MAD magazine appoints new editor, plans move to Burbank
MAD magazine is shaking things up. The 65-year-old humor and satire publication is getting a new editor -- the fifth in its history -- and relocating from New York City to Burbank.
Illustrator Bill Morrison will take the helm as executive editor of the DC Entertainment magazine, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
"I don't know anyone who loves and respects MAD as much as I do," Morrison said in a statement to THR. "I'll definitely have my work cut out for me, but I'm dedicated to upholding the high standards of absurd and irreverent humor that the public has come to expect from MAD. I've been asked if I will continue to include artist Al Jaffee in the magazine; as soon as I find out who he is, I'll let everyone know,"
Morrison, who was a Disney illustrator for a time, co-created Bongo Comics with Matt Groening of "The Simpsons" and served as the art director for "Futurama." He is also president of the National Cartoonists Society.
The Eisner-winning illustrator will be entrusted with furthering the magazine's absurdist vision in an era saturated with satire and spoofs online and in television. He'll be directing day-to-day operations, overseeing the editorial staff for MAD magazine and MAD books and managing the annual publishing schedule. He'll report to Hank Kanalz, senior vice-president of editorial strategy and administration.
"The combination of his pedigree as an editor, writer and artist and his crazy sense of humor makes him the ideal person going forward to maintain MAD magazine's leading-edge position when it comes to what’s funny in the world today," Kanalz said a statement.
John Ficarra, the magazine's current editor, is stepping down but will stay with MAD through the end of the year serving as a consultant to assist with the transition and the publication's move to DC's headquarters in Burbank. Ficarra co-ran the magazine with Nick Meglin from 1984 to 2004 and shepherded its transition to color in the early 2000s. He has been running it solo since Meglin retired in 2004.