the first and thus far only Mad Magazine contributor to become a centenarian. Al Jaffee died in April 2023, nearly a month after reaching the age of 102.
Legacy and influence
Al Jaffee's work has received praise from comic legends like Charles M. Schulz, Arnold Roth and Gary Larson, and was a huge influence on Graeme MacKay, Ted Rall, Johnny Sampson, Dave Cooper, Ivan Brunetti and Mike Wartella. References to either his fold-ins or 'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions' can be found in Matt Groening's 'The Simpsons', particularly the episodes 'Marge in Chains' (1993), 'Team Homer' (1996) and 'The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" (1997), and in Beck's music video 'Girl' (2005). Basketball star Bill Russell said in his autobiography 'Second Wind. The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man' (1986) that Jaffee's 'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions' inspired him to do the same when trying to keep strangers at arm's length. On a 13 March 2006 episode of the satirical talk show 'The Colbert Report', Colbert wished Jaffee a happy 85th birthday and presented a birthday cake with the text: 'Al, you have repeatedly shown artistry & care of great credit to your field'. Colbert then cut the middle part out, whereupon a Fold-In parody was created, with the text now reading: "Al, you are old."
Book about Al Jaffee
For those interested in Al Jaffee's life, Mary-Lou Weisman's biography 'Al Jaffee's Mad Life' (2010), is a must-read. Jaffee also created autobiographical illustrations for this book.
Self-portrait.