Kolkata fans mourn as the satirical MAD magazine folds

After publishing 550 regular issues since its inception in 1952, MAD Magazine, the iconic

American satire publication

, will no longer be sold on newsstands after its August issue. Fans mourn across the globe as the iconic magazine folds. In Kolkata, we spoke to a few theatre professional, cosplayer and stand-up comedians about how they felt when this news broke.

Tathagata Chowdhury, theatre professional/ workshop instructor, said, “The rumours were circulating for a while. I thought DC parentage would help. It’s a classic case of the beating the print media universe is having to combat. MAD curtains to a 67-year legacy of satirical humour. I liked the feel and art design along with the written content. That’ll be missed badly. We’ll have to do with re-cycled content.”

On the other hand, Pracheta Banerjee, a city-based cosplayer, too, expressed her sadness. “The news is quite unexpected. I will definitely miss seeing parodies of my favourite shows. I loved and appreciated the effort put into the artworks. On the brighter side, there are numerous publications to look back to, it has been 67 years of MAD Magazine,” she shared. For generations, the face of

Alfred E Neuman

on the cover of MAD magazine has been the most effective mascot for many. It was also an inspiration for many who used to do regular skit and ad spoofs at different college fests.

Added stand-up comedian, Anirban Dasgupta, “This news is disappointing but also I kind of expected it in today's time. With print media slowly dying and everything going digital, losing the sheen of such iconic products of print work was inevitable. I just hope enough is done to protect and propagate MAD’s legacy in the future.”