Mad #191 (Albert Feldstein) - Ransom Note Issue - June 1977

Mort Drucker was back in the lead position with Stan Hart's "Marathon Mess" but Angelo Torres ("The Jazzyslums") was moved out of the anchor position in favor of "Sobsession" (ransom note connection) drawn by Harry North.  I think the editors realized that Stan Hart's parody of The Jeffersons was rather mean-spirited with its treatment of black actors and did not want to end the issue on that tone.  Like Mad #188, there were several unfortunate jokes at the expense of black people in this issue.  Artist Bob Jones (not that Bob Jones) brought back the watermelon stereotype (page 24) and Sergio Aragones still thinks that afros are sooo funny.  Also, Torres created a Muhammed Ali doll for "Gorge Jazzyslum" when he acts like a baby.  Although I certainly do not believe that the Mad staff are racists, I think that they struggled to find the humor associated with our African-American friends. [JAM 7/20/2010]

Departments:
Thou Shalt Not Drill - Marathon Mess
Don Martin - One Day in Egypt; Another Day in Egypt; One Day in Alaska (back cover)
Seconding Our Notion - More Original Mad Covers ... And One Mad Moment Later
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side of Health Nuts
Padding the Bill - What If Newsletters Came with Every Bill?
Up Theirs! - You Don't Give a @%&c#! What Other People Think When
Home Groan - A Mad Guide to Parental Hang-Ups
Going Over Bard - Shakespeare's Lesser-Known Quotes
A Credit to Their Ratings - The Jazzyslums
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Shticks on Stones - Distinctive Mad Epitaphs
We Should Live So Long - We'd Like to See the Day When
Seeing Is Bereaving - Sobsession

Fold-In - New York Giants