National Lampoon magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during the 1970s, when it had a far-reaching effect on American humor and comedy.

Its issues often had long and short written pieces, a section of actual news items (dubbed "True Facts"), cartoons, and comic strips.

As Teddy Wayne described it, "At its peak, the [National Lampoon] produced some of the bleakest and most controlled furious humor in American letters.

The characteristic humor of Spy magazine, The Onion, Judd Apatow, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert were all influenced by National Lampoon.

Like The Harvard Lampoon, individual issues had themes, including such topics as "The Future", "Back to School", "Death", "Self-Indulgence", and "Blight".

O'Rourke, along with artists and writers such as Gerry Sussman, Ellis Weiner, Tony Hendra, Ted Mann, Peter Kleinman, Chris Cluess, Stu Kreisman, John Weidman, Jeff Greenfield, Bruce McCall, and Rick Meyerowitz.

In 1991, an attempt at monthly publication was made; nine issues were produced that year,[16] and cartoonist Drew Friedman come on board as comics editor, introducing the works of Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware to a wider audience.

[17] After this, J2 decided instead to focus on licensing the "National Lampoon" brand, exhibiting very little interest in the actual magazine, only publishing it sporadically and erratically.

In 2007, in association with Graphic Imaging Technology, Inc., National Lampoon, Inc. released a collection of the entire 246 issues of the magazine in PDF format.

The cover of the DVD box featured a remake of the January 1973 "Death" issue, with the caption altered to read "If You Don't Buy This DVD-ROM, We'll Kill This Dog".

The magazine's original art directors were cartoonist Peter Bramley and Bill Skurski, founders of New York's Cloud Studio, an alternative-culture outfit known at the time for its eclectic style.

Bramley created the Lampoon's first cover and induced successful cartoonists Arnold Roth and Gahan Wilson to become regular contributors.

He was succeeded by Skip Johnson, the designer responsible for the Sunday Newspaper Parody and the "Arab Getting Punched in the Face" cover of the Revenge issue.

The work of many important cartoonists, photographers, and illustrators appeared in the magazine's pages, including Neal Adams, John E. Barrett, Vaughn Bodē, Peter Bramley, Chris Callis, Frank Frazetta, Edward Gorey, Rich Grote, Robert Grossman, Buddy Hickerson, Jeff Jones, Raymond Kursar, Andy Lackow, Birney Lettick, Bobby London, Mara McAfee, David C. K. McClelland, Marvin Mattelson, Joe Orlando, Ralph Reese, Warren Sattler, Michael Sullivan, B. K. Taylor, Boris Vallejo, and Gahan Wilson.

[citation needed] In 1978, after the huge success of National Lampoon's Animal House, the company shifted focus from the magazine to NL-produced films.

According to Tony Hendra, "...Matty Simmons decided this particular goose could lay larger, better quality gold eggs if it emulated what he saw as Animal House, by which he meant adolescent....

Upstart video distributor Vestron Inc. attempted a takeover bid in December of that year, but board members rejected the offer.

[38] A short time later, the company board "agreed to be acquired by a Los Angeles-based group of private investors in a deal valued at more than $12 million.

On December 29, 1988, film producer Daniel Grodnik and actor Tim Matheson (who played "Otter" in the magazine's first big hit, the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House) filed with the SEC that their production company, Grodnick/Matheson Co., had acquired voting control of 21.3 percent of National Lampoon Inc. stock and wanted to gain management control.

Although the licensing deals salvaged the company from bankruptcy,[47] many believe it damaged National Lampoon's reputation as a source of respected comedy.

[2] In 2002, the use of the Lampoon brand name and the rights to republish old material were sold[50] to a group of investors headed by Dan Laikin and Paul Skjodt.

[2] Laikin aimed to revive the brand's heyday spirit, engaging original contributors like Matty Simmons and Chris Miller.

Amid chaotic office scenes, Laikin's inclusive hiring fostered camaraderie but struggled to attract top talent.

Starring John Belushi and written by Doug Kenney, Harold Ramis, and Chris Miller, it became the highest-grossing comedy film of that time.

Many of these were unrelated projects because, by that time, the name "National Lampoon" could simply be licensed on a one-time basis, by any company, for a fee.

An article from The Atlantic describes how Animal House captures the struggle between an "elitist [fraternity] who willingly aligned itself with the establishment, and the kind full of kooks who refused to be tamed.

"[63] That concept was a crucial element of the original National Lampoon magazine, according to a New York Times article concerning its early years and co-founder Douglas Kenney's brand of comedy as a "liberating response to a rigid and hypocritical culture.

and Stiggs (1987) was based on two characters who had been featured in several written pieces in National Lampoon magazine, including an issue-long story from October 1982 entitled "The Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C.

Although two of Animal House's co-writers were the Lampoon's Doug Kenney and Chris Miller, Up The Academy was strictly a licensing maneuver, with no creative input from Mad's staff or contributors.

The film was described by a 2018 New York Times article as a "snapshot of a moment where comedy's freshest counter-culture impulse was gleefully crass and willfully offensive."