Franklin Jacobs (May 30, 1929 – April 5, 2021) was an American author of satires, known primarily for his work in Mad, to which he contributed from 1957 to 2014. Jacobs wrote a wide variety of lampoons and spoof, but was best known as a versifier who contributed parodies of famous song lyrics and poems. In 2009, Jacobs described himself as "the least-known writer of hysterical light verse in the United States."
In 2021, musical parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic told the Washington Post, "I absolutely devoured every issue [of Mad], and Frank Jacobs was a big reason for that obsession. I can’t swear that Frank’s work was my first-ever exposure to the art form of parody, but it was definitely the first time I had seen the craft approached with that much skill, wit and attention to detail. Frank laid out the template for me — he irrevocably changed my DNA."
Jacobs appeared in the sixth chapter of PBS' comedy documentary, Make 'em Laugh: The Funny Business of America singing "Blue Cross", his own 1961 parody of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies". That lyric was one of 25 that were the subject of Berlin v. E.C. Publications, Inc., a precedent-setting case that was appealed to the Supreme Court and helped to define the boundaries of parody in American law.
Mad contributions
Bored by his work in a public relations firm, Jacobs found a copy of the magazine and thought "I can do this." When the firm folded Jacobs went to Mad.
Jacobs' first submission to the magazine, "Why I Left the Army and Became a Civilian," resulted in an immediate sale and a request for more material. It was one of five Jacobs pieces to appear in issue #33 (June 1957), marking a prodigious debut for the Mad contributor. His byline subsequently appeared in more than 300 issues of the magazine, second only to Dick DeBartolo among Mad writers who did not also illustrate their own work. Jacobs had more than 575 credits for the magazine, more than any other writer and second only to writer/artist Al Jaffee. At his peak, Jacobs was writing a fifth of the magazine's content. "My top year, I sold 60 pages... so you get an idea of the roll I was on," Jacobs told an interviewer.
Books and writings
Jacobs wrote 13 paperback books under the Mad imprint, including Mad for Better or Verse, a collection of poetry parodies, as well as the biography The Mad World of William M. Gaines.
Jacobs contributed to other magazines, including Oui, Playboy, Town and Country, New York, Sports Illustrated, Saturday Review, Punch and Signature.
At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, Jacobs received the Bill Finger Award <!--presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International--> for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.