I am a guy with a short attention span, and when it comes to reading I like my content to be delivered quick and to the point. Maybe that is how I developed my love for MAD Magazine as a kid, or maybe it’s because of MAD that my preference is short reading material. Either way, I’m a big fan of MAD.
When I was a kid I remember seen MAD parody all my favorite movies, musicians and your basic flavor of the month celebrity on their covers and being glued at the grocery store checkout while my mom unpacked the cart at the checkout.
The humor, which flew right over my head when I was a child, was borderline inappropriate for children to read. Especially in the seventies and eighties; the racial undertones hidden in some of the content would never fly today. Though, let me be clear; MAD Magazine is still as outrageous as ever. As a matter of fact, with it political and pop culture satire still going strong, it’s almost even wilder.
The magazine is now in color and features the artists working on it today are still top notch. 
One of my favorite illustrators who is still currently working on MAD is Tom Bunk. He has been with the magazine since 1990 and is responsible for the most grotesque illustrations MAD published. I hope to someday own some original artwork by Tom someday.
I have quite the collection of back issues. For the most part I grab them used at stores that sell new and used books and music. I’m Phoenix you can find a slew of them at stores like Bookman’s and Zia Records. Lots of old comic book stores have them too. I’ve had a lot of luck at Gotham City Comics in Mesa. There is a great back stock of old MAD and Cracked Magazines over there.
In addition to collecting the magazines, I am also a fan of the MAD collection books. Generally, you can find them on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble. At Barnes and Noble I’ve had some luck finding them in the discount section. That’s always a bonus.
These collections are much larger in scale, unlike the paperbacks of my childhood. They feature comics and art from every generation of MAD Magazine. You can find classics from Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragones, Bob Clark, Mort Drucker, Dave Berg, Don Martin and the rest of the usual gang of idiots. Honestly, I could name names for hours because MAD has had such a talented group of artists throughout the years.
If you are looking to start somewhere on some of these collections I have included some pictures of my favorite editions.
Is my office overflowing with classic back issues and new collection books of MAD Magazine? The answer is yes, but to follow up that answer I would have to add, “What me worry?”
