Who was Al Jaffee? King of the Mad Magazine Fold-In Dies At 102

American cartoonist, Al Jaffee who was known for being the longest contributor to Mad Magazine, has been reported dead. According to his family, he died due to multiple organ failures. His death occurred on Monday, April 10, 2023, at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 102 years old.

He worked for Mad Magazine for 65 years and was the company’s longest contributor. His career for Mad Magazine started in 1955 before the company transformed from a comic book format to a magazine. However, he left the company after three issues along with its editor Harvey Kurtzman. They published their first two materials Trump and Humbug.

Humbug folded in 1958 and Jaffee took his unpublished work to Mad Magazine and submitted it to Bill Gaines.

“He called me into his office, sat me down on the couch next to him, and went over every issue and said, ‘Which one is yours?’ And as he came to each one, when he saw my stuff, he OK’d to hire me,” Jaffee shared.

Jaffee created the longest-running Mad feature in 1964 dubbed Fold In. The publication was structured in that each drawing is folded vertically and inward to reveal a new hidden – as well as a new caption.

He holds the Guinness World Record for having the longest-ever career as a comic artist. He was an active cartoonist for 78 years; from 1942 to 2020.