Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Bananas Magazine


Does anyone remember "Bananas" magazine by Scholastic? It was one of my favorite humor magazines growing up. It was edited by "Jovial" Bob Stine, who later went on to write the long-running and very popular "Goosebumps" book series under the moniker of R.L. Stine!

Anyway, "Bananas" lasted from 1975-1984 and published 72 issues, but about 15 or so assorted pocket-sized paperbacks, and annuals and specials.

"Mad" magazine Art Director Sam Viviano worked at "Bananas" before graduating to "Mad" and said that it was a fun place to work. When they canceled "Bananas", Scholastic allowed the magazine to return briefly as "Maniac", but the momentum was gone and "Maniac" was gone after six issues, even though it was basically the same magazine, albeit in black and white.

Scholastic of course produced a few other popular magazines including "Dynamite" and "Wow", but "Bananas" will always be the favorite of mine.

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