Mad #436 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Lemony Snicket Issue - December 2003

Lemony Snicket is the pen name for Daniel Handler who wrote the 13 volumes of A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Snicket is also the narrator and a character in the series.  The last book was published in 2006.  All have 13 chapters except Vooks olume 13 that contains a Chapter 14.  Mad writer Dave Croatto wrote a 14-page parody of Volume 11 ("A Series of Uneventful Misfortunes") with the opinion that this series would never.  But it did.  I have not read any of these books and have no plans to do so.  There was also a movie in 2004.  It was not very good.  In addition to this really long parody of a bad book series, Mad editor were not done with Matrix Reloaded.  After parodies by Aragones in Mad #432 and Kogen in Mad #433, we get three more articles here ("Is Our World Really All That Different from the Matrix?" - "Monroe and .. The Matrix" - "Mad's Unreal Outtakes from the Matrix Revolution") and a full-blown cover by Mark Fredrickson.  Enough already!  [JAM 5/29/2014]

Iraq War Humor - Greg Leitman thinks Geraldo Rivera and the Brothers Uday and Qusay are similar to The Matrix characters; David Shayne is amused by the actions of dysfunctional President George W. Bush; Mike Snider thinks "the bombing of Baghdad" and "shock and awe" are hilarious concepts.

Color Pages: 38 of 64 pages (59%)
Humorous Content: 50 of 64 pages (78%)

Departments:
Parallel Barbs - Is Our World Really All That Different from The Matrix?
A Serving of Dark Meet - Favorite Dysfunctional Family Thanksgiving Moments
Description for Disaster - 2-Letter Video Labels MTV Should Use
Notion Sickness - More Pleasant Little Thoughts That Might Help You Sleep Better at Night
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and ... The Matrix
Crossing the Snicket Line - A Series of Uneventful Misfortunes
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Dread of the Class - Sure Signs That Your School is Underfunded
Canned Openers - Absolute Latest, Up-to-the-Minute Pick-Up Lines
Noise Will Be Noise - The On-Screen/Off-Screen Videogame Sound Effects Comparison Guide
Getting Your Plymouth Rocks Off - If the Pilgrims Had Access to Internet Porn  [fake department]
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Bars
An Embarrassment of Richard's - An Urgent Warning for All Internet Users from AOL
Keanu Hear Me Now! - Mad's Unreal Outtakes from The Matrix Revolutions
Sheet Happens - Norigami - The Ancient Japanese Art of Paper Unfolding
Snide And Prejudice - If 24 Really Depicted What Life Would Be Like for America's First Black President

Fold-In - Congress