Doohickamabob

This is a great summation of how many of us feel about Baker's work. Can't wait to see scans of your Phantom Lady comics, as well as the spanking panels. (Sure, it's kinky, but it's also dang funny.)

Not anymore - just a handful of the ones I really like!! Hey, is that woman in the background (above right) Canteen Kate?

No point, just like showin' the pretty pictures!

Nice. Can't wait to read it. As a passing comment, panels like this always crack me up: How can the guy talk with a hand in his face? It reminds me of this -- "Can't breathe.... c-c-can't....breathe...." Because people always talk while they're choking.

I would say that EC had a pretty convincing legal case there. (I wonder if Mad ever sued the 1970s band Man, which used an Alfred image on their album covers?)

Cool collection photo! So a few questions -- did you consciously decide not to collect Mads #1 through #43? Too expensive? Just curious. I had a similar plan early on, but then I found a great Craigslist lot deal on the early issues and couldn't pass it up. That's great you have the first Britain and Quebec issue. I hadn't seen the Quebec one before. By the way, anybody here can look up the foreign issues at a site called http://collectmad.com/. I just found out about it the other day and love it! Some of the foreign Mad covers are really cool, with alternative-reality Alfred E. Neuman paintings.

More like a fast girl joke Careful before the posting of Matt Baker scans mushrooms out of control. P.S. Nice window sill o' sighing. (That's my lame attempt to make something sound like "psilocybin")

I love Mad #24 even in 2.5 shape, which still looks nice. As a kid, to own a Mad #24 would have been a real dream come true. As for Mad #44, I love that cover but especially the BACK cover, which completes the joke and makes the front cover more stalkerish/creepy.

Holy guacamole, we have a winner! Somebody with ALL the Trash, Worst, and Follies! That is a deceptively TOUGH collecting accomplishment. Finding the issues is one thing, but finding them WITH the inserts is a whole other level of hunting. Between the specials collection and your CGC 9.2 copy of #24, you've got some great stuff. I only have raw copies of most issues, but I do have a CGC 5.0 copy of Mad #1. Talk about variations in value on a comic -- a high-grade copy is worth as much as $20,000 (and once over $30,000), but a lower-grade copy is barely worth $400. Thanks for chiming in. Oh yeah, about the last 20 years of Mad kinda sucking, that seems to be the general consensus. However, I do open newer issues and sometimes find myself pleasantly surprised and even occasionally laughing out loud. It's pretty much a downhill slide after losing publishers and editors like Gaines/Feldstein.

Nice photos and selection! It's always heartening to see a copy of Mad #18 that doesn't have the dots connected. Your #22 looks great even though the grade is not visible in the scan. Gotta love "The Godfather" parody -- that's a movie that I am actually planning to see in a couple days on DVD, so I might have to dig up the Mad parody afterward. Those movie parodies age very well. The other day I watched "Grease" on TV and read the Mad parody during it, and the jokes were spot-on. Regarding folded back covers, that is one element of condition that doesn't bother me too much, though it's nice to find unfolded ones. It is hard to complain if the previous owner actually enjoyed the mags the way they were meant to be enjoyed.

Just a cursory glance at the subjects makes it seem there aren't many Mad Magazine collectors in here. Either that or I'm looking in the wrong forum. Do the Mad fanatics have a different site or section where they congregate? I'm a longtime Mad collector going back to my humble 7-year-old self. A few years ago I fetched all my mags out of my dad's garage and decided to "complete the run before I sell it all, because then it will be worth more!" Since then I've learned that a Mad collection is hardly a ticket to mega-wealth, although trying to finish it can be a ticket to the poorhouse. (I've run into other sellers online who had the same delusion I did.) Still, collecting Mads offers quite an array of challenges and areas to choose from: -- The first 23 comics -- Magazine issues #24 through about #100 -- The early More Trash, Worst From, and Follies special issues (complete with bonus inserts) -- The paperback books (especially first-printing Signets) -- The early merchandise: Cufflinks, Alfred Bust, Straitjacket, other -- The myriad foreign issues, esp. the ones from the 1960s -- The hundreds of specials from the 1990s -- The yearly calendars -- The vinyl records -- "The Ridiculously Expensive Mad" book with inserts, etc. -- Branching out to satire copycat comics/mags, like Cracked, Nuts, Crazy, Eh!, Get Lost -- Following Harvey Kurtzman's post-Mad career with Trump, Humbug, Help!, Annie Fanny -- Original artwork -- Printed materials from before Mad existed that show an Alfred E. Neuman likeness -- Board games, card game, Spy vs. Spy game -- Ecch-cetera... If other Mad freaks are out there, maybe this would be a good place to share collecting stories, post some photos, and other fershlugginer potrzebie idiocy.

I think Linda might have eaten some of the funny mushrooms they found on their field trip.

Awesome pics. Love the interior shots!

Why am I so fascinated by your little video...

Yeah, I was just being a sarcastic doofus, but I'll break the joke to avoid further confusion: The Baker cover is the original, the other cover is the copycat. And I should also point this out -- now that I look at it, I think the copycat is Australian.

Sorry to have to break this to all of you, but it appears Matt Baker stole most of his designs from anonymous British (edited correction: Australian) artists. Case in point: As you can see, Baker added his own flourishes, such as the fire escape and the chip out of the building's corner. Otherwise, sadly, his cover for Authentic Police Cases #10 appears to be a complete rip-off. Like I said, sorry to have to tell you this. Don't blame the messenger, eh!

I am jealous of you finding whatever auction that was. If those are any indication, I wanna know what else was there... Anyway, great scores. The CSS #22 is always a coup d'collection. As for Frazetta, where other artists would have half-assed the craters on the planet, or other little details, he makes them detailed and beautiful.

That's a cool comic, fun cover, and yes, you definitely need more GA. Regarding the slabbing, in my lowly opinion this would be just as well served by putting it in a high-quality mylar sleeve with an acid-free backing.

Very cool. Every time I open a comic like that, I worry about it falling apart, or a staple popping through the cover. (Note: Has happened too many times...)

Gracias! If I remember correctly, that was a Buy-It-Now purchase on eBay. Reasonably priced.

For the heck of it, and also in response to Joanna, here are most of the Baker covers in my collection. Pretty paltry compared to many here, but they make me happy... (There are a few not included, such as Lorna Doone.)

Cool summation of the best Baker covers. I agree, and like you, I have 2 out of 3 of them. I just got #10 today from a local seller, at the exorbitant cost of $20. Baker's best stuff often involves a diagonal, mid-air female, doesn't it? Another APC cover I like is #4, but that's not Baker, it's somebody named "Bee."

Agreed, I need to give feedback. Just got this today though. Nova Scotia mail is slow. (Regarding the trimming, that's something I could have detected from the photos, so I don't hold it against the seller.) And you're right, she had some amazing other stuff, including those awesome Venus comics.

This isn't Baker, but I figured you all would appreciate a look at this comic: I love the blue color on the cover. This is a Canadian reprint and I thought it looked pretty cool when I bought it. What I didn't realize is that it appears to be trimmed on the right edge -- either that, or the Canadian reprint was badly produced. (I would consider returning it to the seller, but she's in Nova Scotia, and the sale price wasn't much anyway.) Anyway, the inside stories are full of romance grooviness: