Al Jaffee dies: Magazine’s mad cartoonist who created permanent ‘collapse’ feature was 102

Al Jaffee, the longtime cartoonist formerly crazy magazine who created one of the satirical publication’s most popular and enduring features — the “fold-in” back cover illustration — died Monday of organ failure in a New York hospital. He was 102.

The news of his death was shared today by Tom Heintjes, editor of Hogan’s Ally, a magazine and website dedicated to the art of animation. Jaffee’s granddaughter, Fani Thomson, confirmed the death and the cause of death New York Times.

“I am very sad to announce that the great Al Jaffee has passed away,” Heintjes tweeted. “He celebrated his 102nd birthday last month. An incredible legend. RIP to a giant of cartoons.

Born in Savannah, GA, Jaffee began his comics career in the 1940s, providing illustrations for publications such as Joke Comics, Atlas Comics, and Timely Comics. During the Second World War he worked as an artist for the army.

Jaffee began a lifelong collaboration crazy magazine as an associate in 1955. Although he briefly left the publication to work for the short-lived humbug Humor magazine, he returned in 1958. Over the years, he worked on the popular film Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions.

However, his most lasting contribution to the Baby Boom generation’s iconic release came in 1964 with the first “Fold” feature: a drawing that, when folded vertically, revealed an entirely different illustration, essentially ‘ create a visual punchline, complete with a new caption. . The feature was inspired by the center folds popularized by Playboy and other magazines.

In Fold this book!a collection of 1997 Jaffee’s folds, beyond Creator Gary Larson praised the long-running feature. “The dilemma was always this: fold the back cover very slowly and carefully… without fold the page and take a quick look at the joke. Jaffee’s artistry for The fold was so big that I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to damage it in any way.

Referred to as a four-volume hardcover box set The Mad Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010 was published in September 2011 by Chronicle Books.

In a 2010 interview with the Boston Phoenix newspaper, Jaffee recalled his first fold. “I thought… now it’s collapsed and I have to have something here on the left and something here on the right. And the only thing that came to mind was that Elizabeth Taylor just dumped Eddie Fisher and went on with Richard Burton. So I had Elizabeth Taylor kiss Richard Burton and a police officer stopped the mob – and just for fun I had Eddie Fisher get trampled by the mob. What a cruel act! And then when you wrap it up, she walks away from Richard Burton and kisses the next guy in the crowd. It’s so simple and silly and youthful! And anyone could have done it!”

Jaffee’s final Mad Fold-In was published in the August 2020 Jaffee Tribute issue of the magazine and served as his farewell letter following his retirement at the age of 99. Signed six years earlier – first published upon his death – it shows the unfolded illustration Furious Mascot Alfred E. Newman among a bunch of bad news, out-of-business signs. When folded, the signs read “No More New Jaffee Fold-Ins” instead, with a peaceful portrait of Jaffee hovering over the fray.

In all, Jaffee created more than 500 spine folds, covering zeitgeist issues and hot topics from Beatlemania (the Fab Four’s folded image showed them as bald alumni) to President Donald Trump’s proposed health plan.

In a 2014 video interview — see below — Jaffee explained that he created the folds without actually folding his original artwork, instead relying on a seemingly painstaking tracing paper process.

When asked how long he intended to continue illustrating, he said, “As long as the gray matter in my dome is moving properly, I have a feeling that I will continue to work.” In 2016, he was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-serving cartoonist in comic history.

Tributes on social media quickly followed news of his death, with comedian, actor and podcaster Marc Maron calling Jaffee a “profound influence” and “one of the greats”. Portlandia Producer Dan Pasternack said, “Several generations of humor have been shaped by his work.”