Regina's Dakota McFadzean not worrying, gets comics in Mad

A Regina-born cartoonist has realized a lifelong dream — getting his comic strips into the pages of Mad Magazine.

Dakota McFadzean says for him, Mad was a part of growing up — his dad read it, he read it and when he was home sick from school, his mom would buy him the latest issue.

He had always meant to submit some of his strips to the New York-based publication, known for covers featuring the gap-toothed Alfred E. Neuman and the catchphrase "What, me worry?"

The opportunity arose when he met Mad's art director at a comic book convention in the U.S.

When he got the news his work had been accepted, he literally cranked up the tunes and danced a little, said McFadzean, who lives in Toronto.

The issue with McFadzean's first cartoons should be on the stands by the end of the month.

"The title of the strip is Almost Perfect Universe and it's basically just a slightly better drawn version of my daily strips which I guess is fitting because it's those daily strips that kind of led to this opportunity," he told CBC News Friday.

McFadzean noted when he was growing up most youngsters could recite the names of sports figures but he could rhyme off the names of cartoonists for Mad Magazine.