Proclaiming the precise moment that purportedly triggered the magazine's irreversible decline is a common pastime. Among the most frequently cited "downward turning points" are: creator-editor Harvey Kurtzman's departure in 1957; the magazine's mainstream success; adoption of recurring features starting in the early 1960s;National Lampoon, October 1971 the magazine's absorption into a more corporate structure in 1968 (or later, the mid-1990s); founder Gaines' death in 1992; the magazine's publicized "edgy revamp" in 1997; the arrival of paid advertising in 2001;Hatcher, Thurston (February 16, 2001). "MADison Avenue comes home: Mad magazine ads bring color, controversy". CNN. Retrieved November 1, 2013. or the magazine's 2018 move to California. Mad has been criticized for its over-reliance on a core group of aging regulars throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and then criticized again for an alleged downturn as those same creators began to leave, die, retire, or contribute less frequently.
Proclaiming the precise moment that purportedly triggered the magazine's irreversible decline is a common pastime. Among the most frequently cited "downward turning points" are creator-editor Harvey Kurtzman's departure in 1957; the magazine's mainstream success; adoption of recurring features starting in the early 1960s;National Lampoon, October 1971 the magazine's absorption into a more corporate structure in 1968 (or later, the mid-1990s); founder Gaines' death in 1992; the magazine's publicized "edgy revamp" in 1997; the arrival of paid advertising in 2001;Hatcher, Thurston (February 16, 2001). ":MADison Avenue comes home: Mad magazine ads bring color, controversy". CNN. Retrieved November 1, 2013. or the magazine's 2018 move to California. Mad has been criticized for its over-reliance on a core group of aging regulars throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and then criticized again for an alleged downturn as those same creators began to leave, die, retire, or contribute less frequently.