If you grew up with a copy of MAD stuffed in your backpack, you probably remember the feet first. They didn't just walk; they folded. They were these long, floppy, pancake-thin appendages that seemed to have extra hinges where a normal human would have bones. That was the work of Mad Magazine Don Martin, a man who basically rewrote the rules of what a funny drawing was supposed to look like.
He was officially billed as "MAD’s Maddest Artist." Honestly, it wasn't just marketing fluff. While the rest of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" was busy lampooning politics or parodying movies, Martin was in his own universe. His characters—often named Fester Bestertester or Karbuncle—lived in a world where physical laws were more like suggestions. If a guy got hit by a safe in a Don Martin strip, he didn't just get a lump. He became the safe.
The Sound of a SHTOINK
You can’t talk about his work without mentioning the noise. Or, well, the written version of the noise. Martin was the undisputed king of onomatopoeia. He didn't settle for a generic "Bang" or "Crash." No, he needed something that felt like the actual texture of the disaster.
We’re talking about gems like:
- GLOUP: The sound of a giant eyeball being sucked out.
- SHTOINK: The definitive noise for a finger poke to the ribs.
- KREEEEE-GA-CHUNK: A complex mechanical failure involving at least three gears and a bucket of bolts.
- FLURP: Anything liquid hitting anything solid.
It’s kinda weird when you think about it. You’re reading a silent piece of paper, but your brain is actually hearing a PLORTCH because the drawing is so perfectly synced with the letters. There’s a legendary "Don Martin Dictionary" that fans have compiled over the decades, documenting thousands of these unique sound effects. It’s basically a linguistic study of stupidity.
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More Than Just Silly Noises
Beyond the sounds, there was the technical brilliance. Martin started as a fine artist. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and you can see that foundation in his perspective and line work. His early stuff for MAD in the late 1950s was actually much tighter and more detailed.
But as the 60s and 70s rolled on, he loosened up. The noses got bigger. The chins receded into the neck. The "hinged feet" became his calling card. He created Captain Klutz, a superhero who was so spectacularly incompetent that he made Inspector Gadget look like James Bond. Klutz wore his underwear on the outside of his suit—which, granted, most superheroes do—but he did it with a level of earnest clumsiness that felt deeply relatable to every awkward kid reading the magazine.
The Sad Breakup with MAD
Everything seemed fine until 1987. That’s when the relationship between Mad Magazine Don Martin and publisher Bill Gaines hit a wall. It’s one of those classic "artist vs. the machine" stories that leaves a bit of a sour taste.
Basically, it came down to ownership and money. Martin wanted a piece of the pie for all the reprints. For decades, MAD had been recycling his old strips into "Super Special" issues and paperbacks. Under the old-school "work for hire" rules, the magazine owned everything. Martin didn't get royalties. He didn't even own the original physical boards he drew on.
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After thirty years of being the face of the brand, he asked for a change in the contract. Gaines, who was notoriously stubborn about his business model, said no. So, Martin walked.
He moved over to Cracked, which was MAD’s perpetual "second-place" rival. They billed him as "Cracked’s Crackedest Artist," which felt a little like seeing your favorite quarterback wear the jersey of a team you hate. He continued to draw there for several years, but the vibe was never quite the same. The magic of the "Don Martin Dept." in the pages of MAD was gone, and the magazine definitely felt the void.
Why We Are Still Talking About Him in 2026
You might think a guy who drew people with floppy feet would be a relic of the past. But Martin’s influence is everywhere. You see it in the "rubber-hose" animation revival and in the surrealist humor of modern webcomics.
The reality is that Martin understood slapstick better than almost anyone since the silent film era. He didn't need dialogue. He could tell a three-page story about a man trying to open a jar of pickles that ended in a nuclear explosion, and you’d follow every second of it.
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What to do if you want to dive back in:
- Track down the "Completely MAD Don Martin" hardcover. It’s a massive two-volume set that weighs about twenty pounds and contains every single thing he ever did for the magazine. It's out of print, so you'll have to haunt eBay or used bookstores.
- Look for the old Warner Books paperbacks. These were small, pocket-sized collections like Don Martin Steps Out or Don Martin Cooks up More Tales. They are the best way to experience the art—cheap, slightly yellowed, and smelling like the 1970s.
- Check out his album covers. Before he was a cartoonist, he did stylized covers for Prestige Records, including work for Miles Davis. It’s a trip to see his "serious" art.
The best thing about Martin is that you don't need a PhD in satire to "get" it. You just need to appreciate the absurdity of a guy whose head turns into a giant thumb. He was a master of the "long walk for a short pier" gag, and honestly, the world could use a little more SHTOINK right now.
If you’re lucky enough to find an old issue of MAD from the 70s, flip to the middle. Look for the department with no title other than his name. Take a second to really look at how he draws a hand or a knee. It’s masterclass-level cartooning disguised as "low-brow" trash. Don’t just read the joke—look at the physics of the disaster.
Next Steps:
If you want to start a collection, look for MAD #208 (the Superman parody) or MAD #251 (Star Trek III). These contain some of his most iconic late-era work where his style was at its most elastic. You can also find high-resolution archives of his "Don Martin Dictionary" online to see the full list of his 1,000+ invented words.