Mad Fold-in

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mad Fold-In is a feature found on the inside back cover of virtually every Mad magazine since 1964. Written and drawn by Al Jaffee, the Fold-In is one of the most well-known aspects of the magazine. The feature was conceived in response to centerfolds in popular magazines, particularly Playboy.^[1]

Explaining his original inspiration, Jaffee said:

"Playboy had a foldout of a beautiful woman in each issue, and Life Magazine had these large, striking foldouts in which they'd show how the earth began or the solar system or something on that order -- some massive panorama. Many magazines were hopping on the bandwagon, offering similar full-color spreads to their readers. I noticed this and thought, what's a good satirical comment on the trend? Then I figured, why not reverse it? If other magazines are doing these big, full-color foldouts, well, cheap old Mad should go completely the opposite way and do an ultra-modest black-and-white Fold-In!"^[2]

Contents 1 Concept 2 Execution 3 Fold-In history 4 Outside cultural references 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Concept

A Mad Fold-In consists of a single drawing, with a paragraph of text underneath, and a panel across the top with a question. Each Fold-In also features instructions on how to manipulate the Fold-In, as well as a picture illustrating the procedure. Under the instructions are two arrows labeled "A" and "B". When the paper is folded so that points "A" and "B" are touching, the remaining unobscured text underneath the picture becomes the answer to the question, and the picture itself changes into a fresh image reflecting the new text as the middle 50% of the drawing vanishes. (The third Fold-In, in issue #88, had an unusual diagonally-folded layout which was never repeated.)^[3]

For example, a 1969 Fold-In asking, "What is the one thing protest marches have greatly improved?" depicted a stream of placard-carrying marchers, but folded into the image of the underside of a worn-out sole and the answer, "SHOE SALES." A drawing of a fearsome panther stalking a variety of jungle animals accompanying the question "What predatory creature most threatens the survival of endangered species?" contracted to the image of a lavishly swaddled woman and the solution "FUR LOVERS." (In the larger drawing, the two halves of her fur coat had been the foliage of trees.) Following the 1991 Tailhook scandal, a Navy war room became a female officer being sexually molested by a gauntlet of her comrades.

The Far Side creator Gary Larson described his experience with the Fold-In: "The dilemma was always this: Very slowly and carefully fold the back cover... without creasing the page and quickly look at the joke. Jaffee's artistry before the folding was so amazing that I suspect I was not alone in not wanting to deface it in any way."^[4]

Mad publisher Bill Gaines joked that he was a fan of the Fold-In because he knew that serious collectors valued pristine, unfolded copies, and would therefore be inspired to purchase two copies of each issue-- one to fold, and another to preserve intact.^[5]

In 1972, Jaffee received a Special Features Reuben Award for his Fold-Ins. A retrospective collection of his Fold-Ins, "Fold This Book!", was published in 1997.

[edit] Execution

Typically, a Fold-In uses visual trickery to match the ostensible topic. Jaffee says, "I could do ten of these a day if the big picture didn't have any connection with the answer. The tricky part is having a connection. In order for the copy to read correctly after it's folded, there has to be a marriage of some sort." Jaffee occasionally adds an extra layer of deception. His Fold-In design for issue #495, for a question about "packaging garbage," prominently showed two separate halves of the Pixar character Wall-E within a larger drawing of a junkyard. But both Wall-E halves were on the wrong side of the fold, and thus disappeared into the real picture, which was about the TMZ gossip website.

Jaffee only uses a computer for typographic maneuvers, to make certain fold-in tricks easier to design. Otherwise, all of his work is done by hand. "I'm working on a hard, flat board... I cannot fold it. That's why my planning has to be so correct." In 2008, Jaffee told the Cape Cod Times, "I never see the finished painting folded until it's printed in the magazine. I guess I have that kind of visual mind where I can see the two sides without actually putting them together."^[6] Contrasting current art techniques and Jaffee's approach, MAD's art director, Sam Viviano, said, "I think part of the brilliance of the fold-in is lost on the younger generations who are so used to Photoshop and being able to do stuff like that on a computer."^[7]

[edit] Fold-In history

Jaffee's first three Fold-Ins featured gags about the Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher-Richard Burton love triangle, Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller's battle for the 1964 Republican Presidential nomination, and The Beatles' departure back to England. 2008-2009 Fold-In topics have included Guitar Hero, teen pregnancy, and Jay Leno leaving The Tonight Show. "Before anyone knew it," wrote comics historian Christopher Irving, "the hundreds of Fold-Ins created a timeline of American history, political satire, and entertainment."

From its debut in 1964, the Fold-In has rarely been absent from Mad's pages. Since issue #86, only three issues (#121, #190, and #219) did not feature Fold-Ins, although Jaffee still wrote and drew the back covers. (#219 featured a see-through effect which combined elements from the back cover and inside back cover could be held up to a light source to reveal the visual punchline.)^[8]

On occasion, the feature has been moved from its usual spot. In the annual "20 Worst of the Year" issue, the Fold-In is used as one of the 20 items, and appears as an internal page of the magazine. Issue #320 (July 1993) was the only one to feature a Fold-in as the front cover.^[9]

The first 33 Fold-Ins were printed in black-and-white. With issue #119 (June 1968) Mad changed its printing process to allow the inside front and back pages to be printed in color; subsequently, the Fold-In was presented in color from then on (and artist Jaffee received a raise in pay).

[edit] Outside cultural references

"Girl," a 2005 music video by Beck, featured several real life Fold-Ins, such as a foldable sidewalk and a foldable pharmacy. One of the video's Fold-Ins revealed the name "Al Jaffee."^{[citation needed]}

The Mad Fold-In has been referenced more than once on The Simpsons. The episode "Marge in Chains" showed a female convict with a Fold-In tattooed on her back, which she was able to manipulate through muscle control. A later episode, "Team Homer," showed Bart and Milhouse pondering a Fold-In with the question "What higher power do TV evangelists worship?"; the answer was "the almighty dollar," or, as misfolded by Homer Simpson, "The Al-ighty -ollar". Comic Book Guy's stated store policy on Mad fold-ins is "You fold it, you buy it."

In 2006, Stephen Colbert saluted Jaffee's 85th birthday on an episode of The Colbert Report with a large "fold-in" birthday cake, bearing the message "AL, YOU HAVE REPEATEDLY SHOWN ARTISTRY & CARE OF GREAT CREDIT TO YOUR FIELD." But after the center slice was removed, the remainder spelled out the message "AL, YOU ARE OLD."^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fold-Ins, Past and Present New York Times site displaying some of Jaffee's Mad Fold-Ins