Mad #253 (Albert Feldstein) - Velcro Issue - March 1985

Velcro was invented in 1941 by Georges de Mestral who lived in Switzerland.  The product has mostly been used as a clothing fastener.  Al Jaffee contributed some excellent drawings for the first and last concept by T.J. Glenn ("Exciting New Uses for Velcro") that is basically a one-joke idea.  The editors of Mad thought that this would be a hilarious idea for a Mad article.  They were wrong.

There were four movie parodies in this issue but none by Mort Drucker.  What gives?  Also, Don Martin was absent after appearing in 224 consecutive issues (fifth on the all-time list).  At the same time, one of the best of the Mad writers, Desmond Devlin published his first article ("The Mad 1984 Quiz").  Devlin's article was nothing special but it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship.  With Drucker and Martin AWOL, the movie parodies were drawn by Sam Viviano ("Ghost-Dusters"), Harry North ("Purple Acid Rain"), Angelo Torres ("The Karocky Kid") and Jack Davis ("Supergall").  Of the four, Davis had the best material with the article written by Dick DeBartolo. [JAM 3/26/2011]

Departments:
Deja Review - Mad Satires of Three Summer Movies: Ghost-Dusters, Purple Acid Rain and The Karocky Kid
Sour Greats - When All Comic Strip Characters Turn Rotten
Bury Funny - Don Edwing Looks at Funerals
Post Waste - The Mad Chain Letter
Sectional Education - Mad's Instant Guide to American Regional Types
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Hot Off the Press - Mad's Lurid, Romantic Text Books
Snapping Answers - A Mad Look at Pets' Back Talk
Orwell That Ends Well - The Mad 1984 Quiz
Opt-Tickles - If You Walk Down a Dark and Lonely Street
Rip, Please! - Mad's Modern Believe It Or Nuts!
Fasten Furious - Exciting New Uses for Miracle "Velcro"
Maid of Steal - Supergall
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy

Fold-In - Robot