Latest media casualty: Mad

Not that it has anything to do with trade promo, but Mad magazine is switching to quarterly publication after 56 years as a monthly.

The venerable humor magazine today announced that starting with issue #500 in April, it will move to a quarterly publication schedule from its current monthly. The magazine’s version for younger readers, MAD Kids will cease publication with the issue on sale February 17th, while the final issue of MAD Classics will go on sale March 17th. Both of the spinoff magazines launched in 2005. Circulation numbers for the magazines were not readily available.

Handling the news with style typical of MAD, Editor John Ficarra said, “The feedback we've gotten from readers is that only every third issue of MAD is funny, so we've decided to just publish those."

Just about every item I've seen on this has some variation on "What, me worry?" in the header or text. It is worrying (to work it in here, as well) that the economy has damaged even such an institution. Though, in reality, it is probable that (as with many/most recent victims in media and retail) the economy has merely sped up Mad's partial demise. When I was a kid, I read Mad religiously (if that's the right term), but how many kids are doing so today? Times change, and media changes with it.