Al Jaffee, the award-winning cartoonist for Mad magazine and the ageless wise guy who thrilled millions of kids with the deceptive fun of the Fold-In and the sarcasm of “Snappy Answers to Dumb Questions,” has died at the age of 102.
Al Jaffee’s cause of death: How did Al Jaffee die?
According to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson, Jaffee died Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure. He was 99 years old when he retired.
Jaffee, a prolific artist, owns the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a comic artist, dating back to his first appearance in Joker Comics in 1942. He retired from Mad just three years ago, in 2020. He had been a contributor to the magazine for almost 50 years.
He pioneered some of the magazine’s most influential features, such as “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” in which a harmless question leads to a slew of unexpected sarcasm or the Mad fold-in, the magazine’s inside back page that, when folded, cleverly transformed one work into another previously hidden image.
The fold-in was created in 1964 to mock the glossy fold-outs of Playboy and National Geographic. It quickly became a popular and powerful symbol of mayhem.
“A humble and kind creator, Al’s presence, his astute social commentary, and his endless amusement at life’s ups and downs shaped the fabric of the magazine,” Mad said in a statement Monday. “Al Jaffee was an incredibly gifted man who touched our hearts and never failed to make us laugh,” said Jim Lee, chief creative officer and Publisher of DC. “He garnered the highest accolades and praise in the world of illustrations and comics.”
