In an announcement that launched a thousand “What, Me Worry?” jokes and headlines, MAD magazine made the sad announcement recently that it was cutting its frequency down to quarterly. It’s another sign of a tightening economy, as if we needed one, and one that probably hits hard if you’re a comics reader over the age of, say, 35. Maybe younger if you were lucky enough to grow up with MAD around your local newsstand.

For me, the announcement brought back fond memories of trips to the grocery with my mom as a kid. While she shopped, I beelined right to the magazine section of the store, seeing which new comics had arrived and checking out MAD. Her trip buying the family’s groceries was serious reading time for me and my first lesson in economics: what to buy with my little allotment of cash?
 
I’m glad MAD is still around and I hope this new quarterly arrangement helps it not only survive but thrive. Talk about a cultural touchstone. MAD is as a part of adolescence as Little League and rollerskating on Friday nights. Let’s hope this is just a temporary setback.