Who knew? I didn't. But that's what Tom Hayden reveals, give or take a few details, in a blurb for "Students for a Democratic Society, A Graphic History," a new book due out in January from Hill and Wang. "My own radical journey began with Mad Magazine," he says, "so it feels great that SDS should enter the culture of comic folklore ..."
OK, it's only a blurb. But I believe him. And in one of those perfect coincidences that border on the paranormal, Harvey Pekar and Paul Buhle, who collaborated on the book with others, will discuss comics and politics at The Graduate Center, CUNY, on Monday -- Dec. 10 -- which also marks International Human Rights Day and the culmination of this year's Amnesty International Global Write-a-Thon. Pekar is best known for his comic book series "American Splendor." He's also the subject of the movie documentary with the same title. Buhle was the founding editor of the 1960s SDS magazine Radical America. They'll be joined in a panel discusion by Jeff Jones, an environmental activist who was a former SDS officer and one of the founders of the Weather Underground. Hayden won't be there, hélas.
Comic art has always fascinated me but Mad was always in a class by itself.