Big Bird

Few characters can claim the distinction of landing in the pages of Mad magazine during the Bronze Age, but Big Bird made that leap in 1978, brought to comic life by Dennis Snee and Paul Coker Jr. in the hallowed halls of EC publishing. Over a span stretching some 35 years, this beloved figure turned up in some gloriously eclectic company — sharing pages with Alfred E. Neuman, Princess Leia Organa, C-3PO, Cookie Monster, and Captain Kirk — which tells you everything about Mad's gleefully anarchic universe. Appearing across Mad, the Mad Star Wars Spectacular, and Sesame Street, Big Bird occupies a wonderfully specific corner of Bronze Age pop-culture satire that any serious Mad collector will want to track down.