Posted in: Comics | Tagged: chip zdarsky, H2SH, jim lee, Segio Aragones

Chip Zdarsky Not Joking About Jim Lee/Batman Lateness In Mad Magazine

No, Chip Zdarsky not joking about Jim Lee's Batman #163 being so late in his guest edited Mad Magazine #h2sh

Published Thu, 22 Jan 2026 05:02:26 -0600

Article Summary

Chip Zdarsky refuses to mock Jim Lee for Batman #163's notorious delays in his Mad Magazine guest edit.
Batman #163 is set for release a year late, but no jabs about Jim Lee's tardiness will appear as a joke.
MAD About DC one-shot launches April 1, 2026 with Jim Lee and Chip Zdarsky leading the satirical charge.
Top writers and artists unite to roast, parody, and celebrate DC Comics in true MAD Magazine style.

Batman #163 is still scheduled for the end of March, a year after it was meant to have originally been published. And Chip Zdarsky, who is guest editing the April Fool's Day issue for the 1st of April, is not going to make any jokes about the lateness of DC's publisher, president and CCO Jim Lee on the title. And he's going to put it on the cover to make sure everyone knows it.

"DC is proud (and slightly concerned) to announce MAD About DC, a 64-page one-shot arriving April 1, 2026. Yes, April 1. And no, this isn't a prank—unless you count letting Chip Zdarsky run this thing as its Guest Editor a prank on the DC Universe itself. You'd have to ask Chip. "They say at DC there's nowhere to go but down after writing Batman, and, yeah, it's true," said Zdarsky. "It's very true." MAD About DC brings together an all-star lineup of writers and artists to lovingly roast, parody, and generally make a mess of the characters fans hold dear. "This project embraces the spirit of MAD Magazine in the best possible way," said Marie Javins, DC's Editor-in-Chief. "MAD has a long tradition of sharp, fearless satire, poking fun at everything, including DC, with real wit and craft. When Chip pitched a project that would roast the DC Universe, it was clear he could assemble the right team. These creators know our characters inside and out, which is why they can twist them in ways that feel both surprising and smart. That kind of playful irreverence is what MAD does best."

Sergio Aragonés with "A MAD Look at Comic Book Stores"
Jim Zub & Ramon Perez teaming for "Guy vs. Spy"
A brand-new DC Fold-In by Charles Soule & Ryan Browne
A parade of MAD-style parodies skewering the DC comic books you love, and a few you've always hated anyway, from Kyle Starks, Dave Johnson, Tini Howard, Mattie Lubchansky, Mark Waid, Ty Templeton, Rainbow Rowell, Vita Ayala, M.L. Sanapo, Mark Russell, Steve Lieber, Jeff Parker, Lukas Ketner, Gerry Duggan, Scott Aukerman, Mitch Gerads, Joanne Starer, Joe Quinones, Scott Snyder, Josh Williamson, Deniz Camp, Gail Simone, Colleen Doran, Joe Kelly, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Mariko Tamaki, Riley Rossmo, Al Ewing, PJ Holden, Shannon Wheeler, Leah Williams, Isaac Goodhart, Cody Ziglar, Daniele Di Nicuolo, Daniel Kibblesmith, Brandt&Stein, Casey Gilly, J. Bone, Skottie Young, Andrew Wheeler, Stephen Byrne, Colleen Coover, Benjamin Errett, Matt Fraction, Kagan McLeod, Lee Gatlin, Joseph Starkey, Graham Roumieu…and more?!

Covers by Dan Panosian, Simon Bisley and Chip Zdarsky.

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