Mad #137 (Albert Feldstein) - Boob & Carnal & Tad & Alas Issue - September 1970

This issue features a parody of a mainstream movie that tries to cash in on the sexual revolution of the 1960s.  In spite of the cover promotion of this lame Hollywood movie, Mad #137 was excellent.

Crazy artist Basil Wolverton (1909-1978) returned with ten zany drawings of vehicles and their drivers in "Sports Cars We'd Like To See."  Wolverton first made his mark in Mad #11 with the Life magazine cover drawing.  Although he was one of the most popular Mad artists, Wolverton's drawings appeared in only nine issues.  His son, Monte has continued the family cartooning style with 12 appearances of his own. 

Artist Jack Rickard showed his true talent with his best drawings to date in "If the World's Great Painters Drew the Comics."  Rickard and writer Frank Jacobs took six classic paintings (Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulip, Gainsborough's Blue Boy, Grant Wood's American Gothic, Jean-Francois' The Gleaners, Henri Rousseau's Sleeping Gypsy, and Whistler's Mother) and made plausible comic strips out of them.

In addition, Mad continued its attack on polluters with Dick DeBartolo's "21st Century Outdoors Magazine."  With drawings by George Woodbridge, DeBartolo predicts the future based on current polluting trends.  Apparently, we will be able to purchase a cubic foot of polluted air from any of the five boroughs of New York; the Grand Canyon will be filled with 30 billion discarded containers; Northern California will have a redwood stump park; anybody could climb what's left of Mount McKinley; and Niagara "Fall" will be reduced to six gallons per day. [JAM 1/22/2010]

Tiddly wink champ Richie Craven has a hypodermic needle through his thumb (page 44).

Look for cabbie Bill Cosby on page 6 and Don Rickles, Jackie Gleason, Hugh Hefner, Howard Cosell and E.G. Marshall in "Makeus Sickby M.D."

Reader Neil Wahlert notes that writer Stan Hart included Mad staff members and their significant others in the list of names that runs through "Boob & Carnal & Tad & Alas."

Departments:
Switch Hit - Boob & Carnal & Tad & Alas
Don Martin - Great (Non-Violent) Guns!; While Hanging Around a Corner; One Day in the Park
Idiot-Box Rebellion - TV Scenes We'd Like to See
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side of Summer Resorts
Male Bitch - A Boy-Dog Named Lassie
Inside-Ouch - A Mad Peek Behind the Scenes at Home Services
Auto-Suggestion - Sports Cars We'd Like to See
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
"Pop" Goes the Easel - If the World's Greatest Painters Drew the Comics
We Will Bury Us! - 21st Century Outdoors Magazine
Double-Talk - What They Say ... And What They Really Mean
The Sterile Cuckoos - Makeus Sickby, M.D.

Fold-In - Pollution