Matt Cohen

@mattcohen

Eisner Award nominee for "The Ghastlygun Tinies." Writes for MAD Magazine, The American Bystander, and The New Yorker. Created the hit card game Too Many Monkeys. Working on books for YOU. Profile pic by Tara O'Connor. He/Him

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Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 19d

People aren't supposed to know the name of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It ought to be an invisible role, but RFK Jr is such a menace to society that he’s recognizable enough to be featured in MAD Magazine. He’s *famous* for weaponizing his incompetence.

The cover art for MAD Magazine issue #45 is a parody of the film The Re-Animator. The MAD scientist here is the soulless HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The disembodied head in the pan is of course Alfred E. Neuman's. The beakers are labeled "Not A Vaccine," "Florida-Free," and "Bear Sweat." There's a book on his lab table titled "The HHS ANTI-Body Handbook."

The art is by Terry Wolfinger. The new issue of MAD Magazine is coming to a comic book store near you on August 13th.
The cover art for MAD Magazine issue #45 is a parody of the film The Re-Animator. The MAD scientist here is the soulless HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The disembodied head in the pan is of course Alfred E. Neuman's. The beakers are labeled "Not A Vaccine," "Florida-Free," and "Bear Sweat." There's a book on his lab table titled "The HHS ANTI-Body Handbook."

The art is by Terry Wolfinger.

This is a detail from the MAD Magazine article “The Horror of Quack-enstein.” In addition to featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr, it also includes Marty Feldman’s Igor from Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. The article was written by Desmond Devlin and illustrated by Tom Richmond. It appears in MAD issue #45.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 20d

Bring Your Own Book is my favorite party game. To celebrate the debut of the new edition at GenCon, I took my advance copy to the library. The goal of the game is to skim through books to find the best responses to the prompts. Who won this round: @brandonsanderson.com or Highlights Magazine?

This is the new and improved edition of Bring Your Own Book. The goal of the game is to race through real books to find the best responses to the prompts on the cards. It works with ANY book -- novels, cookbooks, graphic novels, appliance instruction manuals, kids books... ANYTHING GOES! The game was designed by Matthew Moore. It's published by Happy Camper games in partnership with Jaysen Headley (aka Ezeekat!) The art is by Serge Seidlitz.

This is a picture of Brandon Sanderson's book Tailored Realities. Below the image of the book's cover, there's a prompts from the Bring Your Own Book game card that says. "Great words to include in an apology." The response -- taken from the book -- says "I'm not always an idiot."

This is a the cover of an issue of Highlights. (Yes, your favorite magazine growing up is still around! Below the image of the magazine's cover, there's a prompts from the Bring Your Own Book game card that says. "Great words to include in an apology." The response -- taken from the issue -- says "Tag! You're it!"

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 21d

Look at how *efficient* Mrs. Lovett's supply chain is when you remove pesky regulations!

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 21d

I'm proud to say that while other media outlets were busy whitewashing Elon Musk's white supremacy, MAD Magazine had the journalistic courage to let me call him a bigot. Twice.

"Free Speeches On The Beaches" appeared in the April 2023 issue of MAD Magazine. The parody of Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches discussed Musk decision to sell blue check marks and called him out for turning Twitter into a cesspool of bigotry. The illustrations are by Marc Palm.

This is a single panel from a one-page parody of The Apprentice called "The Oligarch." The full version can be seen in the MAD Magazine issue #43.

A silhouetted figure that appears to be Donald Trump asks Elon Musk to show what he did for this week's task of redesigning the American flag. Musk says "My flag design represents America after my troop of programmers *fix* all of the countries vital systems." The flag resembles a Nazi flag, but instead of showing a swastika in the center circle, it instead has a "404 Error" message.

The article was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Hermann Mejia.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 22d

Mitch McConnell is doing great and he's back at work, as seen in this photo.

This is a screenshot from X2: X-Men United. The shapeshifter Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) is impersonating Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), a character whose death has been kept a secret.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 22d

Mitch McConnell is doing great and he's back at work, as seen in this photo.

This is a screenshot from the X-Men movies. The shapeshifter Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) is impersonating Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), a character whose death has been kept a secret.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· 26d

This is what SDCC looked like back in 1987... according to MAD Magazine. Enjoy "A MAD Peek Behind The Scenes At A Comic Book Convention." It was written by Lou Silverstone (based on an idea by Joey Townsel) and illustrated by the legendary Sergio Aragones. #sdcc

This crowded scene appeared in the December 1987 issue of MAD Magazine (#275.) Just to take you back in time, the cover for that issue promoted parodies of Beverly Hills Cop II, Jeopardy, Dr. Ruth, and Head Of The Class.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 19

Next weekend fans of Greek mythology can see a hell of a double feature! Forget Barbenheimer and get ready for... The Hadyssey? Odystown?

This is the movie poster for The Odyssey directed by Christopher Nolan.

This is the movie poster for the filmed live on stage version of the musical Hadestown. The musical by Anaïs Mitchell combines the greek myths of Orpheus & Eurydice and Hades & Persephone.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 18

This reminds me of a play called The Visit. It's about a rich woman who offers to donate one billion to the people in her poor home town IF one of them kills her ex-lover. Everybody refuses... but they all start buying expensive items from the ex-lover's store *on credit.* Ban prediction markets.

This is the cover of the script for the 1956 play The Visit by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. This version was translated by Joel Agee and published by Grove Press in 2010.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 14

Happy #PortfolioDay! I'm an Eisner Award nominated writer who can't draw, but here are some samples of my work illustrated by Marc Palm, @gemmacorrell.bsky.social, @aledles.bsky.social, and @charratastica.bsky.social! I'm currently writing novels and graphic novels (while also seeking a new agent.)

This is the the first of four pages from "The Ghastlygun Tinies." It was published by MAD Magazine. The writer is Matt Cohen and the Artist is Marc Palm. The text reads:
"A is for Alice the young science wiz
B is for Brian cramming for a quiz
C is for Connor in his English Class
D is for Dana who had a hall pass"

This is the first panel of a comic that was published by The New Yorker. It was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Gemma Correll.

The brightly colored art by Gemma Correll indicated that this "advice" is dripping with irony. The text reads:

"HOW TO PRETEND TO BE HAPPY

1. Practice Fake Smiles

Practice smiling in the mirror. Wider. No, I said WIDER. Smile harder, damn it! You suck at this. Nobody else needs to practice smiling, so you must be broken. That's why you don't deserve happiness. SMILE!

There, that wasn't so hard. Now just do that all day, every day, until people learn what a fraud you are."

This is the opening of a Dr. Seuss parody that was published in MAD Magazine. It was written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Marc Palm.

It was called ""Free Speeches On The Beaches." The text reads:

"When the Verified Speeches
Had checks that were blue
It made the Free Speeches
Want blue check marks too.

Their check envy was weird and their logic was flawed
Since the checks were just there to protect them from fraud.

Then one day at the beach there arrived a strange gent
Riding in a green car that he didn't invent..."

This is sample page from the proposal for a graphic novel called Arcade Days. Set in 1980, it tells the story of a girl who relieves the stress of starting at a new school by creating a video game... but when her pixelated hero becomes a national sensation she'll have to defeat the real-world bad guys who want to exploit her game for every quarter they can!

Arcade Days is written by Matt Cohen and illustrated by Ale Green and Fanny Rodriguez.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 8

I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning. We spoke for just shy of 20 minutes about the new Broadway show from the Amazing Alexander. I loved it. It was much better than Cats. Scott Jennings and I are going to go see it again and again.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 2

Video games and tabletop games are not substitutes for each other, but if you're looking for games that Sony can never delete from your library then you might enjoy some physical games that you can actually own.

These are some physical games that Sony can never take away from you. All you need to run them are a table (and maybe an IKEA bookshelf for storage.) The games in this photo include Castle Combo, lots and lots of Azul, Calico, Lairs, Harmonies, Cosmoctopus, Jokkmokk, Splendor, Sea Salt & Paper, Cascadia, Marabunta, Jungo, Everdell, Honey Buzz, Gartenbau, Flamecraft, Fort, Fountains, Everdell Due, Nocturne, Horrified Greek Monsters, Vale Of Eternity, Familiars and Foes, Verdant, the Fox Experiment, Project L, Lacuna, Cribbage, Paperback, Jaipur, Floriferous, and Paris: La Cité de la Lumière.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 1

I have an idea that will be mellow and profitable.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 1

Inside the Stop & Shop: Balloons! Balloons and meat! That’s much more fun than the Great American State Fair.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 1

Even before entering, this grocery store is already feeling more festive than anything put together as part of Freedom 250.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jul 1

Would you settle for some patriotic water?

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

In 2016, MAD Magazine ran this Al Jaffee back cover that showed America for what it really is. #madaboutguns (13/X)

This piece was called "MAD Redesigns The U.S. Map." The art rearranges the states to form a gun-shaped country. Florida is the trigger. Texas is the butt. Hawaii and Alaska are stray bullets.

It appeared on the back cover of the April 2016 issue of MAD Magazine. Al Jaffee was the artist and writer.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

In 1957, Tom Lehrer foolishly allowed MAD Magazine to illustrate his lyrics for "The Hunting Song." The art was by George Woodbridge. (12/X)

This article from MAD Magazine issue #35 illustrated the lyrics to Tom Lehrer's "The Hunting Song." The illustrations were by George Woodbridge.

The lyrics read as follows:

"I always will remember
'Twas a year ago November
I went out to hunt some deer
On a mornin' bright and clear
I went and shot the maximum the game laws would allow
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow

I was in no mood to trifle
I took down my trusty rifle
And went out to stalk my prey
What a haul I made that day
I tied them to my fender, and I drove them home somehow
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow

The law was very firm, it
Took away my permit
The worst punishment I ever endured
It turned out there was a reason
Cows were out of season
And one of the hunters wasn't insured

People ask me how I do it
And I say, "There's nothin' to it
You just stand there lookin' cute
And when something moves, you shoot!"
And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a pure-bred Guernsey cow"

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

In 1982, MAD Magazine took a look at a "Local Gun Club Picnic" and showed how gun violence hits home. Written by Larry Siegel with art by Jack Davis. (11/X)

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

In 2018 the Parkland activists had a televised town hall with Marco Rubio. For MAD Magazine, I cast the MSD students as Scooby Doo style heroes who unmask Marco's TRUE face. My original (unprintable) ending had Scooby saying "Ruck Rubio!" The art is by Dario Brizuela. (10/X)

In this excerpt from a MAD Magazine Scooby Doo parody, the Parkland student activists pull off Marco Rubio's mask to reveal that he's the NRA in disguise.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

MAD ran @kennykeil.bsky.social's "Gun Control By The Numbers" back in 2015. The congressman with hero fantasies reminds me of so many tough-talking politicians who wear AR-15 lapel pins and folks like Rep. Barry Moore who want to make the AR-15 the "National Gun." (9/X)

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

The MAD Magazine fake ad for "Second Amendment Sammy's All-American Fun N' Gun Show" did NOT hold back! Written by @franksantopadre.bsky.social with art by Scott Bricher. #EnoughIsEnough (8/X)

This MAD Magazine piece is a parody of an add for a gun show.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

This Al Jaffee Fold-In about the "inevitable sequel" to the latest mass shooting was meant to be published in 2013, but it was pulled because the timing was deemed to be insensitive. It later ran in 2019. It only got more trenchant with age. (7/X)

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

The magazine parody "Passionate Gun Love" mocked ammosexuals back in 1969. The cover promised readers that they'd learn "106 Exciting Ways To Make Love To Your Gun." Words by Larry Siegel with art by Jack Davis. (6/X)

The introduction to this MAD Magazine article written by Mike Snider and illustrated by George Woodbridge says, “American Rifleman and American Hunter are two magazines published by the National Rifle Association, an organization whose main function is pressuring lawmakers into keeping guns of all kinds as easily available as bubble gum. This is an effort at which they have been hugely successful, as anyone working at an Emergency Room or a County Morgue can tell you!”

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

To highlight the frequency of mass shootings in America, MAD put out this fill-in-the-blanks news story in 2017. (5/X)

The MAD Magazine editorial team wrote this piece to channel their anger and frustration with a seemingly endless series of school shootings.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

In this parody, “NRA” stands for "Nature’s Revenge Association." In 1992, the NRA still claimed to represent sports hunters, so Joe Raiola, Charlie Kadau, and Peter Sun imagined what hunting would be like if the deer leveled the playing field. (2/X)

This ad parody features a deer holding a hunting riffle and wearing an orange jacket over camouflage. The deer is a card carrying member of the NRA (Nature's Revenge Association.")

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 29

Are you mad about guns? MAD Magazine has been pretty *ticked off* about them for decades! Here's a thread of some highlights. "The MAD Gun Owners And Other Small Bores Primer" nailed it way back in 1965. Written by Larry Siegel with art by George Woodbridge. (1/X)

Framed as a children’s primer, this MAD Magazine article addressed the culture and politics of gun ownership.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 28

Anyway... Have a birthday, Elon. Try to remember that you're supposed to blow out the candles not blow up the cake.

The cover to MAD Magazine issue number 30 features a parody of West World with Elon Musk as a malfunctioning robot. In the background, a Tesla is spontaneously bursting into flames and a "Space Ecch" rocket is exploding on the launchpad. The cover art was by Mark Fredrickson. The issue had a publication date of April, 2023.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 28

Elon Musk turns 55 today. While other media outlets were busy whitewashing Musk's white supremacy, I'm glad that MAD Magazine had the courage to let me call him a straight up bigot. Twice.

Matt Cohen@mattcohen· Jun 28

From Ellen Liebenthal: