Mad #362 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Housefly Issue - October 1997

I needed a copy of Mad #57 when I was reading this issue.  In her sixth and last appearance in Mad, writer Lori Kolman penned a restaurant guide for musca domestica (the common housefly) titled "Mad Presents Restaurant Reviews for the Finicky Fly."  The article included a handy ratings key of one to four steaming piles plus warnings about insecticides, diseases and squalidity (is that a word?).  Some of the flies escaped and wandered among 19 pages of the other departments.  This infestation is reminiscent of the flatbug epidemic in Mad #107. 

The cover drawing by Mark Fredrickson is a parody of the infamous National Lampoon cover (January 1973).  This was another issue that unfortunately did not include a movie or television parody.  The best drawings in the issue are the cartoon parodies by Sam Viviano for Sean Eisenporth's "Cheap Foreign Ripoffs of American Cartoons."  [JAM 6/14/2013]

Departments:
The Little Ninja That Could - Mad Goes on the Set of the Next "Jerky Chan" Movie
Rubbing Salt in the Womb - What to Expect When Your Grandparents Are Expecting
WWW.Whitehouse.Com-edy - The Chelsea E-Mails
The Schmucks Stop Here - Melvin & Jenkins' Guide to Death
Pillage Idiots - Cheap Foreign Ripoffs of American Cartoons
Canuckleheads - The Masked Mountie and His Wonder Dog, Biscuit
Entertainment Greekly - Truly Grueling Modern Day Labors of Hercules We'd Like to See
One Downsize Fits All - The Mad People Watcher's Guide to a Typical U.S. Corporation
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Cross Dressing
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
When Feast Meets Pest - Mad Presents Restaurant Reviews for the Finicky Fly
A Kick in the Career End - The Downsides of Various Dream Jobs
Angster's Paradise - Monroe & ... A Sunday Afternoon with Dad
Gaywatch - When Other TV Shows Finally Come out of the Closet
Grieving Las Vegas - Mad's Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds

Fold-In - Handgun