Mad #150 (Albert Feldstein) - Worst Cover Ever Issue - April 1972

I hated the smile-face craze of the 1970s.  It just seemed to be such an inane and simplistic expression of mediocrity.  To my chagrin, the cover of Mad #150 displayed two dozen of those yellow smiley pins with one that looked like Alf.  When I stopped reading Mad in my mid-twenties, I gave the newer issues to my cousin starting with 150.  I kept 149 and below in an old steamer trunk.

Feldstein introduced two new writer/artists in the issue: David Gantz (1922-2007) and Lloyd Gola.  Gantz ("A Mad Message to the Leading Democrat Candidates for President") was a prolific artist from Iowa who wrote and illustrated 75 children's books, created several comic strips, and once drew comic book characters such as Mighty Mouse and Patsy Walker.  Gantz made only three appearances in Mad.  Gola ("You Know You're Really Divorced When ...") wrote and illustrated five Mad articles.  He is also an actor who recently appeared in an Eastpointe (Detroit suburb) Community production of It Runs in the Family.  [JAM 3/8/2010]

Look for George Jessel (1898-1981), George C. Scott (1927-1999) and Bob Hope (1903-2003) in the opera parody, "The White House Follies of 1972."

Departments:
Big Time Operetta - The White House Follies of 1972
A Discouraging Word from Our Sponsor - Ads That Turn People Off
Put Your Funny Where Your Mouth Is - More "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions"
Don Martin - One Fairly Nice Day Downtown; One Day While Touring Florida; One Busy Day in a Highway Restaurant
Mash Communication - Love Letters from Celebrities
The Nose Have It - A Mad Message to the Leading Democrat Candidates
Spoil-Sport - When TV Makes Full Use of Howard Cosell
Slay Ride - A Mad Look at Snowmobiles
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side of Air Travel
Gurley Books - If Other Magazines Copied "Cosmopolitan's" Sex Formula
Splitting Headaches - You Know You're Really Divorced When
Fine Fetid Friends - The Putrid Family

Fold-In - Fortune Cookie