Mad #444 (John Ficarra) - Marginal Spider-Man Issue - August 2004
Editor Al Feldstein introduced the marginal jokes in Mad #30 with "Nobody asked us, but ..." written by Arnie Rosen and Coleman Jacoby. The jokes continued in every issue in various forms including "Marginal Marvin", "Mad Y'OX" and "New Sport Cars ..." Sergio Aragones assumed marginal duties with the January 1963 issue (Mad #76). The first marginal drawing shows a golfer putting with a black cat between him and the hole. Strangely, the pin/flag is stuck in the ground near the hole. All golfers know that the pin is always placed in the hole. Also, it against golf rules for a golfer on the green to putt with the pin in place. For Mad #444, Aragones joined the Spider-Man them with movie jokes in the margins of pages 1,2,6,41,42,46,47,49,51 and 52. Following is the history of the Mad marginal: [JAM 7/8/2014]
30 Nobody asked us, but ...
31 Purloined proverbs ascribed to popular people
32 Fictitious want ads placed by famous folk
33 Jobs we'd like to have
34 Meaningless musings while munching Miltown
35 Suggested theme songs for some famous folks
36 Contrivances for cliches
37 Christmas gifts that will no doubt be returned
38 Mad definitions
39 Movies' secret sponsors
40 New authors for old books
41 Edited advertising slogans
42 Where they spent their vacations
43 Proverbs revisited
44 Some items "For Sale - Cheap"
45 Old quotes attributed to modern folks
46 Mad Daffynitions
47 Mad Double-Features
48 New stars for old movies
49 Capsule movie reviews
50 Marvin talks about "Secret Ingredients"
51 New singers for old songs
52 Marvin talks about the Tobacco Industry
53 Marvin talks about "Small Cars"
54 Marvin introduces a new game: "Mad Y'OX"
55-58 More Mad Y'OX
59 English translations of foreign phrases
60 Appropriate casting for old movies
61 Mad's anti-cliches museum
62 Mad answers to cliche remarks
63 Mad Phoolosophies
64 Mad stuffs David Susskind's suggestion box
65 Special license plates for special people
66 New sport cars (for special people) we'd like to see
67 Mad's capsule movie reviews
68 "Namelies" - a new Mad game
69 Introducing "Hitchy-Switchies" - a new Mad game
70 "If they had a brother, brother!" - a Mad game
71 We knew them when
72 Little-known mottos for little-known organizations
73 Appropriate birthplaces for some famous folk
74 Favorite Chinese dishes of some famous folks
75 Speak and ye shall find (the answers)
76-110 Drawn-out dramas by Sergio Aragones
111 Songs that never made it
112-present Drawn-out dramas by Sergio Aragones
Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages [Celebrity Cause-of-Death
Betting Odds - Paris Hilton]
Casino Evil - Las Vaguest
Tobey or not Tobey - Mad's Heroically-Awful Spider-Man 2 Outtakes
Tenets, Anyone? Part I - Only a Democrat Could Possibly Believe
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and ... Europe Part One
The Da Vinci Area Code - The Last Supper Circa 2004
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Nerds - A Cell Phone-Camera Geek's Photo Album
Taking One Day at a Climb - Spider-Man Has a Bad Week!
Wimpin' Ain't Easy - You Know a Rapper's Gone Soft When
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Space Exploration
Tenets Anyone? Part II - Only a Republican Could Possibly Believe
All Jaffee - Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions
Plaque to the Future - If Dentists Could Time Travel [fake department]
The Wizard of Odd - Duke Bissell's Tales of Undisputed Interest
Pompous And Circumstance - How to Think Like a Superstar
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
It's 'Splaining Cats And Dogs - From the Case Files of Dr. Wanda Goldstein
Flenkman: Pet Psychologist
Insects And the Single Girl - Pet Peeves of Spider-Man's Girlfriend
Fold-In - Bob Costas