MOUNTAIN COMICS #23 – MAD #242
Rob welcomes back fellow network all-star Max Romero to the cabin to discuss issue #242 of the soon-to-be-late(?), great Mad Magazine, featuring parodies of Return of the Jedi, The A-Team, Peanuts, and work by Don Martin, Mort Drucker, Paul Coker, and the Usual Gang of Idiots!
Check out images from this comic by clicking here!
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Thanks for listening!
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Not quite done listening, but wanted to comment: Strangely enough, all that humor about grown-up life was still funny when I was a kid, although it would probably be even funnier now. As kids, we didn’t fully get it, because we hadn’t experienced those things, but we were constantly watching grown-ups live their lives, either in real life or narrative, and I think we empathized to a great degree. At least, that’s how I remember it, and not just with humor from Mad magazine. I may be giving us too much credit.
I think Captain Entropy has a point: I remember seeing those ‘adult humor’ bits in Mad (and also Cracked and Crazy) and mostly getting them and finding them funny.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed your conversation about all things Mad; yes, Mort Drucker is an unparalleled genius, and yes, Jack Davis, Al Jaffee and Don Martin were nearly as brilliant, each in their own way.
As for Mad finally folding, or at least, no longer producing new material, yeah, it’s a bit sad to see it go, but like both of you, I haven’t purchased an issue of Mad or anything Mad-related (one of those countless pocketbook reprint collections) since my early high school years back in the first half of the 1980s. So I’m really in position to complain. I think it is a bit ridiculous, however, that the very potent Mad brand name was not better utilized in our current internet era, the way Cracked had a second online life (although that party’s more or less over now as well).
Love Don Martin. Love Dad jokes.
Bought Mad magazine now and then, usually when they were parodying something I loved. But pretty rarely as comics were always a bigger lure. But I did get the pocket books a fair amount. Perfect ‘back pocket’ reading.
I was never a big fan of Mad Magazine, but I appreciate the role it plays in American culture. It makes me wonder if there’s some other media outlet that fills that niche today, like The Onion or The Daily Show, but neither of those does quite the same thing. That just goes to show that Mad is a unique beast that will be hard to replace. Thanks for the great discussion, gentlemen.
What a fun show. I had a lot of Mads and Crackeds back in the day. At one point Don Martin left Mad and went to Cracked. It was the humor mag version of Kirby leaving Marvel for DC.
I loved Mort Drucker’s stuff in particular. The first Mad I bought was the issue where they parodied Superman The Movie. Or my Mom bought it for me. I couldn’t even read! But I had to have it because of the cover. The strange drawings of the cast of the movie confused me at the time. They looked funny, but why?
Years later, I was totally into Mad’s humor, and would often buy an issue of Mad and Cracked that parodied the same thing! As I see you did too Rob, since the Cracked you have in that great picture is also ripping on ROTJ!
Speaking of that picture, I love how the dog seems to actually be smiling too!
Chris
I had this issue, but like all my Mads and Mad books, I didn’t consider them part of my comics collection and being oversized, didn’t come with me when I left home for college. Result: They were probably thrown away when my mom sold the house.
My first issue was 226, the Superman II parody, and I realize that a lot of movies from the era, I had memories from sight unseen because I’d read the parodies (I know Star Trek The Motion Picture was one, Superman II was too, plenty of others).
I hope you’ll do that Cracked issue, as I read that book too.
I always hated Spy vs Spy. I could never follow it. Give me dialogue!
Dave Berg’s Lighter Side was always one of my favourite features when I was reading Mad regularly in the Seventies (the UK editions, with occasional local TV shows and satire). Love that guy Roger Kaputnik, he seemed so cool. I always assumed that by this time the Dave Berg stuff was reprint as rather than one subject it was cut-ups
The jungle Don Martín strip is a hoot. And that Frankenstein gag – I laugh even before I get to the dialogue. I’m not sure what a Dad joke is! The funnier ones, apparently.
The TV and film parodies always looked great but were so mannered… person explains who they are and the cliches of the show or film, so by the time the joke comes it’s been smothered by the contrived route to arrive at it.
Regarding the Fold-Ins, I would never ruin my copy by folding – so the Fold-In in became a Bend-in. Genius work from Al Jaffee. (I’ve only just learned from Wikipedia that it was a play on Playboy Foldouts – that’s pretty clever, did anyone work that out on their own?)
Ah, Mountain Comics! It’s how you know it’s Summer! Okay, fine, there are other reasons. But, still: this is always a great show. And, strangely coincidental this time around for me, too. Last year, my uncle gave me a stack of Mad Magazines that he had laying around. They were mostly from the early two mid-80s, and loa nd behold, this very issue was among them! I also happen to have the next issue, which features “Superman III” on the cover, just in case Rob and Chris need that for future podcasting research…
Martin, I never made that connection, but I also became a fan of the Bend-In technique once I got old enough to take care of my ephemera (eight?).
MAD was such an important foundation in shaping my sense of humor and healthy cynicism about the commercial world! As others have stated, it gradually fell away from my “must buy” list. I can’t even say for sure if I have this issue. There are MANY issues that I can positively state that I have! Not too many months ago, I had an urge to track down a piece that had bobbed up to the surface of my memories. Using the internet, I was able to determine which issue I wanted, and I easily found it up the the MAD stack in my attic. As I was retrieving that particular one, the covers of most of the rest unleashed tremendous memories of their contents! From my vantage point now, I wonder if my disinterest in MAD was a result of my disinterest in popular TV shows and movies. MAD had taught me how to see through the bullshit of television and Hollywood, so I had less interest in their products and no particular interest in seeing them parodied. I’ll go back to the attic this week and see what the last issue in my collection is.
Mort Drucker was a magnificent genius. Not only for his accuracy and speed, but for the little “cartoon-y” people that he would put into panels! He, Norman Mingo, Angelo Torres, Don Martin, Al Jaffe, Dave Berg (I liked his stuff!), even George Woodbridge, were my favorite artists! Dick DeBartolo should have earned a Mark Twain prize for his writing for MAD. Like Rob, I couldn’t stand Porges, or Duck Edwing. Their stuff looked so sloppy compared to everything else.
As I am writing this, it is the Equinox, and that means the end of summer and no more trips to the Poconos here at F & W! Can I come to the cabin next summer, Rob?
I checked my MAD collection. This issue is the last one in my run. I must have bought it for the Star Wars parody, because the three or four issues preceding it are not in my collection. So, this is where I officially “outgrew” MAD. I sure had fun flipping through my collection, though! The Super Specials were a great deal, especially the ones that included the old full color EC Comics MAD reprints!