FOR THE RECORD
The obituary of Mad magazine cartoonist-illustrator Will Elder quoted Mad editor John Ficarra saying that Elder drew the illustrations for the magazine's "Superduperman" spoof. In fact, they were drawn by Mad artist Wallace Wood.

Also, an earlier version of a caption in the photo gallery accompanying the obituary identified an Elder drawing as being from the first issue of Mad magazine. It actually appeared in Mad issue No. 24, which was Mad's first issue published in a magazine format, according to Elder's son-in-law, Gary VandenBergh.

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"His artistic ability was unparalleled, but it was the sense of humor that he brought to it that really set him apart," Hugh Hefner, Playboy publisher and a fan of Elder's work since "the early days of Mad," told The Times on Friday. "He was a zany and a lovable one."

A Bronx-born World War II veteran, Elder was among a handful of cartoonists assembled in 1952 to launch Mad, which was founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William M. Gaines.

Originally a comic book that spoofed other comic books, Mad in 1955 became a magazine satirizing pop culture and American life.

"Will Elder was absolutely brilliant," Al Jaffee, a writer-cartoonist for Mad since 1958, told The Times on Friday. "He was the star from the beginning; he had a feel for the kind of satire that eventually spread everywhere."

Mad editor John Ficarra considers Elder to be "one of the funniest artists to ever work for Mad."

"He really brought a fresh approach to satiric comic illustration," said Ficarra, who worked with Elder in the '80s when the team of Elder and Kurtzman returned to Mad after they both left in 1956.

At Mad, Elder was known for his flawless draftsmanship and his flair for mimicking the visual styles of other comic book artists and drawing ad parodies with photographic precision.

But his trademark was the throwaway sight gags that he inserted into the cartoon panels: visual minutiae that he jokingly called "chicken fat."

During Elder's and Kurtzman's years at Mad in the '50s, Ficarra said, Kurtzman would write the stories and do rough pencil-sketches, which Elder would illustrate.

Ficarra said Kurtzman "was known for doing these elaborate layouts, where he'd pencil in what he wanted drawn in every frame and give that to Willie.

"If you think of these panels as sort of a bare Christmas tree, Willie would put on some ornaments, some balls, some tinsel. Then he'd start putting on some things you might not expect to see on a Christmas tree -- a bowling ball, an old sneaker, a frozen TV dinner -- so at the end, these panels would be jam-packed with visuals that were sort of incongruous to what was going on, but it really rewarded readers who paid attention.

"Frequently, I've heard from people who say, 'You really couldn't read one of Willie's stories in one sitting.' You had to go back and reread it several times because you always seemed to miss things."

While at Mad in the '50s, Ficarra said, Elder "did the illustrations for a take-off on Mickey Mouse called Mickey Rodent. He did Starchie instead of Archie. He did Superduperman, which is a real classic. For the people who grew up with Mad at this time period and even afterward, there is real affection for Willie and his artwork."

Which was, he said, "very subversive."

"He would do things like in the Superduperman parody, instead of the S shield he had a Good Housekeeping seal. And in the next panel he changed it to something else and then something else. There was constant playing with the reader."