67年后，《疯狂杂志》退出历史舞台

出版67年后，美国讽刺幽默领域龙头《疯狂杂志》将退出报摊。

上周三晚些时候，杂志前工作人员兼投稿人透露：今年8月之后《疯狂杂志》将只能在漫画商店购买和邮购。双月刊会发行，但仅包括以前发表的内容，只有年终特辑中会出现新内容。

“我童年的梦想就是去《疯狂杂志》工作。这本刊物历史悠久，几乎每一位我（或许还有你）尊敬的戏剧演员和作家都上过杂志。”上个月辞职的《疯狂杂志》前编辑艾丽·戈尔茨在推特（Twitter）上写道。至于其他高级编辑人员，上周早些时候似乎均已被华纳旗下的杂志出版商DC娱乐公司解雇。

MAD Magazine, once a touchstone of American satirical humor, is leaving newsstands after a 67-year history.

MAD will after August only be available through comic stores and mail-order, former staffers and contributors revealed late Wednesday. There will still be bi-monthly issues, but they will only include vintage MAD material—the only new content will appear in end-of-year specials.

“Working at MAD was a childhood dream come true. MAD is an institution with such a rich history. It informed just about every comedian and writer I (and probably you) look up to,” tweeted Allie Goertz, MAD’s former editor, who resigned last month—other senior editorial staff appear to have been laid off earlier last week by Warner-owned DC Entertainment, the magazine’s publisher.

“听说风行世界67年的《疯狂杂志》将要停止发行，我很难过。”2015年曾经担任《疯狂杂志》第一位客座编辑的“恶搞专家”艾尔·扬科维奇在推特上说。“我小时候受影响之大简直难以描述，几乎是我喜欢恶搞的原因。再见了，美国有史以来最伟大的杂志之一。#感谢《疯狂杂志》”

《疯狂杂志》的影响力确实非常大，不但讽刺电影和电视节目，也讽刺政治和其他时事，风格在极不正经、充满无政府主义的轻蔑和敏锐洞察力之间转换。旅居古巴的漫画家安东尼奥·普罗希亚斯创作的系列连环漫画《间谍对决》（Spy vs Spy）凸显了冷战意识形态冲突多么荒谬。刚开始做杂志折叠封底是为了评论讽刺20世纪60年代中期盛行的杂志插页，没想到最后持续了半个世纪。

“I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, MAD Magazine is ceasing publication,” tweeted“Weird” Al Yankovic, who in 2015 was MAD’s first guest editor. “I can’t begin to describe the impact it had on me as a young kid–it’s pretty much the reason I turned out weird. Goodbye to one of the all-time greatest American institutions. #ThanksMAD.”

MAD was indeed incredibly influential. Veering between extreme silliness, anarchic disrespect and sharp insight, it satirized movies and TV shows, but also politics and other current events. Its Spy vs Spy strip, created by Cuban expat Antonio Prohías, highlighted the absurd side of the Cold War’s ideological clashes. Its fold-in back covers started as a satirical comment on the mid-1960s trend for splashy magazine fold-outs, but endured for half a century.

但是杂志已经不再像从前一样是文化风向指标。如今网络和电视上更容易找到类似讽刺风格的内容，杂志的读者也因此减少。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普经常遭 《疯狂杂志》讽刺，最近他嘲笑民主党总统候选人皮特·巴特吉，说他漏风嘴，招风耳，像极了《疯狂杂志》的吉祥物阿尔弗雷德·纽曼（纽曼的口头禅是: “什么，我担心？”），刚开始巴特吉都不知道特朗普在说什么。

“说实话，谷歌一下我才知道。”巴特吉告诉美国政治新闻网。“听不懂可能因为有代沟。我没明白其中典故。可能有点好笑吧。"

2017年年底，DC漫画将《疯狂杂志》的办公室从曼哈顿迁至加州伯班克时，杂志经历了巨大调整。杂志的资深员工均未跟着搬走，风格也因此突变。比如，杂志对校园枪击事件的报道比较严肃。

DC拒绝就《疯狂杂志》停止发行的原因发表评论。（财富中文网）

译者：艾伦

审校：夏林

But the magazine ceased to be a cultural barometer some time ago. The audience for magazines is generally smaller than it once was, and a similar satirical vein is these days found far more easily online and on TV.

When President Donald Trump—a frequent target of MAD’s barbs—recently mocked Pete Buttegieg by comparing his appearance with that of MAD’s gap-toothed, jug-eared mascot, Alfred E. Neuman (catchphrase: “What, me worry?”) the Democratic presidential candidate initially didn’t know what Trump was talking about.

“I’ll be honest. I had to Google that,” Buttegieg told Politico. “I guess it’s just a generational thing. I didn’t get the reference. It’s kind of funny, I guess.”

MAD underwent a dramatic shift at the end of 2017, when DC relocated its offices from Manhattan to Burbank, California. None of the magazine’s veteran staff came along, and MAD’s tone changed—for example, it carried a relatively somber spread about school shootings.

DC declined to comment on the reasons behind MAD’s effective end.