Mad #315 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - William Maxwell Gaines Memorial Issue - December 1992

Bill Gaines died on June 3, 1992 at the age of 70.  The entire letters department of this issue was devoted to letters from his fans.  However, with Mad's long lead time, only Sergio Aragones was able to get a tribute to Gaines into the December issue.  In fact, Dave Berg's "Lighter Side" joke showed Bill to be alive and well.  Jokes by Berg could never by described as timely.  I always thought that his jokes were generally twenty years out of date. 

The best article in the issue was "Mad Salutes Columbus" by Frank Jacobs and Tom Bunk to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the new world which he thought was India.  Bunk's map of the voyage is excellent with numerous detours along the way.  History must have forgotten some aspects of the journey such as an amusement park on Coney Island, a Communist flag on Cuba, the Titanic, a submarine, the Eiffel Tower, a calculator, a smoking fish, the Statue of Liberty and the Ku Klux Klan.  Sergio joined the fun with "A Mad Look at Columbus."

Mad editors brought out the "Alfred E. Neuman for President" jokes again.  The first time was in 1960 with Mad #56. [JAM 3/14/2012]

Look for Jesse Helms (twice), Tarzan and an ape in "American Radiators."

Departments:
Sequel-Opportunity Destroyers - Legal Wreckin' 3
Tales From the Duck Side - The Flexible Fellow's Folderol; The Portentous Pencil-Peddler's Prophecy; The Baffling Biker's Bugaboo
Clothes Call - Are You Making a Fashion Statement or Something Else Entirely?
The Odds Must Be Crazy - Sure Bets in Sports
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Rhetor-Ecch - Mad's Do-It-Yourself Political Speech to Grab Voter Attention
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
New World Ordure - Mad Salutes Columbus - Highlights of His 1492 Voyage
Hypocritic Oafs - When/Why Should We Believe?
Feeting Frenzy - Dance Steps We All Know
Brute Farce - American Radiators
The Prattle of the Sexes - History's Great Come-On Lines
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Columbus
Who, What, When, Where And Ha - CNN Sitcoms Based on News Stories They've Covered
Flop Culture - Fads That Never Quite Caught On
Frank on a Roll - Unelectable

Fold-In - Incumbent