Editing National Lampoon (magazine) (section)

==The magazine==
=== Publication history ===
''National Lampoon'' was started in 1969 by Harvard graduates and ''[[Harvard Lampoon]]'' alumni [[Douglas Kenney]], [[Henry Beard]], and [[Robert Hoffman (businessman)|Robert Hoffman]],<ref name=NYT2005>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/arts/03tapp.html|title=''National Lampoon'' Grows Up By Dumbing Down|author-link=Jake Tapper|first=Jake|last=Tapper|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 3, 2005}}</ref> when they first licensed the "Lampoon" name for a monthly national publication.{{efn|''[[The Harvard Lampoon]]'' established in 1876, was a long-standing tradition of the campus, influencing the later National Lampoon brand in its evolution from illustration-heavy publication to satirical wit, ranging from short fiction to comic strips.}} While still with ''The Harvard Lampoon'', in the years 1966 to 1969, Kenney and Beard had published a number of one-shot parodies of ''[[Playboy]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', and [[Time (magazine)|Time]] magazines;<ref name=NYT1969>{{cite news|title=National Laughs for Lampoon: What Harvard boys have hopefully been chuckling about for 93 years will be offered in March to a nation much in need of a laugh or two|department=Advertising|first=PHILIP H. |last=DOUGHERTY|date=November 24, 1969|page=75|work=The New York Times|url=https://nyti.ms/3TnfPCZ}}</ref><ref name=AVClub2013>{{cite news|title=How National Lampoon became the lost paradise and missing link of modern comedy|first=Phil|last= Dyess-Nugent|date=July 31, 2013|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|url=https://www.avclub.com/how-national-lampoon-became-the-lost-paradise-and-missi-1798239708}}</ref> they had also written the popular [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] parody book ''[[Bored of the Rings]]''.<ref name=AVClub2013 />

The ''National Lampoon''{{'}}s first issue, dated April 1970, went on sale on March 19, 1970.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109313936/national-lampoon-introduced/ |title=New publication is strictly for laughs|first=Diane |last=White|work=Boston Globe|date=March 11, 1970|page=3|quote=The first issue, which is devoted entirely to sex, will go on sale Mar. 19.}}</ref> Kenney (editor) and Beard (executive editor) oversaw the magazine's content, while Hoffman (managing editor) handled legal and business negotiations.<ref name=NYT1969 /><ref name=AVClub2013 /> After a shaky start, the magazine rapidly grew in popularity. Like ''The Harvard Lampoon,'' individual issues had themes, including such topics as "The Future", "Back to School", "Death", "Self-Indulgence", and "Blight". The sixth issue (September 1970), entitled "Show Biz", got the company in hot water with [[The Walt Disney Company]] after a lawsuit was threatened because of the issue's cover, which showed a drawing of [[Minnie Mouse]] topless, wearing [[pasties]].<ref name=Vulture>{{cite news|date=June 25, 2013|title=Big and Glossy and Wonderful: The Birth of the 'National Lampoon' Magazine|first=Ellin |last=Stein|work=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]|publisher=New York|url=https://www.vulture.com/2013/06/big-and-glossy-and-wonderful-the-birth-of-the-national-lampoon-magazine.html}}</ref>
 
[[Image:TeddyVWad.jpg|right|thumb|200px|''National Lampoon''{{'s}} fake [[Volkswagen Beetle]] print advertisement, originally published in the 1973 Anthology ''[[The National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor]]'' and created by Phil Socci, mocking [[Ted Kennedy]]'s [[Chappaquiddick incident]].]]
The magazine's finest period was from 1971 to 1975 (the point at which Beard, Hoffman, and a number of the original creators departed).<ref name=MVLNLS>{{cite web|url=https://www.marksverylarge.com/intro/|title=Introduction|website=Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Site|first=Mark|last=Simonson}}</ref> The ''National Lampoon''{{'}}s most successful sales period was 1973–75:{{efn|The publishing industry's newsstand sales were excellent for many other magazines during that time: there were sales peaks for ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' (more than 2 million), ''[[Playboy (magazine)|Playboy]]'' (more than 7 million), and ''[[TV Guide]]'' (more than 19 million).{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} }} Its national circulation peaked at 1,000,096<ref name=NYT2005 /> copies sold of the October 1974 "Pubescence" issue.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7410.html |date = October 1974 |title = National Lampoon Issue #55—Pubescence |access-date = July 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080723175712/http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7410.html |archive-date = July 23, 2008 |via=Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Website}}</ref> The 1974 monthly average was 830,000, which was also a peak.{{efn|Former ''Lampoon'' editor [[Tony Hendra]]'s book ''[[Going Too Far]]'' includes a series of precise circulation figures.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Tony Hendra|first=Tony|last=Hendra|title=Going too Far: the Rise and Demise of Sick, Gross, Black, Sophomoric, Weirdo, Pinko, Anarchist, Underground, Anti-establishment Humor |publisher=Dolphin Doubleday|date=1987|isbn=978-0-385-23223-4}}</ref> }}

Although the glory days of ''National Lampoon'' ended in 1975, the magazine remained popular and profitable long after that point. As some of the original creators departed, the magazine saw the emergence of [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]] and editor-in-chief [[P.J. O'Rourke]], along with artists and writers such as Gerry Sussman, [[Ellis Weiner]], [[Tony Hendra]], [[Ted Mann (writer)|Ted Mann]], Peter Kleinman, Chris Cluess, Stu Kreisman, [[John Weidman]], [[Jeff Greenfield]], [[Bruce McCall]], and [[Rick Meyerowitz]].

''National Lampoon'' continued to be produced on a monthly schedule throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s, and did well during that time.

A more serious decline set in around the mid-1980s: as described in a ''New York Times'' profile of the magazine from August 1984, "circulation of the magazine <nowiki>[</nowiki>had<nowiki>]</nowiki> fallen from a high of 638,000 to about 450,000. Publishing revenues were down to $9 million in 1983 from $12.5 million in 1981."<ref name=NYT1984>{{cite news|department=ADVERTISING|title= SINGLE SUBJECT FOR LAMPOON|first=Pamela G. |last=Hollie|date=Aug 7, 1984|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/07/business/advertising-single-subject-for-lampoon.html?smid=url-share}}</ref> 

In 1985, company CEO Matty Simmons took over as the magazine's editor-in-chief.<ref name=NYT1984 /> He fired the entire editorial staff, and appointed his two sons, Michael and Andy Simmons, as editors,<ref name=NYT2005 /> and Larry "Ratso" Sloman as executive editor. Peter Kleinman returned to the magazine as creative director and editor. That year, each monthly issue was devoted to a single topic, with the first being "A Misguided Tour of New York."<ref name=NYT1984 /> In November 1986, ''National Lampoon'' moved to a bimonthly schedule, publishing six issues a year instead of every month.

[[J2 Communications]] bought the magazine and its properties in 1990. In 1991, an attempt at monthly publication was made; nine issues were produced that year,<ref>{{cite news|title=National Lampoon Cuts Back|page=15 |work=The Comics Journal|number=145 |date=Oct 1991|department=Newswatch}}</ref> and cartoonist [[Drew Friedman (cartoonist)|Drew Friedman]] come on board as comics editor, introducing the works of [[Daniel Clowes]] and [[Chris Ware]] to a wider audience.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lampoon adds Friedman, Drops Sex|department=Newswatch|page=14|work=The Comics Journal|number=140 |date=Feb 1991}}</ref>

After this, J2 decided instead to focus on licensing the "National Lampoon" brand, exhibiting very little interest in the actual magazine, only publishing it sporadically and erratically. To retain the rights to the Lampoon name, J2 was contractually obligated to publish only one new issue of the magazine per year, so for the rest of the 1990s the number of issues per year declined precipitously. Only two issues were released in 1992.<ref>{{cite news|title=National Lampoon on Hiatus|page=26 |work=The Comics Journal |number=150 |date=May 1992 |department = Newswatch}}</ref> This was followed by one issue in 1993,<ref>{{cite news|title=National Lampoon Returns Again|page= 25 |work= The Comics Journal|number=158 |date=Apr 1993 |department=Newswatch}}</ref> five in 1994, and three in 1995. For the last three years of its existence, the magazine was published only once a year. The final issue was published in 1998.

In 2007, in association with Graphic Imaging Technology, Inc., National Lampoon, Inc. released a collection of the entire 246 issues of the magazine in [[PDF]] format. The cover of the DVD box featured a remake of the January 1973 "Death" issue, with the caption altered to read "If You Don't Buy This DVD-ROM, We'll Kill This Dog". The pages are viewable on both [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] (starting with [[Windows 2000]]) and [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] (starting with [[OSX]]) systems.

===Cover art===
The magazine's original art directors were cartoonist Peter Bramley and Bill Skurski, founders of New York's Cloud Studio, an alternative-culture outfit known at the time for its eclectic style. Bramley created the ''Lampoon''{{'s}} first cover and induced successful cartoonists [[Arnold Roth]] and [[Gahan Wilson]] to become regular contributors.

Beginning with the eighth issue, the art direction of the magazine was taken over by [[Michael C. Gross]], who directed the look of the magazine until 1974. Gross achieved a unified, sophisticated, and integrated look for the magazine, which greatly enhanced its humorous appeal.<ref name=Vulture /> A number of the ''National Lampoon''{{'s}} most acerbic and humorous covers were designed or overseen by Gross, including:
* Court-martialed [[Vietnam War]] mass-murderer [[William Calley]] sporting the guileless grin of [[Alfred E. Neuman]], complete with the parody catchphrase 'What, [[My Lai]]?" (August 1971)<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7108.html |title = National Lampoon Issue #17—Bummer |date = August 1971 |access-date = July 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080612141443/http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7108.html |archive-date = June 12, 2008 }}</ref>
* The iconic Argentinian revolutionary [[Che Guevara]] being splattered with a cream pie (January 1972)<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7201.html |title = National Lampoon Issue #22—Is Nothing Sacred? |date = January 1972 |access-date = July 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080612140529/http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7201.html |archive-date = June 12, 2008 }}</ref>
* [[Cheeseface|A dog]] looking worriedly at the muzzle of a [[revolver]] pressed to its head, with what became a famous caption: "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog" (January 1973): The cover was conceived by writer [[Ed Bluestone]].<ref name="marksverylarge_34"/>{{efn|"This month's superb cover idea was conceived by Ed Bluestone, and through skillful art direction and minimal interference from asshole editors, it became the tasteful entity you hold in your hands."<ref name="marksverylarge_34"/>}} Photographer Ronald G. Harris initially had a hard time making the dog's plight appear humorous instead of pathetic. The solution was to cock the revolver; the clicking sound caused the dog's eyes to shift into the position shown. This was the most famous ''Lampoon'' cover gag, and it was selected by [[American Society of Magazine Editors|ASME]] as the seventh-greatest magazine cover of the last 40 years.<ref name="marksverylarge_34">{{cite web | url=http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7301.html | title=National Lampoon Issue #34—Death | date=January 1973 | access-date=July 24, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720191946/http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7301.html | archive-date=July 20, 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.magazine.org/Press_Room/13806.cfm ASME Unveils Top 40 Magazine Covers] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208234224/http://www.magazine.org/Press_Room/13806.cfm |date=February 8, 2007 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.magazine.org/Editorial/Top_40_Covers/ ASME's Top 40 Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212114757/http://www.magazine.org/Editorial/Top_40_Covers/ |date=February 12, 2007 }}</ref> This issue is among the most coveted and collectible of all the National Lampoon's issues.
* A replica of the starving child from the cover of [[George Harrison]]'s charity album ''[[The Concert for Bangladesh (album)|The Concert for Bangladesh]]'', rendered in chocolate and with a large bite taken out of its head (July 1974)<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7407.html |date = July 1974 |title = National Lampoon Issue #52 - Dessert |access-date = July 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080723175648/http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7407.html |archive-date = July 23, 2008 }}</ref>

Michael Gross and Doug Kenney chose a young designer from ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' named [[Peter Kleinman]] to succeed the team of Gross and David Kaestle. During his'' Lampoon'' tenure, Kleinman was also the art director of [[Heavy Metal (magazine)|''Heavy Metal'']] magazine, published by the same company. The best known of Kleinman's ''Lampoon'' covers were "Stevie Wonder with 3-D Glasses" painted by Sol Korby,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://lampoon.rwinters.com/Lampoon1975.htm |date=July 1975 | title=National Lampoon 1975|website=National Lampoon Covers: 1970 - 1998|first=Robert|last=Winters}}</ref> a photographed "Nose to The Grindstone" cover depicting a man's face being pressed against a spinning grinder wheel for the ''Work'' issue, the "JFK's First 6000 Days" issue featuring a portrait of an old [[John F. Kennedy]], the "Fat Elvis" cover which appeared a year before [[Elvis Presley]] died, and many of the [[Mara McAfee]] covers done in a classic [[Norman Rockwell]] style. Kleinman designed the logos for ''[[Animal House]]'' and ''Heavy Metal.'' Kleinman left in 1979 to open an ad agency.

He was succeeded by Skip Johnson, the designer responsible for the ''[[Sunday Newspaper Parody]]'' and the "Arab Getting Punched in the Face" cover of the ''Revenge'' issue. Johnson went on to ''[[The New York Times]].'' He was followed by Michael Grossman, who changed the logo and style of the magazine.

In 1984, Kleinman returned as creative director and went back to the 1970s logo and style, bringing back many of the artists and writers from the magazine's heyday. He left four years later to pursue a career in corporate marketing. At that time, the ''National Lampoon'' magazine entered a period of precipitous decline.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |date=1986-07-31 |title=ADVERTISING; National Lampoon Going Bimonthly in '87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/31/business/advertising-national-lampoon-going-bimonthly-in-87.html |access-date=2025-01-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Staff and contributors===
The magazine was an outlet for some notable writing and drawing talents. [[Rick Meyerowitz]], a longtime contributor, broke down the magazine's talent in this fashion:<ref name="DrunkStoned">{{cite book|last1=Meyerowitz|first1=Rick|title=Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Writers and Artists Who Made the National Lampoon Insanely Great|date=September 1, 2010|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|location=Amazon.com|isbn=978-0810988484|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/drunkstonedbrill0000meye|url-access=registration}}</ref>
* The Founders: [[Doug Kenney]], [[Henry Beard]]
* Present at the Birth: [[Michael O'Donoghue]], [[George W. S. Trow]], [[Christopher Cerf (producer)|Christopher Cerf]], [[John Weidman]], Meyerowitz, [[Michel Choquette]]
* The Cohort: [[Arnold Roth]], [[Tony Hendra]], [[Sam Gross]], [[Sean Kelly (writer)|Sean Kelly]], [[Anne Beatts]], [[Charles Rodrigues]]
* The First Wave: [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]], [[Brian McConnachie]], [[Chris Miller (writer)|Chris Miller]], Gerald Sussman, [[Ed Subitzky]], [[P.J. O'Rourke]], [[Bruce McCall]], [[Stan Mack]]
* The Second Coming: [[M. K. Brown]], [[Ted Mann (writer)|Ted Mann]], [[Shary Flenniken]], [[Danny Abelson]] & [[Ellis Weiner]], [[Wayne McLoughlin]]
* The End of the Beginning: [[Ron Barrett]], [[Jeff Greenfield]], [[Ron Hauge]], [[Fred Graver]]

Other important contributors included [[Chris Rush]], [[Derek Pell]], Chris Cluess, [[Al Jean]], and [[Mike Reiss]]. The work of many important cartoonists, photographers, and illustrators appeared in the magazine's pages, including [[Neal Adams]], [[John E. Barrett]], [[Vaughn Bodē]], Peter Bramley, [[Chris Callis]], [[Frank Frazetta]], [[Edward Gorey]], [[Rich Grote]], [[Robert Grossman (artist)|Robert Grossman]], [[Buddy Hickerson]], [[Jeffrey Catherine Jones|Jeff Jones]], [[Raymond Kursar]], [[Andy Lackow]], [[Birney Lettick]], [[Bobby London]], [[Mara McAfee]], [[David C. K. McClelland]], [[Marvin Mattelson]], [[Joe Orlando]], [[Ralph Reese]], [[Warren Sattler]], Michael Sullivan, [[B. K. Taylor]], [[Boris Vallejo]], and [[Gahan Wilson]].

=== Features ===
====Editorials====
Every regular monthly issue of the magazine had an editorial at the front of the magazine. This often appeared to be straightforward but was always a parody. It was written by whoever was the editor of that particular issue, since that role rotated among the staff; [[Douglas Kenney]] had been the main writer of them for the first few issues. Some issues were guest-edited.

====True Facts====
"True Facts" was a section near the front of the magazine that contained true but ridiculous items from real life. Together with the [[Masthead (American publishing)|masthead]], it was one of the few parts of the magazine that was factual. As was explained in the introduction to the "True Facts" 1981 newsstand special, the "True Facts" column was started in 1972 by Henry Beard, and it was based on a feature called "True Stories" in the British publication ''[[Private Eye]]''. It was essentially a column of funny news briefs.

P. J. O'Rourke created the first "True Facts Section" in August 1977. This section included photographs of unintentionally funny signage, extracts from ludicrous newspaper reports, strange headlines, and so on.

In 1981 and for many subsequent years John Bendel was in charge of the "True Facts" section of the magazine. Bendel produced the 1981 newsstand special mentioned above. Several "True Facts" compilation books were published during the 1980s and early 90s, and several all-True-Facts issues of the magazine were published during the 1980s.

In the early 2000s, Steven Brykman edited the "True Facts" section of the National Lampoon [[website]].

====Foto Funnies====
Most issues of the magazine featured one or more "Foto Funny" or [[Photonovel|fumetti]], comic strips that use photographs instead of drawings as illustrations. The characters who appeared in the Lampoon's Foto Funnies were usually the male writers, editors, artists, photographers, or contributing editors of the magazine, often cast alongside nude or semi-nude female models. In 1980, a paperback compilation book, ''National Lampoon Foto Funnies'' which appeared as a part of ''[[National Lampoon Comics]]'', was published.

====Funny Pages====
The "Funny Pages" was a large section at the back of the magazine that was composed entirely of [[comic strip]]s of various kinds. These included work from a number of artists who also had pieces published in the main part of the magazine, including Gahan Wilson, [[Ed Subitzky]] and [[Vaughn Bodē]], as well as artists whose work was only published in this section. The regular strips included "Dirty Duck" by [[Bobby London]], "Trots and Bonnie" by [[Shary Flenniken]], "The Appletons" and "Timberland Tales" by [[B. K. Taylor]], "Politeness Man" by [[Ron Barrett]], and many other strips. A compilation of Gahan Wilson's "Nuts" strip was published in 2011. The "Funny Pages" logo header art, which was positioned above Gahan Wilson's "Nuts" in each issue, and showed a comfortable, old-fashioned family reading newspaper-sized funny papers, was drawn by [[Michael Kaluta]].