Al Feldstein, the editor of Mad magazine for almost 30 years, died on Tuesday at his ranch home in Montana. He left behind a legacy of sharp parody mixed with adolescent humor that has resonated with magazine makers, including George Lois, the legendary adman who designed many irreverent covers for Esquire. Lois is known for his brash, pull-no-punches style, but he had nothing but kind words to say about Feldstein’s rag: “These days, no celebrity on a magazine cover, including Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, or Leonardo DiCaprio, could possibly match the visual punch of Alfred E. Neuman, the gap-tooted, grinning boy, goofily peeking out at us on the newsstand.”
Here, Lois picks his top five Mad covers:Courtesy Mad Magazine
March 1969
Courtesy Mad Magazine
October 1963
Courtesy Mad Magazine
April 1969
Courtesy Mad Magazine
October 1972
Courtesy Mad Magazine
December 1983
