I have been meaning to do this for quite some time honestly. I wanted to see if I could get a good review out of a Mad Magazine because I would read it and Cracked and even the occasional Crazy I would find at the Second Page Bookstore (or other places). They would show up what felt like randomly (I would find out that they would only publish like six issues a year instead of twelve.) at my local Sobeys. I would always try to get a issue but getting something from my mom when she just wants to buy groceries and leave was hard. Especially when I'd end up getting several movie/game rentals like five minutes later. I picked this issue because well it's 1990s and I like that decade and more importantly this was one of the issues I had as a kid. If this works out (and even if it doesnt lol) look for more reviews of Cracked Magazine and Crazy! It'll be fun! Maybe!
Mad Magazine started in 1953. It was originally a comic book that lasted for about twenty three issues. William Gaines the publisher of the magazine also published the original Tales of the Crypt comics and they were not very well liked by parents in the 1950s. They caused a uproar and even got them in court! That started the Comics Code Authority which Gaines thought was dumb horse shit but it happened and pretty much ruined Tales of the Crypt and other such magazines. Gaines stopped making comics but turned Mad into a magazine. Which was a great thing because a lot of people who have been working on COMEDY GOOD TIMES like Simpsons writers and Weird Al Yankovic sight Mad Magazine as an inspiration to them. If Frederic Wertham's HORSE SHIT had taken Weird Al away from us then I don't know what I would have done! IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN PRETTY! Mad Magazine chugged along for like 60 something years until it ended in around 2019 or so. Just reprints since, BUT they did make a Mad About DC one shot full of new material so who knows maybe they might come back. The world feels wrong without Mad Magazine.
I picked this issue for one other reason, I wanted to talk about the weird kids in the school I went too. I was of course one of them (I'm almost forty one years old and I'm talking about Mad Magazine to an audience of like three people, don't act surprised that I was a weird child and am a weird adult) but there were others. There was Tim who I would pick on and now feel bad about it becuase I was also picked on. Sad how that happens. He was very angry and small. I do not want to get into his more recent history because Uh, it's not good. There was one other kid named Michael So, he was a Asian child who would steal my lunch bag every single day. I would have to go over to his seat and get it. I don't know if he wanted to me to sit there or what but I WAS A SAUCY LONER AT THAT POINT OTHER MICHAEL. The reason he connects so well to this issue is because our school had some rails on it and he would get on them and SING the Celine Dion song MY HEART WILL GO ON from the movie Titanic. I hope he is doing well and still sings Celine Dion whenever he can. I just thought you should know about him.
Like the Firestorm review this was started on May the Fourth. The Star Wars Day thing. Or at least the Star Wars day Disney made. I dunno. Anyway let's see what the USUAL GANG OF IDIOTS did this month in 1998! It starts off with the biggest movie of the 1990s or at least the one that made the most money, Titanic, they call it TRYPANIC here and I laughed. The movie was like 5 hours long and was pretty alright I guess. The artist is doing the usual characatritures of the actors and it's pretty good, I don't remember most of the cast of Titanic very well but the three people I remember (Rose, Leo and Billy Zane) are rendered pretty well. They also call out the character of Rose for throwing away that fucking medallion she got in the movie. AND THERE WAS CLEARLY ENOUGH ROOM FOR LEO ON THAT DAMN DOOR THEY FLOATED ON. Man Titanic was a bunch of fuckin hooey!! BUT it did have one of those cool two vhs tapes vhs rental and I love those! I am a simple man who likes simple things.
The next thing was a Monroe comic. I don't know how long this lasted but I kinda love how its drawn. Everyone is kinda gross looking. I remember the one joke the strip had was that Monroe was HORNY and wanted to SEX UP A GIRL and NEVER COULD. There's something about PROM MOM magazine. Was that a big thing in the 1990s? I was thirteen when this magazine came out so I don't know. The next thing was a mix up of GENERATION X and the X-FILES and I don't really get it. I never saw the X-Files (yes I know) and I was not Generation X. The arts fine but I liked the stuff the guys who did the Titanic parody better.
The next bit was a comic by DUCK EDWING which is a great name. It was an amusing one page comic about some RICH ASSHOLE who even gets paid after death! A pay per view coffin! I guess people wanted to make sure the bastard was dead! Now we get a piece of art from SERGIO ARAGONES who I love and everyone else should love. There's something inherently amusing about his art and these comics about Las Vegas and gambling. It's good to know that Sergio is alive and well at 88 years young. I hope he lives another 88 years! Next is WHOS WHO OUTSIDE THE TODAY SHOW WINDOW and one of the people is GENE SHALIT who was a movie reviewer and more importantly a GOOFY MAN with a GOOFY MUSTACE. A baby puked on him. It also has AL ROKER famous for being a weather man and also REALLY FAT. I don't think he's fat anymore. Kinda like John Goodman. I mean it's good for their health but IT JUST FEELS WEIRD that they aren't fat anymore you know?
The next bit was BODY MODICATION stuff of the future. I wish 2023 had PIRATE COOL where we ROLLED AROUND ON LIKE PIRATES. The art here reminds me of BASIL WOLVERTON but isn't drawn by him becuase he died in like 1979 or something. The next bit is one of two bits (I missed the other one) about BILL CLINTON being a DIRTY OLD MAN and having sex in the OVAL OFFICE. it's how many bimbos can you find in this OVAL OFFICE PICTURE. I can see at least 10 but an extra two outside just WAITING to get in for SLICK WILLY'S PENIS. I miss this time even though I never got the jokes at the time because I WAS A WEIRD CHILD OKAY. The next bit is a MADTV VS SNL bit where they sass SNL, I think everyone just likes to sass SNL more than they actually like SNL. I also like that MAD Magazine makes fun of MAD TV and even the Magazine you are reading and even you for reading the Magazine. You gotta kinda respect those willing to make fun of themselves and the person reading the magazine. The next bit is some weirdly drawn crap about how stuff costs too much.
The next bit is drawn by MORT DRUCKER and is pretty great, a bunch of letters to Hanson. One's from RICHARD SIMMONS telling them they are TOO GAY. The Backstreet Boys also send them a letter declaring their intentions to START A RUMBLE behind TIGER BEAT magazine. They said they TEEN HUNK WORLD isn't big enough for all of them. I wonder what Hanson are doing these days? The bit after this is something called MELVIN and JENKINS that I SKIPPED becaues it's like GOOFUS and GALLANT and ONLY HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE CAN DO THAT KINDA THING. DON'T TEMPT ME ON THAT MAD MAGAZINE!!! The next part was about SPY VS SPY, did you know that the original SPY VS SPY guy, who was originally BIG IN CUBA until COMMIE ASSHOLE FIDEL CASTRO ruined it for him. He left for America after being accused of being a spy because he wasn't a fan of SHITTY THINGS FIDEL CASTRO DID and he turned that accusation of being a spy into a comic strip that he did from 1960 to 1986. He drew 241 Spy Vs Spy comics over the years. He had terrible english language skills but still created a big piece of Mad Magazine. I'm pretty sure they still did Spy Vs Spy stuff until the magazine stopped!
They sass POP UP VIDEOs next. I can't beleive that was a thing that lasted so long. I don't think I ever really watched it or cared? I just wanted to listen t othe music? I dunno. I bet portnoyd LOVED Pop up Video. They make fun of AL GORE and BETTING ODDS on how he will die and then we end the magazine with a AL JAFFEE Mad Magazine Fold in. I was never very good at actually folding them in but man I gotta give Mr. AL JAFFEE credit, dude worked at made for like 70 years and drew a Fold in for like at least 500 issues of the magazine! Always very good art. I like the joke from the Simpsons about Marge's friend in Jail having a MAD FOLD IN TATTOO on her back. The Simpsons used to be so good.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I had a delightful time revisiting this magazine and would love to do a revisit of CRACKED and CRAZY magazines I had as a kid. I get the feeling CRACKED will not be as good as LIL' CLAW thought but we will see. Portnoyd will probably sass Spy Vs Spy for the NES WRONGLY.
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