Mad #478 (John Ficarra) - Another Spider-Man Issue - June 2007

Sony Pictures grossed $890 million worldwide for Spider-Man 3 and $2.5 billion for three Spider-Man features so they decided to "reboot" the series and bring together a completely different cast of actors for the next one.  Go figure.  As usual, Mad editors decided to hit the newsstands with a Spider-Man cover before the blockbuster movie was released for the viewing public.  This policy always presents a challenge for Mad writers and artists who must deliver humorous anecdotes about a film they did not actually see.  Mark Fredrickson's cover drawing could have been used in 2002 for the first Spider-Man or in 2004 for Spider-Man 2.  A Fundalini bit warns readers not to buy "Bag O' Sandman".  Then, there are two pages of outtakes where the Mad editorial staff has presumably brainstormed humorous captions for movie trailer stills.  And finally, Jacob Lambert & Drew Friedman received the assignment to create "Photos Peter Parker Couldn't Sell to The Daily Bugle".  Again, the Lambert/Friedman collaboration could also have been published in 2002 or 2004.  This trick-the-Mad-reader bit must sell many extra copies of the magazine on the newsstand.  Go figure.  There were better articles in Mad #478: 1. An increasingly-rare, black-and-white television parody ("Lewd & Disorder: It's P.U.") by the great team of Arnie Kogen & Mort Drucker; 2. Classic drawings by Paul Coker in "10 Ways to Liven Up the National Spelling Bee"; 3. Three more excellent army recruitment parody posters by Lambert; 4. Artist Sergio Aragones looks at other artists; and 5. The consistently-clever back-page fold-in by Al Jaffee.  [JAM 11/8/2014]

Look for Dick Tracy, Kentucky Fried Taco Hut, Robocop, Jay Leno, David Spade, "Debbie Does Dahlias", Acme Boxing Glove, Magnum P.I., Don Ho and Red Bull in this issue.

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
Frying Wolf Once Too Often - Lewd & Disorder: It's P.U.
Armed Farces - Rejected Army Recruiting Posters
Alphabet Poop - 10 Ways to Liven Up The National Spelling Bee
Tobey or Not Tobey - Mad's Venomous  Outtakes from Spider-Man 3
Angster's Paradise - Monroe & ... Cruelty Free
The Clot Thickens - Conspiracy Theories About Vice President Dick Cheney's Health  [fake department]
Wisdom Truth - The Average 5th Graded Knows
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Artists
Take This Mob And Shove It - 1 vs. 300
In Blog We Trust - Planet Tad!!!!!
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
The Prints And the Pauper - Photos Peter Parker Couldn't Sell to The Bugle
The Old Man And the CVS - What You Have to Look Forward to as a Middle-Aged Mall Rat
Faking the Law - Dud The Lousy Hunter

Fold-In - Red Bull