"[6] In 2021, musical parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic told the Washington Post, “I absolutely devoured every issue [of Mad], and Frank Jacobs was a big reason for that obsession.
I can’t swear that Frank’s work was my first-ever exposure to the art form of parody, but it was definitely the first time I had seen the craft approached with that much skill, wit and attention to detail.
Jacobs established numerous recurring features in Mad, including fabricated obituaries for fictional characters from various genres, and the "Do-It-Yourself Newspaper Stories" which offer a series of fill-in-the-blank options.
The titular hero is a ten-year-old boy, who joins an adult explorer on Vernacular Island, a place populated by bizarre and wonderful creatures such as the Standing Ovation, the Ill Omen, the Glowing Report and the Ugly Rumor.
The original Dial Press edition was illustrated by Edward Gorey, in a non-characteristic whimsical style unlike his usual gleefully dark drawings.
[15] Jacobs contributed to other magazines, including Oui, Playboy, Town and Country, New York, Sports Illustrated, Saturday Review, Punch and Signature.