Al Jaffee, who created Mad Magazine’s tri-fold back cover with a hidden punchline and other features like “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” has died, according to multiple media reports. He was 101.
Jaffee, who was born Monday in Manhattan died in a Manhattan hospital. According to the New York Times. Fani Thomson, his granddaughter, cited the multi-system organ failure.
Jaffee’s bold signature was a familiar sight to any regular reader of Mad since 1964, when his first fold-in comic made fun of Elizabeth Taylor. (She’s still with Richard Burton when unfolded, and with another guy when folded together).
Jaffee said he came up with the idea for a fold-in comic – but he thought the editors of Mad were “not going to buy” his kooky gimmick. Jaffee was able to make hundreds of images by hand that reveal an underlying meaning when they are folded together.
Jaffee, for 55 years was the sole artist to have drawn the fold in feature. He was awarded the Reuben Award in 2007, which placed him alongside Gary Larson and Charles M. Schulz.
Mad stopped printing any new material except for year-end specials in 2019
