Mad #24

Mad #24 (July 1955) marks the magazine's transition from comic book to magazine format, and the cover announces it with cheerful audacity — bold red lettering proclaims "THE NEW MAD" and "FIRST ISSUE," while an ornate illustrated border crowds the edges with cameo portraits of historical and cultural figures including Socrates, Napoleon, Freud, Beethoven, Pasteur, Galileo, and even Lassie, all labeled "MAD." Harvey Kurtzman's cover design centers on a deadpan straight-faced promise: "This new magazine is vital for you to read and inside you will find an extremely important message from the editors," complete with a pointing hand — the joke being that the cover IS the message. At 25 cents, this is EC's humor flagship reinventing itself in plain sight, with Kurtzman's wit embedded in every inch of the design.