Last updated on April 22, 2014
Yesterday, on April Fools’ Day and the 36th anniversary of Apple’s founding, MAD Magazine launched its iPad app on Apple’s Newsstand.The launch appears to be an exclusive. I couldn’t find it on Zinio or the Kindle Store and Barnes & Noble offers only a print subscription. However, wording in the FAQ would indicate that that state of affairs probably won’t last long as it references access that consumers will have so long as their device supports the file format.
The 60-year old MAD’s lateness to the tablet party might have been more excusable if DC Comics had done more to showcase some of the unique qualities of the magazine. For example, the iconic fold-in is not featured among the sparse few pages offered in the preview edition. Moreover, MAD, like The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live, is an eminently modular production filled with many searchworthy features such as the TV show parodies, Spy vs. Spy, The Lighter Side and so on and so on. It would be great to be able to search across these features and, if not purchase them individually, at least be able to buy a past issue that included the content. The app does include a few back-issues, but here’s hoping DC builds out the back catalog to serve as a media-free alternative to more than 50 years’ worth of MAD that was published on DVD-ROM back in 2006 for $49.95 (cheap).