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List of humor magazines
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A humor magazine is a magazine specifically designed to deliver humorous content to its readership. These publications often offer satire and parody, but some also put an emphasis on cartoons, caricature, absurdity, one-liners, witty aphorisms, surrealism, neuroticism, gelotology, emotion-regulating humor, and/or humorous essays. Humor magazines first became popular in the early 19th century with specimens like Le Charivari (1832–1937) in France, Punch (1841–2002) in the United Kingdom and Vanity Fair (1859–1863) in the United States.
Contemporary humor magazines
[edit]| Title | Language | Country | Year founded | Notable Contributors | Frequency | Medium | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academia Cațavencu | Romanian | Romania | 1991 | Mircea Dinescu, Sorin Ovidiu Vântu | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| The American Bystander | English | US | 2015 | Michael Gerber, Brian McConnachie, Jack Handey, Kate Beaton | Quarterly | Paper and Online | Satire, Parody |
| The Brown Jug | English | US | 1920 | S.J. Perelman, Nathanael West, Jordan Carlos, Ben "Bean Kid" Doyle | Quarterly | Paper | Satire |
| Le Canard enchaîné | French | France | 1915 | René Pétillon, Jean Effel, Cabu, Lefred Thouron | Weekly | Paper | Satire, cartoons |
| Charlie Hebdo | French | France | 1969 | Philippe Val, François Cavanna, Cabu, Le Professeur Choron | Weekly | Paper | Satire, cartoons |
| The Civilian | English | New Zealand | 2013 | Ben Uffindell | varied | Online | Satire |
| The Clinic | Spanish | Chile | 1998 | Patricio Fernández Chadwick | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| CollegeHumor | English | US | 1999 | Ricky Van Veen, Jake Hurwitz, Amir Blumenfeld, Streeter Seidell | Daily | Online | Humor |
| The Comic News | English | US | 1984 | Thom Zajac, John Govsky | Monthly | Paper | Political Cartoons |
| The Cornell Lunatic | English | US | 1978 | Joey Green, Adam-Troy Castro, Naren Shankar | 2 per year | Paper | Satire |
| Cracked.com | English | US | 2009 | Jack O'Brien, Seanbaby, Daniel O'Brien | Daily | Online | Humor |
| The Daily Currant | English | US | 2012 | Varied | Online | Satire | |
| The Daily Mash | English | UK | 2007 | Paul Stokes, Neil Rafferty | Daily | Online | Satire |
| Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern | English | US | 1908 | Dr. Seuss, Buck Henry, Chris Miller, Mindy Kaling | 4 per year | Paper | Satire |
| The Michigan Every Three Weekly | English | US | 1997 | Megan Ganz | Monthly | Paper and Online | Satire |
| Eulenspiegel-Das Satiremagazin | German | East Germany, Germany | 1946 | Mathias Wedel | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Faking News | English | India | 2008 | Rahul Roushan | Daily | Online | Satire |
| Fish Rap Live! | English | US | 1985 | Skyler Hanrath, Ryan Schreiber | 9 per year | Paper | Satire, absurdism, theme issues |
| Frank | English | Canada | 1987 | Michael Coren, Michael Bate, David Bentley, Fabrice Taylor | Biweekly | Paper | Satire |
| Frigidaire | Italian | Italy | 1980 | Andrea Pazienza, Tanino Liberatore, Vincenzo Sparagna, Massimo Mattioli | Monthly | Paper | Comics |
| Funny Times | English | US | 1985 | Susan Wolpert, Raymond Lesser | Monthly | Paper | Satire, cartoons |
| The Georgetown Heckler | English | US | 2003 | Jack O'Brien | varied | Paper | Satire |
| Le Gorafi | French | France | 2012 | Jean-René Buissière | Daily | Online | Satire |
| Grönköpings Veckoblad | Swedish | Sweden | 1902 | Nils Hasselskog | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Harvard Lampoon | English | US | 1876 | Doug Kenney, George Meyer, Conan O'Brien, Robert Benchley,
Kurt Andersen, John Updike |
Five per year | Paper | Satire |
| Heuristic Squelch | English | US | 1991 | 6–8 per year | Paper | Satire | |
| Humor Times | English | US | 1991 | Will Durst, Dan Piraro, Ruben Bolling | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| The Inconsequential | English | UK | 2005 | Graham C Hodgson, Stephen McCartney | Quarterly | Paper (2005)
Online (2012) |
Satire, Verse, Short Stories, Cartoons, Absurdism |
| Jester of Columbia | English | US | 1901–1997, 2005 | Allen Ginsberg, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Tony Kushner, Ted Rall | Quarterly | Paper | Satire, absurdism |
| El Jueves | Spanish | Spain | 1977 | Joan Vizcarra, J.L. Martín, Jordi Sellas | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| The Lemon Press (University of York) | English | UK | 2009 | Joe Regan, Ryan Fitzgerald, Chris Burgess, Dave Walker | 4 or 5 times per year | Paper | Satire |
| Light | English | US | 1992 | X. J. Kennedy, Willard R. Espy, Tom Disch, John Updike | Quarterly | Paper (1992–2012) Online (2012–) | Light verse |
| Mad | English | US | 1952 | Harvey Kurtzman, Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragonés, Mort Drucker | Monthly (1952–2009), Quarterly (2009-2012), Bi-monthly (2012-) | Paper | Satire; comics |
| McSweeney's Internet Tendency | English | US | 1998 | Dave Eggers, Michael Ian Black, Tim Carvell, Nick Hornby | Daily | Online | Satire |
| The Milking Cat | English | US | 2018 | Weekly | Online | Teen Humor, Satire, Comics | |
| Nebelspalter | German | Switzerland | 1875 | René Gilsi, Franz Hohler, Heinrich Danioth, Marco Ratschiller | Weekly | magazine | Satire |
| Neurococi | Romanian | Romania | 2018 | Radu Barsan | Daily | Online | Satire, Parody |
| Nonsense | English | US | 1983 | Butch D'Ambrosio, Billy Scafuri, John Milhiser, Serious Lunch | 6 times a year | Paper (1983-2011), Online (2012-present) | Satire, Parody |
| Noseweek | English | South Africa | 1993 | Martin Welz | Monthly | magazine | Satire |
| Onion.com | English | US | 1996 | David Javerbaum, Ben Karlin, Scott Dikkers, Carol Kolb | daily | Online | Satire |
| The Oxymoron | English | UK | 2008 | 3 per year | Paper | Satire | |
| The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl | English | US | 1899 | Ezra Pound, Morton Livingston Schamberg, John Valentine Lovitt, Leo Yanoff | 3 per year | Paper (1899) Online (2007) | Satire |
| The Phoenix | English | Ireland | 1983 | Paddy Prendeville, John Mulcahy | Fortnightly | Paper | Satire, Politics |
| The Plumber's Faucet | English | Canada | 1984 | Triweekly | Paper and online | Humor, satire, cartoons | |
| Phroth | English | US | 1909 | 2 per year | Paper | Satire, humor | |
| Points in Case | English | US | 1999 | Amir Blumenfeld | Daily | Online | Satire, humor |
| Princeton Tiger | English | US | 1882 | Booth Tarkington, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Caro, John McPhee | Quarterly | Paper (1882–) Online (2009–) | Satire |
| Private Eye | English | UK | 1961 | Peter Cook, Ian Hislop, Richard Ingrams, John Wells | Biweekly | Paper | Satire |
| De Rechtzetting (The Correction) | Flemish | Netherlands | 2010 | Indiyan | Daily | Online | Fake News |
| De Speld (The Pin) | Dutch | Netherlands | 2007 | Daily | Online | Fake News | |
| Satyr Magazine | English | US | 1970 | Daily | Online | Satire | |
| Savage Henry Independent Times | English | US | 2010 | Sarah Godlin, Sonny Wong (artist), Zack Newkirk, Chris Durant | Monthly | Paper, Online | Satire |
| The Serpopard | English | US & Germany | 2017 | Luger James, Ricarda Stevenson, Andrea Julia Smith, Zac de la Vigne |
Daily | Online | Satire |
| The Stanford Chaparral | English | US | 1899 | Josh Weinstein, Doodles Weaver, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston | 6 per year | Paper | Satire |
| Stanford Flipside | English | US | 2008 | Monthly | Online | Satire | |
| Svikmøllen | Danish | Denmark | 1915 | Sven Brasch | Annual | Paper | Satire |
| Titanic | German | Germany | 1979 | Martin Sonneborn | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| The UnReal Times | English | India | 2011 | Ashwin Kumar, CS Krishna, Karthik Laxman, Ajayendar Reddy | Daily | Online | Satire |
| Viz | English | UK | 1979 | Chris Donald, Simon Donald, Joel Morris, Christina Martin | 6 per year | Paper | Comics |
| The Yale Record | English | US | 1872 | Garry Trudeau, Cole Porter, Peter Arno, Vincent Price | 8 per year | Paper | Satire, cartoons |
| The Zamboni | English | US | 1989 | Josh Wolk, Luke Burns, Graham Starr | Monthly | Paper (1989–)/Online (2014–) | Humor. Satire, Installation Art, Parody, Cartoons, Mixed Media, sketch |
| Toons Mag | English | Norway | 2009 | Arifur Rahman | Daily | Online | Cartoon, Comics, Caricature, Satire |
| Blandaren | Swedish | Sweden | 1863 | Pontus Hultén, Gunnar Asplund | Annually | Paper | dadaistic, absurdist, satirical and surrealist |
Out-of-print humor magazines
[edit]| Title | Language | Country | Years published | Notable Contributors | Frequency | Medium | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Man | English | US | 1988–1990 | George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Jack Handey, Mark O'Donnell | 3 issues | Paper | Satire |
| L'Asino (The Donkey) | Italian | Italy | 1892–1925 | Guido Podrecca (Goliardo), Giosuè Carducci, Gabriele Galantara (Ratalanga) | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Bałamut (Philanderer) | Polish | Russian Empire | 1830–1832/36 | Michal Konarski, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Il Becco Giallo (Yellow Beak) | Italian | Italy | 1924–1926 | Alberto Giannini | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| El Be Negre (The Black Sheep) | Catalan | Second Spanish Republic | 1931–1936 | Josep Maria Planes i Martí, Amadeu Hurtado | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Bertoldo | Italian | Italy | 1920s–1930s | Saul Steinberg, Marcello Marchesi | Weekly | Paper | Surrealist Humor |
| The Blind Man | English | US | 1917–1917 | Marcel Duchamp, Henri-Pierre Roché, Beatrice Wood, Mina Loy | 2 issues | Paper | Dada, Humor, Art |
| California Pelican | English | US | 1903–1988 | Rube Goldberg, Ron Goulart, Earle C. Anthony | 8 per year | Paper | Satire |
| La Campana de Gràcia (Gràcia's Bell) | Catalan, Spanish | Spain | 1870–1934 | Innocenci López i Bernagosi, Prudenci Bertrana, Antoni Serra | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Cannibale (Cannibal) | Italian | Italy | 1977–1979 | Stefano Tamburini, Massimo Mattioli, Filippo Scòzzari, Andrea Pazienza | Varied (9 issues) | Paper | Satire, Underground Comics |
| The Caricature Magazine or Hudibrastic Mirror | English | England | 1806-1818? | G.M.Woodward, Thomas Rowlandson, Charles Williams, Isaac Cruikshank, George Cruikshank, William Elmes, Piercy Roberts | Biweekly | Paper | Satire |
| La Caricature | French | France | 1830–1843 | Charles Philipon, Louis Desnoyers, Honoré de Balzac, Grandville | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| CARtoons Magazine | English | US | Ca. 1959–1991 | William Stout, Alex Toth, Russ Manning | 8 times a year | Paper | Cartoons |
| Cartoon Magazine | English | US | Ca. 1900–1912 | Clifford Berryman, Homer Davenport | Paper | Satire, Political cartoons | |
| Le Charivari | French | France | 1832–1937 | Charles Philipon, Honoré Daumier, Gustave Doré, Nadar | Daily (1832–1936)/Weekly (1937) | Paper | Satire, cartoons |
| Charley Jones' Laugh Book Magazine | English | US | 1943–1960s | Bill Ward, Al Wiseman | Monthly | Paper | Cartoons; verse; jokes |
| The Chaser | English | Australia | 1999–2005 | Fortnightly | Paper | Satirical news | |
| Le Chat Noir (The Black Cat) | French | France | 1882–1897 | Rodolphe Salis, Jean Lorrain, Paul Verlaine, Jean Richepin | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Chunklet | English | US | 1993–2005 | Henry Owings | Paper | alternative humor, parody | |
| El Coitao (Sex) | Spanish | Spain | 1908–1908 | Miguel de Unamuno, Gustavo de Maeztu, Tomás Meabe, José Arruda | Weekly (7 issues) | Paper | Satire |
| Cracked | English | US | 1958–2007 | Will Elder, John Severin, Daniel Clowes, Jack Davis | Monthly | Paper | Satire; comics |
| Le Crapouillot | French | France | 1915–1996 | Jean Galtier-Boissière, Roland Gaucher | Paper | Satire | |
| Crazy Magazine | English | US | 1973–1983 | Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Art Buchwald, Harlan Ellison | Monthly | Paper | Satire; comics |
| ¡Cu-Cut! (Cuckoo!) | Catalan | Spain | 1902–1912 | Josep Abril i Virgili, Joan Junceda, Lola Anglada, Bagaria | Paper | Satire | |
| Cyrulik Warszawski (The Barber of Warsaw) | Polish | Poland | 1926–1934 | Jan Lechon, Jerzy Paczkowski, Marian Hemar, Julian Tuwim | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| L'Esquella de la Torratxa | Catalan | Spain | 1872–1939 | Prudenci Bertrana, Pere Calders, Santiago Rusiñol, Isidre Nonell | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| The eXile | English | Russia | 1997–2008 | Matt Taibbi, Mark Ames | Biweekly | Paper | Satire |
| Feral Tribune | Croatian | Yugoslavia, Croatia | 1984–1993 | Viktor Ivančić, Boris Dežulović, Drago Hedl | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Fliegende Blätter (Flying Leaves) | German | Germany | 1845–1944 | Wilhelm Busch, Julius Klinger, Hermann Vogel, Count Franz Pocci | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Fun | English | UK | 1861–1901 | W. S. Gilbert, Ambrose Bierce, H.J. Byron, Matt Morgan | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Girgir (Broom) | Turkish | Turkey | 1972–1993 | Oğuz Aral, M. K. Perker, tr:Tekin AralTekin Aral, Galip Tekin, Ergün Gündüz | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Hara-Kiri | French | France | 1960–2000; (banned in 1961 and 1966) | Georges Bernier, François Cavanna, Fred, Jean-Marc Reiser | Monthly | Paper | Satire, cartoons |
| Help! | English | US | 1960–1965 | Harvey Kurtzman, Terry Gilliam, Woody Allen, Robert Crumb | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Humbug | English | US | 1957–1958 | Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Will Elder, Al Jaffee, Larry Siegel | Monthly | Paper | Satire, parody |
| Judge | English | US | 1881–1947, 1953 | S.J. Perelman, Harold Ross, James Albert Wales, Victor Lasky | Weekly, Monthly from 1932–1947 | Paper | Satire |
| Judy | English | United Kingdom | 1867–1907 | Alfred Bryan, Adelaide Claxton, Charles Henry Ross, Marie Duval | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Karuzela (Carousel) | Polish | Poland | 1957–1992 | Jerzy Wróblewski, Adam Ochocki, Stanisław Gratkowski, Jacek Sawaszkiewicz | Biweekly | Paper | Satire |
| Krokodil (Crocodile) | Russian | Soviet Union, Russia | 1922–2006 | Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kukryniksy, Yuliy Ganf | 3 per month | Paper | Satire |
| Liberum Veto | Polish | Polish Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire | 1903–1906 | Franciszek Czaki | Paper | Satire | |
| Life | English | US | 1883–1936 | Charles Dana Gibson, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Robert E. Sherwood | Weekly | Paper | Humor and General Interest |
| Il Male (Evil) | Italian | Italy | 1977–1982 | Pino Zac, Vincino, Angelo Pasquini, Cinzia Leone | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Modern Humorist | English | US | 2000–2003 | John Aboud, Michael Colton, John Warner, Daniel Chun | Daily | Online | Satire |
| Marc'Aurelio | Italian | Italy | 1931–1958 | Federico Fellini, Castellano & Pipolo, Ettore Scola, Furio Scarpelli | Daily | Paper | Satire |
| Molla Nasraddin | Azeri, Russian | Russian Empire, Persian Socialist Soviet Republic, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic | 1906–1931 | Jalil Mammadguluzadeh | Paper | Satire | |
| Monocle | English | US | 1950s–1965 | Victor Navasky, Calvin Trillin, C. D. B. Bryan, Neil Postman | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Moskovskaya Komsomolka | Russian | Russia | 1999–2001 | Boris Berezovsky, Dmitry Bykov, Eduard Limonov, Marina Lesko | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Mucha (The Fly) | Polish | Poland | 1868–1939; 1946–1952 | Antoni Orłowski, Franciszek Kostrzewski, Boleslaw Prus | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| National Lampoon | English | US | 1970–1998 | Douglas Kenney, Michael O'Donoghue, John Hughes, Bruce McCall, Henry Beard, Mike Reiss, Larry Sloman, Shary Flenniken, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Nickelodeon Magazine | English | US | 1990–2010 | Art Spiegelman, Gahan Wilson, Robert Leighton, Robert Sikoryak | Quarterly (1990–1994); 6 per year (1994–1995); 10 per year (1995–2010) | Paper | Children's Magazine (1990); Humor, Comics (1993–2010) |
| Omnibus | Italian | Italy | 1937–1939 | Leo Longanesi, Mino Maccari, Alberto Savinio, Eugenio Montale | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| The Onion | English | US | 1988–2013 | Scott Dikkers, Carol Kolb, David Javerbaum, Ben Karlin | weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Panic | English | US | 1954–1956 | Al Feldstein, Wally Wood, Basil Wolverton, Will Elder | monthly | Paper | Satire, cartoons, parody |
| Pèl & Ploma (Hair & Feather) | Catalan | Spain | 1899–1903 | Ramon Casas, Miquel Utrillo, Emili Vilanova and March, Eduard Marquina i Angulo | Monthly (1899–1900), Bimonthly (1900–1901), Monthly (1901–1903) | Paper | Literature, Art, Satire |
| Politicks | English | US | Ca. 1977–1979 | Dick Morris | Paper | Satire | |
| Przegięcie Pały | Polish | Poland | 1988–1989 | Krzysztof Skiba, Paweł Konnak, Piotr Trzaskalski | Quarterly | Paper | Satire |
| Puck | English, German | US | 1871–1918 | Joseph Ferdinand Keppler, Livingston Hopkins, Frederick Burr Opper, Rose O'Neill | Weekly | Paper | Satire; comics |
| Punch | English | UK | 1841–2002 | A. A. Milne, P. G. Wodehouse, William Makepeace Thackeray, Kingsley Amis | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Quatre Gats (Four Cats) | Catalan | Spain | 1899–1899 | Santiago Rusiñol i Prats, Ramon Casas i Carbó, Joaquim Mir i Trinxet, Josep Puig i Cadafalch | 15 issues | Paper | Satire, Literature, Art |
| The Realist | English | US | 1958–2001 | Paul Krassner, Lenny Bruce, Terry Southern, Ken Kesey | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Różowe Domino (Pink Dominoes) | Polish | Austro-Hungarian Empire | 1882–1890 | Maria Konopnicka, Włodzimierz Zagórski, W. Maniecki, AJ Waruszyński | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Sick | English | US | 1960–1980 | Joe Simon, Angelo Torres, Jack Davis, Bob Powell | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Simplicissimus | German | Germany | 1896–1967 | Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse, Thomas Theodor Heine | Weekly; Biweekly (1964–1967) | Paper | Satire |
| Spy | English | US | 1986–1998 | Kurt Andersen, Graydon Carter, Patricia Marx, Mark O'Donnell, Lisa Birnbach, Larissa MacFarquhar, Louis Theroux, Paul Simms, Paul Rudnick, Walter Kirn | Monthly | Paper | Satire |
| Szpilki (Studs) | Polish | Poland | 1935–1994 | Zbigniew Mitzner, Eryk Lipiński, Jan Galuba, Andrzej Dudziński | Paper | Satire | |
| Trump | English | US | 1957–1957 | Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Al Jaffee, Arnold Roth, Will Elder | Paper | parody, satire, cartoon | |
| Ulk (Practical Joke) | German | Germany | 1872–1933 | Hans Reimann, Kurt Tucholsky, Lyonel Feininger, Heinrich Zille | Weekly | Paper | Satire |
| Vanity Fair | English | US | 1859–1863 | Thomas Bailey Aldrich, William Dean Howells, Fitz James O'Brien, Charles Farrar Browne | Weekly | Paper | Satire, Political cartoons |
| Vim Magazine | English | US | Ca. 1898–? | Leon Barritt | Paper | Satire, Political cartoons | |
| Weekly World News | English | US | 1979–2007 | Bob Lind, Ed Anger, Ernie Colón | Weekly | Paper | Fake News, Tabloid |
| Wiadomości Brukowe (Paving News) | Polish | Poland | 1816–1822 | Towarzystwo Szubrawców (The Society of Rogues) | Weekly | Paper | Satire, Political cartoons |
| The Wits Magazine and Attic Miscellany | English | England | 1818-1818 | Thomas Rowlandson, George Cruikshank | Monthly | Paper | Humour |
List of humor magazines
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Active humor magazines
North America
Mad Magazine, originally launched as a comic book in 1952 by EC Comics and converted to a magazine format in 1955 to evade Comics Code restrictions, specialized in parody comics that critiqued consumerism, advertising, and institutional authority through visual satire and fold-in features.[6] Its circulation peaked at over 2 million copies per issue in the 1970s, reflecting mid-20th-century demand for irreverent humor amid post-war cultural shifts, but print publication of new content ended in 2019 following DC Comics' 2018 acquisition by WarnerMedia, with the publisher citing insufficient sales to justify ongoing production costs amid declining print media viability; subsequent issues reverted to reprints until full cessation.[7] While early issues under editor Harvey Kurtzman maintained broad, apolitical mockery of societal absurdities, later evolutions incorporated more pointed political commentary, though empirical analysis of content archives shows no uniform ideological dominance, countering claims of unchecked progressive influence by highlighting consistent anti-establishment themes across targets.[8] National Lampoon, founded in 1970 as a spinoff from the Harvard Lampoon by alumni including Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard, delivered countercultural humor through photo parodies, articles, and scripts that lampooned American institutions, achieving peak circulation of 1 million in the mid-1970s and spawning film adaptations like National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).[9] Publication ceased in 1998 after years of declining readership—from 850,000 in 1975 to under 100,000 by the 1990s—driven by market saturation, internal editorial disputes, and failure to adapt to cable TV competition that diluted demand for print satire; financial mismanagement, including overexpansion into merchandise, exacerbated the downturn.[10] Its content, rooted in 1960s-1970s irreverence, increasingly reflected left-leaning counterculture biases in topics like drug advocacy and anti-war pieces, yet sales data indicate closures stemmed from economic factors rather than cultural backlash, underscoring how ideological tilts did not insulate against broader industry contractions.[11] Crazy Magazine, published by Marvel Comics from October 1973 to April 1983 across 94 issues, served as a direct competitor to Mad with illustrated satires, celebrity parodies, and characters like Obnoxio the Clown, aiming to capture the black-and-white humor boom but folding due to stagnant sales below 100,000 copies per issue and Marvel's strategic pivot toward lucrative superhero color comics amid the 1980s direct market shift.[12] This era's humor magazine peak saw multiple entrants like Cracked (1958–2016 print), which mimicked Mad's format but ended amid digital disruption and ad revenue losses, with closure data revealing overreliance on newsstand distribution vulnerable to supermarket consolidations reducing shelf space for niche titles by 50% from 1970 to 1990.[13] Earlier precedents include Puck (1877–1918), America's first successful humor weekly with chromolithographed caricatures targeting Gilded Age politics and immigration, which succumbed to World War I paper shortages and rising costs that halved periodical profitability.[4] These cases illustrate factual drivers like technological transitions and distribution economics over ideological narratives, as diverse satirical voices—from Puck's pro-immigrant cartoons to Spy magazine's 1986–1998 elite-bashing—faded without evidence of suppression by rival cultural forces.[14]Europe
Le Charivari, an illustrated French satirical magazine, operated from 1832 to 1937, initially focusing on daily life caricatures after a 1835 ban on direct political satire shifted its emphasis to social critique through lithographs by artists including Honoré Daumier.[15] Punch, or The London Charivari, a British weekly founded in 1841, ran until 2002 after multiple closures and brief revivals, originating as mild Victorian-era humor that later incorporated political commentary; its circulation exceeded 175,000 weekly issues in 1948 but fell to approximately 33,000 by the early 1990s amid competition from television and evolving reader preferences for edgier satire.[16][17][18] Kladderadatsch, launched in Germany in 1848 amid relaxed censorship, continued as a weekly satirical publication until 1944, initially liberal in tone but adapting to political pressures over time while maintaining illustrated critiques of society.[19] Judy, or the London Serio-Comic Journal, a United Kingdom competitor to Punch established in 1867, ceased in 1907 after delivering caricatures and humorous sketches targeting everyday absurdities.[20] L'Assiette au Beurre, a French weekly with anarchist influences, appeared from 1901 to 1912, specializing in themed issues of stark visual satire on labor, politics, and inequality by contributors such as Théophile Steinlen.[21] Simplicissimus, a German satirical weekly started in 1896, published until 1967 with a suspension from 1944 to 1954, renowned for bold cartoons lampooning Wilhelmine-era bureaucracy and later societal shifts under artists like Thomas Theodor Heine.[22][23] Hara-Kiri, a French monthly satirical magazine begun in 1960, ended in 1970 following government bans for content deemed offensive, including mockery of national figures, paving the way for its successor.[24] Charlie Hebdo's initial run from 1970 to 1981 concluded due to insufficient revenue despite its irreverent cartoons and polemics, before a 1992 revival.[25]Asia, Africa, and Other Regions
In Asia, Unmad, a Bengali-language satire magazine published in Bangladesh, has been active since 1978, making it the longest-running of its kind in South Asia with a focus on political and social parody targeted at younger readers.[26] Aparanji, a Kannada-language humor publication in India, operates from Bengaluru and has issued monthly content since 1983, emphasizing linguistic wit and cultural commentary while marking 40 years of continuous print distribution in 2023.[27] In the Middle East, satirical outlets like Al-Hudood, an Arabic-language site with English editions launched in 2020, deliver Onion-style parody on regional politics and society, maintaining operations amid censorship challenges through digital formats that mimic magazine-style articles.[28] Latin America features The Clinic, a Chilean weekly satirical magazine founded in 1998, which combines investigative journalism with humor to critique government and elite institutions, sustaining print circulation alongside online presence as a hybrid media model.[29] Active humor-specific print titles in Africa remain scarce, with general publications like Drum incorporating sporadic satirical elements but shifting away from dedicated humor supplements post-1990s toward broader lifestyle coverage.[30]Defunct humor magazines
Europe
Le Charivari, an illustrated French satirical magazine, operated from 1832 to 1937, initially focusing on daily life caricatures after a 1835 ban on direct political satire shifted its emphasis to social critique through lithographs by artists including Honoré Daumier.[15] Punch, or The London Charivari, a British weekly founded in 1841, ran until 2002 after multiple closures and brief revivals, originating as mild Victorian-era humor that later incorporated political commentary; its circulation exceeded 175,000 weekly issues in 1948 but fell to approximately 33,000 by the early 1990s amid competition from television and evolving reader preferences for edgier satire.[16][17][18] Kladderadatsch, launched in Germany in 1848 amid relaxed censorship, continued as a weekly satirical publication until 1944, initially liberal in tone but adapting to political pressures over time while maintaining illustrated critiques of society.[19] Judy, or the London Serio-Comic Journal, a United Kingdom competitor to Punch established in 1867, ceased in 1907 after delivering caricatures and humorous sketches targeting everyday absurdities.[20] L'Assiette au Beurre, a French weekly with anarchist influences, appeared from 1901 to 1912, specializing in themed issues of stark visual satire on labor, politics, and inequality by contributors such as Théophile Steinlen.[21] Simplicissimus, a German satirical weekly started in 1896, published until 1967 with a suspension from 1944 to 1954, renowned for bold cartoons lampooning Wilhelmine-era bureaucracy and later societal shifts under artists like Thomas Theodor Heine.[22][23] Hara-Kiri, a French monthly satirical magazine begun in 1960, ended in 1970 following government bans for content deemed offensive, including mockery of national figures, paving the way for its successor.[24] Charlie Hebdo's initial run from 1970 to 1981 concluded due to insufficient revenue despite its irreverent cartoons and polemics, before a 1992 revival.[25]North America
Mad Magazine, originally launched as a comic book in 1952 by EC Comics and converted to a magazine format in 1955 to evade Comics Code restrictions, specialized in parody comics that critiqued consumerism, advertising, and institutional authority through visual satire and fold-in features.[6] Its circulation peaked at over 2 million copies per issue in the 1970s, reflecting mid-20th-century demand for irreverent humor amid post-war cultural shifts, but print publication of new content ended in 2019 following DC Comics' 2018 acquisition by WarnerMedia, with the publisher citing insufficient sales to justify ongoing production costs amid declining print media viability; subsequent issues reverted to reprints until full cessation.[7] While early issues under editor Harvey Kurtzman maintained broad, apolitical mockery of societal absurdities, later evolutions incorporated more pointed political commentary, though empirical analysis of content archives shows no uniform ideological dominance, countering claims of unchecked progressive influence by highlighting consistent anti-establishment themes across targets.[8] National Lampoon, founded in 1970 as a spinoff from the Harvard Lampoon by alumni including Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard, delivered countercultural humor through photo parodies, articles, and scripts that lampooned American institutions, achieving peak circulation of 1 million in the mid-1970s and spawning film adaptations like National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).[9] Publication ceased in 1998 after years of declining readership—from 850,000 in 1975 to under 100,000 by the 1990s—driven by market saturation, internal editorial disputes, and failure to adapt to cable TV competition that diluted demand for print satire; financial mismanagement, including overexpansion into merchandise, exacerbated the downturn.[10] Its content, rooted in 1960s-1970s irreverence, increasingly reflected left-leaning counterculture biases in topics like drug advocacy and anti-war pieces, yet sales data indicate closures stemmed from economic factors rather than cultural backlash, underscoring how ideological tilts did not insulate against broader industry contractions.[11] Crazy Magazine, published by Marvel Comics from October 1973 to April 1983 across 94 issues, served as a direct competitor to Mad with illustrated satires, celebrity parodies, and characters like Obnoxio the Clown, aiming to capture the black-and-white humor boom but folding due to stagnant sales below 100,000 copies per issue and Marvel's strategic pivot toward lucrative superhero color comics amid the 1980s direct market shift.[12] This era's humor magazine peak saw multiple entrants like Cracked (1958–2016 print), which mimicked Mad's format but ended amid digital disruption and ad revenue losses, with closure data revealing overreliance on newsstand distribution vulnerable to supermarket consolidations reducing shelf space for niche titles by 50% from 1970 to 1990.[13] Earlier precedents include Puck (1877–1918), America's first successful humor weekly with chromolithographed caricatures targeting Gilded Age politics and immigration, which succumbed to World War I paper shortages and rising costs that halved periodical profitability.[4] These cases illustrate factual drivers like technological transitions and distribution economics over ideological narratives, as diverse satirical voices—from Puck's pro-immigrant cartoons to Spy magazine's 1986–1998 elite-bashing—faded without evidence of suppression by rival cultural forces.[14]Asia, Africa, and Other Regions
In Asia, Unmad, a Bengali-language satire magazine published in Bangladesh, has been active since 1978, making it the longest-running of its kind in South Asia with a focus on political and social parody targeted at younger readers.[26] Aparanji, a Kannada-language humor publication in India, operates from Bengaluru and has issued monthly content since 1983, emphasizing linguistic wit and cultural commentary while marking 40 years of continuous print distribution in 2023.[27] In the Middle East, satirical outlets like Al-Hudood, an Arabic-language site with English editions launched in 2020, deliver Onion-style parody on regional politics and society, maintaining operations amid censorship challenges through digital formats that mimic magazine-style articles.[28] Latin America features The Clinic, a Chilean weekly satirical magazine founded in 1998, which combines investigative journalism with humor to critique government and elite institutions, sustaining print circulation alongside online presence as a hybrid media model.[29] Active humor-specific print titles in Africa remain scarce, with general publications like Drum incorporating sporadic satirical elements but shifting away from dedicated humor supplements post-1990s toward broader lifestyle coverage.[30]College and student humor magazines
Active
The Harvard Lampoon, established in 1876 at Harvard University, remains one of the most influential student-run humor publications, producing parodies of national magazines and books that have shaped American satirical traditions, including inspiring the National Lampoon in the 1970s.[31] As of 2025, it continues semi-annual print issues alongside online content, with recent tributes such as a New York Times feature honoring art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner, demonstrating its blend of campus irreverence and cultural commentary.[32] The magazine's student editors emphasize absurd, first-principles-driven sketches over partisan conformity, though its humor has occasionally critiqued both progressive campus orthodoxies and establishment figures.[33] The Yale Record, founded in 1872 and recognized as the oldest continuously published college humor magazine in the United States, operates through Yale University students who contribute articles, quizzes, and cartoons satirizing academic life and current events.[34] In 2025, it released content including a mock "68th Celin Award" announcement on September 23 and satirical pieces like "Perfect Leprechaun Brisket" on April 10, maintaining a digital presence with print editions that prioritize witty, apolitical absurdity amid Yale's elite environment.[34] Unlike many peers dominated by left-leaning narratives, the Record's longevity reflects a commitment to broad irreverence, occasionally targeting administrative overreach and student pretensions without ideological favoritism.[35] At Cornell University, The Cornell Lunatic, started on April 1, 1978, functions as a student-led outlet for print and digital humor, featuring essays, lists, and visuals mocking university policies and Ithaca's quirks.[36] Active into 2025, it sustains operations via crowdfunding for printing costs amid inflation, with recent editions like the Fall 2022 issue highlighting extraterrestrial-themed satire and campus cameos in media.[37] The publication's format encourages unfiltered creativity from contributors, countering academia's progressive tilt by including pieces that lampoon both "woke" excesses and conservative pieties, fostering ideological balance through equal-opportunity ridicule.[38] Other active examples include Northwestern University's Rubber Teeth, which in recent years has published satirical takes on dorm life and relationships via student submissions.[39] These magazines collectively sustain campus satire traditions, often navigating institutional biases by prioritizing empirical absurdities in student experiences over sanctioned viewpoints, though dedicated conservative humor outlets remain scarce in university settings.[40]Defunct
The Wisconsin Octopus, a student-run humor magazine at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, operated from November 1919 until its final retrospective issue in 1959, featuring satirical sketches, parodies of popular magazines, and campus commentary that honed skills for future professional satirists, including precursors to modern outlets like The Onion.[41][42] Its closure aligned with broader mid-century declines in print humor periodicals, amid waning student submissions and competition from emerging television comedy formats.[43] Duke and Duchess, Duke University's inaugural dedicated humor publication, appeared sporadically from 1933 but ran consistently from 1936 to 1951, incorporating satirical takes on university traditions and parodies such as a 1949 spoof of Life magazine coverage of homecoming.[44][45] Earlier 1950s humor supplements in The Duke Chronicle built on this tradition with targeted campus satire, though they faded as integrated features amid post-war shifts in student priorities toward academic and social activism over standalone parody.[45]| Magazine | Institution | Years Active | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State Froth | Pennsylvania State University | 1910–1985 | Nation's second-oldest college humor magazine; ended amid print media challenges including staff turnover and revenue shortfalls.[46][40] |
| The Orange Peel | University of Florida | 1940s–early 1960s | Focused on irreverent campus skewers; discontinued as funding dried up and student engagement waned in favor of protest-era outlets.[47] |