# Cracked (magazine)
**Cracked** is an American humor magazine founded in 1958 by Major Magazines as a competitor to *Mad*, best known for its parody comics, its janitor mascot Sylvester P. Smythe, and its later transformation into [Cracked.com](https://www.edgepedia.org/cracked-com), a comedy website that far outgrew the print magazine in audience. The print title ran, with interruptions and ownership changes, from 1958 until 2007; the website continued under later owners.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First series | February/March 1958 to July 1985, 212 issues (#1–#212), color cover with black-and-white newsprint interior[1](https://www.comics.org/series/14478/) |
| Publisher sequence | Major Magazines Inc. and Major Magazines (together, issues #1–#212), Larken Communications (213–214), Globe Communications (215–341), then American Media and Mega Media[1](https://www.comics.org/series/14478/) • [2](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/cracked/4050-24925/) • [3](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/) |
| Mascot | Sylvester P. Smythe, a janitor counterpart to Mad's Alfred E. Neuman; readers voted him the middle name "Phooey" in 1998[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)) |
| 2006 relaunch | Full-color glossy in a lad-mag style, press run of 100,000, cover price $3.99[5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131) |
| End of print | The relaunched magazine folded in 2007 after three issues; the brand continued as the website[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com) • [7](https://www.comicsbeat.com/cracked-crumbles/) |
| Web traffic | From a few hundred thousand monthly unique users in 2007 to about 17 million uniques and 300 million page views per month[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com) |
## History
Cracked began in February/March 1958 under Major Magazines, which published the title through issue 212 in July 1985[1](https://www.comics.org/series/14478/). Ownership then passed in quick steps: Larken Communications issued numbers 213 and 214, with 213 the last to carry the title *Cracked Magazine*, and Globe Communications published issues 215 through 341[2](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/cracked/4050-24925/). Later issues came from American Media Consumer Entertainment and Mega Media Entertainment, which together produced 19 issues numbered 347 to 365 between August 2000 and November 2004[3](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/).
The American Media period ended badly. Publication was delayed in the fall of 2001 after the anthrax attack on American Media's Florida corporate headquarters; the delay cost the magazine shelf space at newsstands, and poor sales led to cancellation[3](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/). Dick Kulpa, a former *Weekly World News* editor, had bought the title from American Media in 2000, and in 2004 an investor group led by Monty Sarhan acquired the struggling magazine from him[5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131).
Sarhan's group formed Cracked Entertainment, Inc., based in New York, with Sarhan as Publisher and CEO[8](https://www.cracked.com/article_15430_investor-group-acquires-cracked-magazine.html). The company's press release described Cracked as continuously published since 1958 and the only surviving competitor of Time Warner's *Mad Magazine*[8](https://www.cracked.com/article_15430_investor-group-acquires-cracked-magazine.html). After a two-year hiatus, the revived magazine returned with a new website debuting in October 2005 and a first new print issue in August 2006[3](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/).
The revival was brief. Editor Jay Pinkerton announced that the print revival was folding while the brand continued as a website, refocused as a general comedy magazine rather than a magazine about comedy[7](https://www.comicsbeat.com/cracked-crumbles/). The relaunched magazine folded in 2007 after just three issues[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com).
## Format, content, and mascot
The original magazine was published in a magazine format with a color cover and a black-and-white newsprint interior[1](https://www.comics.org/series/14478/). Its content was built on parody comics that conspicuously copied *Mad*'s layouts and style[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)).
**Sylvester P. Smythe.** Cracked's cover mascot was a simpleminded, wide-cheeked janitor named Sylvester P. Smythe, positioned in the same gap-filler role that [Alfred E. Neuman](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-e-neuman)'s grinning face occupied at *Mad*[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)). A 1998 reader contest gave Smythe a full middle name, "Phooey"[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)). When Sarhan took over, he killed the last unpublished issue of the old format, replaced the masthead, and kept the traditional cover misspelling "Comedy Mazagine"[5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131).
The brand also extended into spin-off titles, including *Cracked Blockbuster*, *Cracked Collector's Edition*, *Cracked Monster Party*, and *For Monsters Only*[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)).
## Contributors
Cracked's cartoonist roster was anchored for decades by John Severin, its signature artist[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)). Mort Todd became editor in 1985 at age 23, and in 1987 the magazine made industry news by hiring Don Martin after Martin left *Mad* following a business dispute, ending a 32-year career there[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)).
In the 1990s Cracked benefited from the collapse of the *National Lampoon*, picking up editor Andy Simmons and former Lampoon contributors Ron Barrett, Randy Jones, and Ed Subitzky[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)). Under Kulpa the magazine lost financing, went bi-monthly, and Severin departed after being offered a pay cut[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)).
For the 2006 relaunch, Sarhan recruited writers for *Saturday Night Live* and *Chappelle's Show*, the satirical author Neal Pollack, and the actor [Michael Ian Black](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-ian-black), who was named editor-at-large of the relaunched magazine, aimed at an 18-to-34-year-old "adult comedy market"[5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131) • [9](https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/michael-ian-black-named-editor-at-large-as-cracked-returns-from-2-year-hiatus/).
## Ownership and the 2006 relaunch
The 2006 relaunch broke sharply with the magazine's own tradition. The new Cracked abandoned the pure illustrated format for a full-color glossy mixing feature material, with plans to return to monthly publishing and to expand into television, film, and Internet content[8](https://www.cracked.com/article_15430_investor-group-acquires-cracked-magazine.html). In appearance it resembled lad magazines such as *Maxim*, *Stuff*, and *FHM* rather than the old hand-drawn cartoon format, and it targeted 18- to 34-year-old males[5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131). The press release cited strong newsstand performance in the 1990s and a celebrity readership including [Stephen King](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-king) and [Jerry Seinfeld](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-seinfeld), with sales dropping after ownership changes and the switch to bi-monthly frequency[8](https://www.cracked.com/article_15430_investor-group-acquires-cracked-magazine.html).
The glossy relaunch failed commercially. After three issues the magazine folded in 2007, and the company's effort shifted entirely to the website[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com).
## Cracked.com and the digital pivot
The website predated the print relaunch, debuting in October 2005 as an ad-supported site carrying short humorous videos, drawing about 50,000 to 75,000 visitors a day at the time of the relaunch[3](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/) • [5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131). After print ended in 2007, the site grew quickly: in 2007 it had a couple hundred thousand unique users per month and 3 to 4 million page views, and by the time of a later interview it reported about 17 million monthly uniques and 300 million page views[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com).
Under owner Demand Media, around 2012, Cracked.com reported 7.3 million monthly unique users with a core age demographic of 18 to 34 and an audience split of 65 percent male and 35 percent female[10](https://web.archive.org/web/20120513061520/www.demandmedia.com/properties/cracked). The site's success rested on written comedy features rather than the comics format of the print magazine, and it eclipsed the publication it was named for.
## By the numbers
- **Print run:** 212 issues from 1958 to 1985, then issues 213–214 under Larken, 215–341 under Globe, and 19 issues (347–365) from 2000 to 2004 under American Media and Mega Media[1](https://www.comics.org/series/14478/) • [2](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/cracked/4050-24925/) • [3](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/).
- **2006 relaunch:** press run of 100,000 copies at a cover price of $3.99[5](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131).
- **Circulation versus Mad:** at its height Cracked's circulation might have been a third of *Mad*'s; at its nadir in the 2000s it fell to around 25,000 to 35,000 per bi-monthly issue, about one-eighth of *Mad*'s monthly circulation, which had peaked at over 2 million per issue in the mid-1970s[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)).
- **Web growth:** from roughly 200,000 monthly uniques in 2007 to about 17 million uniques and 300 million monthly page views[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com); 7.3 million monthly uniques reported under Demand Media around 2012[10](https://web.archive.org/web/20120513061520/www.demandmedia.com/properties/cracked).
## How it compares with Mad and other imitators
Cracked was among the oldest of the humor magazines that imitated *Mad* after that magazine's 1950s success, and its own publisher described it as the only surviving competitor of Time Warner's *Mad Magazine*[8](https://www.cracked.com/article_15430_investor-group-acquires-cracked-magazine.html). Its survival strategy in print was unglamorous: low pay rates, bundling into large publishing groups' distributor packages, and a monthly frequency while *Mad* published only 8 times a year[4](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine)).
The comparison inverted in the digital era. By 2010 *Mad*, amid company-wide cutbacks at Time Warner, had fallen to six issues per year, with its website still in beta, while Cracked.com was growing into a major comedy site[6](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com).
## References
1. [GCD :: Series :: Cracked, Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/series/14478/)
2. [Cracked (Volume), Comic Vine](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/cracked/4050-24925/)
3. [GCD :: Series :: Cracked (2000s series), Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/series/14480/)
4. [Cracked (magazine), CartoonWiki](https://cartoonwiki.toonsmag.org/wiki/Cracked_(magazine))
5. [In comeback, 'Cracked' vows crass comedy, NBC News/Reuters](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14348131)
6. [The (prat)fall of Cracked Magazine and the rise of Cracked.com, LAist](https://laist.com/podcasts/off-ramp/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-cracked-com)
7. [CRACKED crumbles, The Beat](https://www.comicsbeat.com/cracked-crumbles/)
8. [Investor Group Acquires CRACKED Magazine, Cracked.com press release](https://www.cracked.com/article_15430_investor-group-acquires-cracked-magazine.html)
9. [Michael Ian Black Named Editor-At-Large As Cracked Returns From 2-Year Hiatus, Adweek](https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/michael-ian-black-named-editor-at-large-as-cracked-returns-from-2-year-hiatus/)
10. [Cracked.com | Demand Media (archived property page)](https://web.archive.org/web/20120513061520/www.demandmedia.com/properties/cracked)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Periodicals and publishing › Magazines › Comics and manga periodicals › American comics magazines (non-superhero and general)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license