From Wikipedia for those of you interested in the history of this great character:

Since his debut in Mad, Neuman’s likeness, distinguished by jug ears, a missing front tooth, and one eye lower than the other has graced the cover of all but a handful of the magazine’s 500 issues. His face is rarely seen in profile; he has virtually always been shown in full frontal view, directly from behind, or in silhouette. Harvey Kurtzman first spotted the image on a postcard pinned to the office bulletin board of Ballantine Books editor Bernard Shir-Cliff. “It was a face that didn’t have a care in the world, except mischief,” recalled Kurtzman. Shir-Cliff was later a contributor to various magazines created by Kurtzman.[1]

In November 1954, Neuman made his Mad debut on the front cover of Ballantine’s The Mad Reader, a paperback collection of reprints from the first two years of Mad. The character’s first appearance in the comic book was on the cover of Mad 21 (March 1955), as a tiny image as part of a mock ad. A rubber mask bearing his likeness with “idiot” written underneath was offered for $1.29.
First cover appearance of Alfred E. Neuman, on Mad #21

Neuman’s third appearance was in the illustrated border of the first magazine version of Mad #24 (July 1955) with his now-familiar signature phrase “What, me worry?” written underneath. Initially, the phrase was rendered “What? Me worry?” This border would be used for five more issues, through Mad #30 (December 1956).

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Filed under: Economy, Featured, Inside The KC, Politics, Sonja Eddings Brown by Sonja Eddings Brown, Sep 17, 2011