CGC Featured Comic of the Month: Mad #1

Posted on 4/2/2026

What, me worry about this month’s CGC Featured Comic: Mad #1?

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Name of comic: Mad #1

Comic publisher: EC Comics

Date: October-November 1952

Variants: In addition to the original magazine published by EC Comics in 1952, DC Comics later published a Millennium Edition (both direct and newsstand) in 2000 and a Facsimile Edition (both standard and blank variant) in 2024. There is also a recalled error edition of the Millennium Edition, missing original creator and copyright credits.

What makes it special? Mad was initially launched in 1952 under EC Comics as a sharp, subversive comic book edited by Harvey Kurtzman, using satire to skewer pop culture, politics and the comics industry itself. When the Comics Code Authority tightened restrictions in the mid-1950s, EC pivoted by transforming Mad into a magazine format with issue #24 in 1955, allowing it to sidestep the Code’s jurisdiction. That magazine version endured for decades and, after EC’s publishing line faded, eventually came under DC Comics in the late 1960s. DC has continued publishing Mad Magazine in various forms ever since.

Why is it interesting now? Mad #1 makes a perfect April pick because it captures the exact spirit of April Fools' Day! At a time when most comics played things straight, Mad showed up grinning sideways, tearing into pop culture with a fearless absurdity that felt like one brilliantly executed prank.

Did you know? The face that became Alfred E. Neuman — the gap-toothed, “What, me worry?” face of Mad Magazine — wasn’t created for Mad at all. The image dates back to late 1800s and early 1900s ads, postcards and novelty prints.

Total graded by CGC: As of March 30, 2026, there are 724 copies of Mad #1 in the CGC Population Report.

CGC highest graded: Remarkably, there is one CGC 9.9 and eight graded CGC 9.8!

CGC median grade: CGC 5.0

Sales highlights: A Mad #1 graded CGC 9.8 with a Gaines File Copy pedigree realized $81,000 in a March 2023 sale by ComicConnect.

CGC Comics Registry Champion: CGC Comics Registry Member Stein has a Mad #1 graded CGC 9.8 in their set Alec B, which helped earn it a Best Set Type Award in 2010 and Top Ranked Awards from 2011 to 2013 and 2015 to 2017.

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