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It's highly doubtful that Alfred E. Neuman, the loveable gap-toothed mascot of Mad magazine, was based on a real person. But his origins, like all great comic-book heroes, remain shrouded in mystery. The best biographical resource we could find regarding Mr. Neuman was Don Markstein's remarkable Toonopedia. This "vast repository of toonological knowledge" features pithy entries on a jaw-dropping number of cartoon characters, from "Linda Carter, Student Nurse" to "The Flaming Carrot." As legend has it, Mad's founding editor Harvey Kurtzman had an old postcard featuring the loveable mug that he mistakenly thought was the original source of the character. The face made its Mad
magazine debut in 1954, and two years later portrait artist Norman Mingo's iconic visage was paired with the name Alfred E. Neuman. He had previously been dubbed other standard goof names like "Melvin Coznowski" or "Mel Haney." Interestingly enough, Alfred E. Neuman is the name of a real-life classical musical conductor, though this appears to be little more than coincidence. According to Markstein, variations on the face and name of Alfred E. Neuman had been circulating for many years before Mr. Neuman's Mad magazine debut. In fact, when the magazine was sued for infringement, it successfully defended itself by pointing out that the character had been around since the early 20th century. More recently, many have
noted his physical similarity to actual personages Prince Charles, Ted Koppel, and George W. Bush. But perhaps more telling is his resemblance to The Yellow Kid, America's first newspaper comic character.
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