Mad #249 (Albert Feldstein) - Gremlins Issue - September 1984

Steven Spielberg laughed all the way to the bank again with his paranormal/special effects movie, Gremlins.  However, this one was not a ground-breaker like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Writer Stan Hart and artist Mort Drucker struggled to find anything funny about this one.  The splash page is good but it's downhill after that.  The better article in the issue was "If the Real World of Today Caught up with the Comics" by Frank Jacobs.  Who knew that George Woodbridge could draw comic characters?  Woodbridge is one of five Mad artists to draw Dagwood Bumstead after Elder, Wood, Clarke and Rickard. 

The Mad editors reprinted ten of Tom Hachtman's DoubleTakes in the issue.  With an eerie choice of names, Hachtman places "Princess Die" with Charles Manson on page 35. [JAM 2/27/2011]

Look for Mao Zedong and Mickey Mouse in "Grimlins."

Departments:
Our Creatures Presentation - Grimlins
Don Martin - One Fine Morning in the Hospital; One Fine Afternoon in the Morgue; One Fine Evening on a Street Corner
Point of You - What's Cute ... And What's Not
Cartooning In - If the Real World of Today Caught up with the Comics
Signs of the Crimes - International Symbols for Other Olympic Highlights
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Err Apparent - How Many Mistakes Can You Find in This Picture of a Movie Theater?
Daily Bread - Psalm for a Modern Television Preacher
Blast Laugh - Things To Do on "The Day After"
It's Training Cats And Dogs, Etc. - Other Uses for Household Pets
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Split Personalitease - Tom Hachtman's "DoubleTakes"
Our Features Presentation - Mad's Ideal Presidential Candidate for 1984
Sweat Sucks! - The Sham-Jock Catalogue
Saloony Goons - Beers

Fold-In - Rock Video