THE ONLY HUMOR MAGAZINE EST. 1909
History
The Gargoyle is the official and premiere humor publication of the University of Michigan. We print two issues every fall and winter semester and distribute copies for free throughout campus. Our magazine features short stories, satire, illustrations, and comics.
​
The Gargoyle Humor Magazine, a.k.a The GMOAT (Greatest Magazine of All Time), a.k.a the inspiration for MAD, the Harvard Lampoon, and all humor publications across the country, was established in the storied year of 1909. Legend has it that the Garg was the light in a dark time, the savior of this country rivaling the other prevailing invention of the year, the airplane, with Lee A. Wright going down in the history books right next to and even above the Brothers Wright. Since then, the Gargoyle has been known as the premiere humor magazine not only in its hometown of Ann Arbor, but across the world, with billions of devoted readers flocking to Ann Arbor twice a semester in the hopes of picking up one of only 2,000 copies produced. This, naturally, has meant that the price of each magazine has risen exponentially over the years, despite the marxist nature of the organization, to the point where such devoted readers are willing to dole out millions for a single copy.
​
This was put into jeopardy, however, when in 1950, the Gargoyle was shut down for its most famous issue: "The Smooth Gargoyle." Protests raged across the world, leading to the infamous Ann Arbor Crusades of the 1950s and almost starting a third world war to decide the control of all previous issues. This was, luckily, halted when the Gargoyle resumed publication and began to be known as both a cultural and counterculture icon in a way no one ever thought possible. Few people know this fact, but the Gargoyle is actually the reason for both the US declaration of war in Vietnam and the US withdrawal from the Vietnam War. Since then, the Gargoyle has clashed with the Student Publications Board to stay open, with the loyal and extremely talented Garg staff winning out each time.
​
being Luke's father, from the memorable experience of finding out that one Garg writer was the father of another, and a host of other amazing historical figures. While the Gargoyle was much more selective in finding staff before, even turning down Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schultz, who then desperately drew Snoopy in a Gargoyle pose as a continued application to the Gargoyle, the Gargoyle prefers to practice free love nowadays, accepting everyone who's willing to contribute, whether funny or completely dull (you know who we're talking about).
​
The Gargoyle's contributions to American and even global history simply cannot be understated. Numerous photographs can be found of each and every world leader in history enjoying an issue of the Gargoyle, from satire-loving Woodrow Wilson to vulgarity-loving Mao Zedong. Every president since the Garg's inception, in fact, has wanted to have their presidential portrait depict them reading an issue, but for some reason or another, each one has been blocked by their artists, all of whom were rejected from the Garg in their heydays. It is a little known fact that Franklin Delano Roosevelt actually coined the phrase "The only thing to fear is fear itself" based on a highly memorable line in a piece about the biggest fears of freshmen. This country and even world truly wouldn't be where it is today without the Garg—that is, the positive parts of history.
​
Of course, the Gargoyle is known for its alumni. GargAlums have gone on to become heads of industry and state, innovators of art and culture, and even religious deities and prophets. Among these have been playwrights like Arthur Miller, who conceived the idea for "Death of A Salesman" from the unfortunate death of a Gargoyle Sales Manager during his fabulous tenure with the magazine, screenwriters such as Lawrence Kasdan, who thought up the most famous twist in history, the reveal of Darth Vader