Mad #409 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Maimed Flesh Magazine Issue - September 2001

I am as likely to get hundreds of holes poked into my skin as I would be to allow someone to set my hair on fire.  Also, I would never jump out of an airplane unless it was absolutely necessary.  In this issue, the eight-page magazine parody ("Maimed Flesh") by Scott Maiko and Hermann Mejia perfectly illustrated all of the reasons for intelligent human beings to avoid self-mutilation.  At the same time, these flesh-attacking industries are growing at the same rate as Mad readership is declining.  Mad editors have continued their attempts to appeal to this pain-oriented generation but the fact is that Generation Ecch is not interested in clever humor.  They like vampires, zombies, violence, gore, maimings and buckets of blood.  Sitting on newsstands shortly before several hijacked airplanes flew into buildings in New York and Washington DC, this was a very ugly issue of Mad.  In addition to the worst images of body art, we were asked to laugh at depravity at the shopping mall; Monroe stepping in vomit puddles & saving his urine in mayonnaise jars; and an extremely nasty parody of a really bad television game show ("The Wicked Link!").  [JAM 2/18/2014] 

Color Pages: 35 of 60 pages (58%)
Humorous Content: 51 of 60 pages (85%)

Departments:
Special Afflecks - Hurl Horror
The Route of All Evil - The Mad Mall Directory (For Things Regular Mall Directories Never Point Out)
In the Heat of the Plight - Creeping Signs That Might Lead You to Believe Global Warming is for Real
The Mutilate Show - Maimed Flesh Magazine
Angster's Paradise - Monroe & ... The Great American Road Trip Part 1
Behind the Recapitulate Ball - "How We First Met" Stories That Today's Young Lovers Will Be Stuck With ... Vol. II
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Inca Dinka Boom - You Know There's a Peruvian Terrorist in Your Bathroom When  [fake department]
Grieving Las Vegas - Mad's Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds  [Julia Roberts]
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Shrek
The Games People Replay - Perennial Sports Calendar
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Game Shrew Host - The Wicked Link

Fold-In - Cow Poker and Skateboarder