Is Al Jaffee still living? Where is Al Jaffee now?

Al Jaffee, who held the Guinness World Record for being the longest-serving cartoonist with a career spanning almost 8 decades, has been reported dead. He was 102 years old when he died. He died of multiple organ failures at a Manhattan hospital on Easter Monday, April 10, 2023, according to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson.

His professional career started in 1942 as an established and talented cartoonist. He worked for several publications; firstly for Jokers Comics in December 1942 and then moved to other publics like Timely Comics, Atlas Comics, and more. He once worked for Marvel Comics during the early part of his career.

Jaffee once shared that he considered himself an artist, strictly until editors and directors reviewed his portfolio in his early years.

“When prospective clients laughed and asked ‘Who wrote the gag?’ my response was, ‘I did, Sir.’ Which was very confusing since I didn’t realize any writing had taken place. I mean, writers used typewriters, smoked pipes, and wore scarves, right? When enough of them said, ‘Oh, you are a writer too?’ I took their word for it. Who was I to argue with my prospective employers?” he once shared during an interview.

In 1955, he committed to Mad Magazine and worked for them for 65 years until he resigned in 2020. He 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.

Fold-in became one of the magazine’s most popular features and appeared in almost every issue for 56 years; from 1964 to 2020.