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For its first 23 issues, it was an EC comic book, published in full color with real ads, though the magazine adopted both some five decades later. Alfred E. Neuman was not yet the mascot, but made a few unnamed appearances.
The early issues (of the magazine format) were very different. The humor was "lighter and softer", the TV/movie satires were less biting, and most notably, they had contributions by famous humorists of the day (Bob and Ray, Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Andy Griffith, Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, etc.). It wasn't until the sixties until Mad gained the format it's most known for.
And even that changed again in the late 1990s, as the magazine became more PG-13 with often darker humor, more profanity, Toilet Humor, etc.
Some of the first Spy vs. Spy comics, including the two oldest ones, feature the Black Spy and White Spy foiling each others' schemes without killing each other. Also, it's gone from typical "cartoony" violence to sometimes Happy Tree Friends levels of Gorn.
Goofus and Gallant (from Highlights for Children) were originally drawn in a Brothers Grimm-esque setting with pointy elf ears. By the mid-1950s they had become human children in a contemporary backdrop, but there've still been many, many Art Shifts since.
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