Mad #283 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Hypodermic Issue - December 1988

In the summer of 1988, medical waste and raw garbage were found to be washing upon the Jersey shore.  This health hazard was also known as the "Syringe Tide" and is generally credited for the loss of one billion dollars in lost revenue for the area.  This East Coast region became the butt of many jokes and the Mad staffers were quick to add their digs.  Mort Drucker found hospital waste including a severed foot with "Jaws XXVIII" in his splash page for "Crock O'dull Dummee, Too."  Drucker also found a box of hospital waste in Australia.  The joke reached its ultimate absurdity with the back-pack photograph of a proud fisherman who caught an eight-foot hypodermic needle half full of a red fluid.  Without a doubt, Mad will continue to find places for this embarrassing situation in future issues.

The fun drawing of the issue is Sam Viviano's double-splash page: "A Mad Peek Behind the Scenes at a Comedy Club."  Viviano placed the entire Mad staff in the club with some of the stand-up comics of the day including Jay Leno, Stephen Wright and Sam Kinison (1953-1992) among others.  I remember seeing this drawing in another publication with all of the caricatures identified.  However, I could not find it today so I will revise this page at a later date. [JAM 9/16/2011]

Departments:
Get Along Little Aussie - Crock O'Dull Dummee, Too
Tales From the Duck Side - The Freestyle Firing-Squad Fiasco; The Pesky Pecker Puzzler; The Exquisite Execution Experiment
Just a Phrase We're Going Through - Same Words ... Different Circumstances!
Like a Version - More Famous Stories as Told by Famous People
Performing Laugh Rites - A Mad Peek Behind the Scenes at a Comedy Club
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Gold Meddling - Politically Inspired Olympic Events
A Bad Case of Twerpies - What Is a Supernerd?
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Frank on a Roll - The Saga of AT&T
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Fat
Preamble-Dextrous - Rewriting the Constitution for Political Extremists
An Embarrassment of Richard's - Advertising Claims That Somehow Didn't Thrill Us
Men at Perk - 12 Reasons Why Being in Congress Is Worth the Price
Afghanistan Hart - Rambull III
The Florist's Prime Evil - The Mad Flower Garden
Fast Food for Thought - Other McD.L.T. Type Ideas

Fold-In - Remote Control