Mad #284 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Pictionary Issue - January 1989

One of the best ideas the Mad editors ever had was to ask 18 of their artists to play Pictionary and complete their drawings in one minute after reading the subjects in sealed envelopes.  All of the drawings of "Hitler's Mother" are excellent.  However, I know that Jack Davis has a quick pen but I doubt that he completed Mrs. Hitler with hair curlers in the required 60 seconds.  The best of the lot is Al Jaffee's vision that apparently shows the young Adolf being dropped on his head.  I also doubt that Angelo Torres followed the rules for "Frank Perdue's Living Room" since it shows a fireplace, paintings and a big stack of wishbones.  I am sure that Harvey Kurtzman eerie egg-man was quickly drawn.  However, I cannot imagine that anyone would guess it from his clue.  It was good to see Antonio Prohias finally draw the black spy and white spy again but why is Bob Clarke still doing the regular "Spy vs. Spy" feature?  For the first time since Prohias became semi-retied, Clarke was allowed to sign his work.  The drawings for "Gluttony," all are similar but none would bring that word to my mind.  This is the type of article that really demonstrates the talent of the "usual gang of idiots."

The parodies drawn by Sam Viviano ("Numbing to America') and Angelo Torres ("Who De-famed Robber Rabbit?") were excellent reminders of the early Mad (both comic and magazine) wonderfully cluttered with sight gags.  Viviano put Alfred E. Neuman in the back row of the theater with a giant tub of popcorn and made numerous jokes about the wardrobes of James Earl Jones, Eddie Murphy et al.  Publisher Gaines is shown on the barber shop bulletin board.  Torres was given a chance to display a talent for drawing cartoons and caricatures that is usually reserved for other Mad artists.  Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Tweety, Tinkerbelle, Dumbo, Fred Flintstone, Poppy Bush, Michael Dukakis, Mr. Spock, Abe Vigoda, Duck Edwing's wife, Goofy, Heckle & Jeckle, Mighty Mouse, Porky Pig, Alfred Hitchcock, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, Betty Boop and others join the "Robber Rabbit" characters in a wild romp.  Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the first movie to combine toons with live actors and make it believable.

Sergio Aragones put Mad staffers Al Jaffee, Nick Meglin, John Ficarra, Bill Gaines and himself in the double splash-page ("The Mad People Watcher's Guide to a Shopping Mall at Christmas"). [JAM 9/30/2011]

Departments:
Hanks Giving Turkey - Biggie
Tales from the Duck Side - The Appalling Amazon Appetizer; The Cockamamie Congo Cookout; The Sizzling South Seas Supper
It Doesn't Adage Up - Mad Re-Examines Some Wise Old Sayings
Entering the Jock Market - Careers for Athletes Past Their Prime
Quick Draw Guffaw - Play Pictionary with the Mad Artists
Ignorance Is Blitzed - 15 Reasons Why Only Mindless Idiots Can Have a Nice Day
Throne for a Loss - Numbing to America
Claus And Effect - The Mad People Watcher's Guide to a Shopping Mall at Christmas
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Stat's Entertainment! - The Real Demographics of Various TV Audience
Every Story Has Immoral - When Scandals Take Over the News Completely
Delay's the Thing -Only When You're in a Hurry
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
The Linking Memorial - The Last Resort (The Newsletter for Desperate Singles)
Go Ahead, Animate My Day - Who Defamed Robber Rabbit?
An Embarrassment of Richard's - Mad's Christmas Believe It or Nuts!

Fold-In - Radar Detector