October 5, 1962

Debuting in August 1952 (cover date October–November), Mad began as a comic book published by EC before it became a magazine.

Alfred E. Neuman, fictional mascot and cover boy of the
parody publication

Cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was  
the founding editor of Mad. He was inducted into the comic industry’s
Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1989.

Ad from the late 70s and early ’80s