Mad #419 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Star Wars Jedi Bunch Issue - July 2002

Now that's more like it!  After devoting a major part of Mad #417 to Britney & Justin, Mad editors returned to their nerd-base with Spider-Man (#418) and then the latest Star Wars episode (Attack of the Clones).  Although we did not get the full-blown, Mort-Drucker movie parody, there are 16 pages [all in color] of Episode 2 jokes including two separate covers by different artists.  The best of the covers is the Natalie Portman/Padme with Alf-Jedi and his limp light-saber, drawn by Roberto Parada.  The other cover by Mark Stutzman shows electrified Alf with Obi Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu.  The best of the inside stuff is the three-page sepia-toned "Anakin Skywalker: The High School Years" drawn by Mr. Drucker.  Who knew that Anakin smoked Lucky Strikes?  In addition to the awkward years of Anakin: Charlie Kadau wrote the song/television parody ("The Jedi Bunch") with clever caricatures by Sam Sisco; Greg Leitman rewrote some dialogue (fumetti-style) - "... I think we're being followed by a shoehorn!" etc.; Scott Maiko sells "Bantha Dung" on "Ecchbay"; Peter Kuper's White Spy clones himself; Dan Levine & Mike Martone find Dick Cheney et al.  "... in the crowd in the ... senate scene"; and, Leitman returns to compare The Empire to The Bush Administration ("Startling Similarities Between Star Wars and the War on Terrorism").  Although Mad was late to the Star Wars party when it started in 1977, the current editorial staff knows which side of its Tusken Raider Village Bantha Dung Bread is buttered. [JAM 3/26/2014]

Color Pages: 35 of 56 pages (63%)
Humorous Content: 47 of 56 pages (84%)

Departments:
(none) - The Jedi Bunch
The Stills Are Alive - Mad Presents ... Missing Dialogue From Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
All Bidding Aside - Mad's Ecchbay Item of the Month
May the Course Be with You - Anakin Skywalker - The High School Years
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Hey Lucas Over - Who's in the Crowd in the New Star Wars Senate Scene
A Clone Application - Startling Similarities Between Star Wars and the War on Terrorism
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and ... Disney World
Today, You Da Man - What if Chris Rock Performed at a Bar Mitzvah?
Home on the Strange - How Cool Would it be to be a Member of Ozzy Osbourne's Family?
Altered States of the Union - How Everything Changed after the Attacks
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Water Parks
When Priests Meet Jest - When the Catholic Sex Scandal Spreads to the Sunday Comics  [fake department]
The Devil's in the C-Details - Hidden in the Liner Notes
The Old Haunted House - Mr. Fix-It Tackles Your Occult and Paranormal Home Repair Problems
Fat's Entertainment - The Issue of Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine We'd Like to See
Domicidal Maniacs - Panic Ruined

Fold-In - Video Game