Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952.
Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century, with editor Al Feldstein increasing readership to more than 2,000,000 during its 1970s circulation peak.

The last surviving title from the notorious and critically acclaimed EC Comics line, the magazine offers satire on all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures.
Its format is divided into a number of recurring segments such as TV and movie parodies, as well as freeform articles.
Mad's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, is typically the focal point of the magazine's cover, with his face often replacing a celebrity or character that is lampooned within the issue.

In 2010, the magazine's oldest and longest-running contributor, Al Jaffee, told an interviewer,
Mad was designed to corrupt the minds of children. And from what I'm gathering from the minds of people all over, we succeeded.