Legendary ‘Mad’ magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee passes away at 102

Al Jaffee, the pioneering 'Mad magazine' cartoonist and 'fold-in' innovator, passed away at 102.

His granddaughter told the New York Times that Jaffee died on Monday after multiple organ failure at a Manhattan hospital.

After high school, Abraham Jaffee, born in Atlanta in 1921, started working in comics. He sold a Superman parody, Inferior Man, to comics legend Will Eisner, at the age of 20. He started working for Marvel legend Stan Lee a year later. 

Jaffee began working at Mad in 1955. During the Vietnam War, he drew anti-war cartoons 'Hawks & Doves'. He created Mad's fold-in in 1964, the illustration on the back inside cover of every issue that revealed a second image when folded. The fold-in parodied Playboy magazine centrefolds.

His fold-ins featured the Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor, presidents and other famous pop culture personalities. 

Jaffee provided artworks for Mary-Lou Weisman's biography Al Jaffee's Mad Life in 2010. The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964–2010 was published by Chronicle Books the following year.

Jaffee was awarded with many honours and accolades in his distinguished career. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013, which was celebrated at the San Diego Comic-Con International.  

He is also the Guinness record-holder for the longest cartooning career. As the magazine's longest-serving contributor, Jaffee retired at the age of 99 in 2020. 

"I had two jobs all my life," Jaffee told the New York Times upon retirement. "One was making a living. Second, entertain. I hope I succeeded."