Cracked Magazine (Revival)

Cracked is an American humor magazine and is a revival of the original run of the magazine that ran from March 1958 to November 2004, which proved to be the most durable of the many publications to be launched in the wake of Mad magazine.

In print, Cracked conspicuously copied Mad 's layouts and style, and even featured a simpleminded, wide-cheeked mascot named Sylvester P. Smythe on its covers (see Alfred E. Neuman). The Smythe character was referred to as Cracked 's janitor. Unlike Neuman, who appears primarily on covers, Smythe sometimes spoke (He talks more often in the revival) and was frequently seen inside the magazine, interacting with parody subjects and other regular characters. A 1998 reader contest led to Smythe finally getting a full middle name: "Phooey."



Issues
See main article:Cracked Magazine (Revival)/Issues

Articles and features
A typical issue of Cracked included two TV or movie parodies illustrated by.

The magazine would sometimes include attention-grabbing giveaways inside its pages, such as iron-ons, stickers or postcards.

Recurring Features

 * Nanny Dickering: A buxom interviewer who would "interview" all sorts of subjects.
 * "Shut-Ups": A two-panel comic. The first panel presents one person in a scenario, while the second has another person respond with a quip beginning with "Shut up and..."
 * Sagebrush: An Old West-themed comic,originally created by John Severin.
 * The Cracked Lens: Still shots from various movies and TV shows, with witty captions added by the editors.
 * Spies and Sabs: Miniature drawings of stereotypical "cloak and dagger" type spies; unlike Spy vs. Spy, these were inserted into various situations with witty commentary.
 * Hudd & Dini: A gag comic about two prisoners trying to escape.
 * The Talking Blob:
 * The Uggly Family:
 * Mr. Precious:A cartoon cat created by Ed Steckley, who would meet an untimely death in each installment.
 * Cracked Movies:Crossovers featuring Cracked's original characters (Sylvester P. Smythe, interviewer Nanny Dickering, cowboy Sagebrush, and the Talking Blob) going on various adventures

New Features based on Cracked.com's Web series

 * "Agents of Cracked" – Michael Swaim and Daniel O'Brien portray fictionalized versions of themselves and their bizarre experiences while writing for Cracked. (November 2009 – July 2011)
 * "After Hours" – Soren Bowie, Daniel O'Brien, Michael Swaim, and Katie Willert share a meal at a diner (at first, the Village Grille, and later, the Los Feliz Café) and discuss a pop culture issue. (July 2010 – December 2017)


 * "Honest Commercials" – Jack Hunter portrays Roger Horton, a businessman who promotes products of his various companies with brutal honesty. (September 2012 – December 2017)

International Versions
Each version consisted mostly of reprinted material from the American magazine edited to localize spelling and pop-culture references but also has some exclusive content.


 * Cracked (US)
 * Blighty:Cracked for Brits (UK)
 * Dummkopf:Geknackt für Deutschland (Idiot:Cracked for Germany) (Germany)
 * Pancada:Rachado Para o Brasileiros/Brasileiras (Punch:Cracked for Brazilians) (Brazil)
 * Crickey:Cracked for Aussies (Australia)
 * Stupid:Cracked for Kiwis (New Zealand)
 * Eh!:Cracked for Canadians (Canada)
 * Panikk: Knekt for Nordmenn (Panic:Cracked for Norwegians)
 * Bonkers : Cracked pour les Français (Bonkers: Cracked for the French) (France)
 * Ehi: Craccato Per Gli Italiani (Hey:Cracked for Italians) (Italy)
 * Brjálaður: Klikkaður Fyrir Íslendinga (Crazy:Cracked for Icelanders) (Iceland)
 * 変な:割れた にとって 日本語 (Hen'na:Wareta Ni totte Nihongo/Weird:Cracked for Japanese) (Japan)

Magazines

 * Cracked
 * Biggest Greatest Cracked
 * Cracked Blockbuster (Comes out during summer)
 * Cracked Collector's Edition
 * Cracked Monster Party (Comes out during Halloween)
 * Cracked Stocking Stuffer (Comes out during Christmas)
 * Giant Cracked
 * Super Cracked
 * NolstagiCracked - Mostly dedicated to TV shows, Movies and trends from the 70's,80's,90's and 00's (Comes out bi-monthly).
 * Cracked Spaced Out

Specials

 * Cracked Special Edition
 * Cracked Summer Special (Also known as "Tropically Cracked")
 * Another Cracked Special
 * Cracked End of Year Special

Books/Annuals

 * Biggest Greatest Super Giant Cracked Blockbuster:Collector's Edition (Also known as "Extremely Cracked")
 * The Do It Yourself Cracked
 * Cracked's Most Wanted (Known as "Infamous Cracked" in Europe)
 * Cracked 101
 * The Good,The Bad & Cracked (Also known as "Cracked Goes West" and "Cracked Rides Again")
 * Cracked World Tour (Known as "Cracked World Party" in Britain, Australia and New Zealand)
 * A Cracked Showcase on Sylvester P. Smythe:The Cracked Janitor
 * A Cracked Showcase on Nanny Dickering:The Buxom interviewer
 * A Cracked Showcase on Sagebrush:The Wildest Cowboy of The West
 * A Cracked Showcase on The Talking Blob:The Deadly Gelatinous Omnivore
 * A Cracked Showcase on Hudd and Dini:The Two Convicts At Large
 * A Cracked Showcase on Spies and Sabs:The Cynical Saboteurs & Investigators
 * Cracked After Hours
 * Cracked Takes Hollywood
 * Cracked Leftovers
 * Cracked Shut Ups
 * Cracked Honest Commercials
 * Cracked In Your Face
 * Cracked Unleashed
 * Agents of Cracked
 * Cracked Goes Forth (Also known as "Cracked Goes To War")
 * Night of The Living Cracked

Writers
Greg Grabianski

Live Stage Show
See Main Article:Musically Cracked

In issue 7, Cracked announced that they were going to team up with TBA and work on a musical based on the magazine and the website's Web series called "Musically Cracked". The musical opened in November to positive reviews.