William Gaines

William Maxwell "Bill" Gaines (March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992) was the American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics, and publisher of MAD, the popular illustrated satirical magazine, for over 40 years.

Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically important line of mature-audience comics.

He was posthumously inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame (1993) and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame (1997).