The first issues of MAD were in comic form, not magazine. Other than that (and the fact that they are in color) not much changed. Artists and writers were the same. Both even had William Gaines as editor.
However, the most glaring diffrence in these MAD’s are that they aren’t funny. I mean how many Melvyn jokes can one man take or make. The straight on parodies which occur more frequently after issue 3 are the best parts. Art is amazing. The 2 written word stories per issue, are awful and to be avoided at all costs.