Mad #504 (John Ficarra) - Bash Toyota Issue - August 2010

This is probably the best of the quarterly Mads.  And, the good news is that the Mad editor has announced on the letters page that Mad will become a bi-monthly publication starting with the next issue.

Mad jumped all over the Toyota recall problems most notably with the excellent "Toyota Story" parody by writer Desmond Devlin and artist Tom Richmond.  This double parody skewers the movie and the dysfunctional vehicle.  The addition of the "Magic 8-Ball" as lawyer at the Congressional hearing is a nice touch.  I like the toy senators (H.H. Hippo, R. Ann, S. Armstrong, B. Man, etc.).  Also joining in on the barrage are Tom Bunk ("Driver-side airbag filled with live weasels), Darren Johnson ("Rapid acceleration mechanism" for Iron Man), and the Mr. T ("cars speeding into things") tweet.

In addition to the Toyota jab, Mad found room to blast Fox News ("The A-Hole Team" featuring Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity),  and Sarah Palin twice ("More Sarah Palin Speaking Contract Demands" and "Politicians Who Tweet."  The last (maybe) Mad quarterly also featured excellent parodies of KFC ("The KFC Triple By-Pass!") by Dick DeBartolo, Amazon ("Scamazon") by Scott Maiko, and Petco ("Pestco") by Jeff Kruse that illustrates 18 new products/pets including amoeba, blue whale and a giraffe coffin.  Let us hope that Ficarra can deliver bi-monthlies with the same quality of material.  [JAM 6/11/2010]

In a strange error, the index lists "What If Don Rickles Starred in Clash of the Titans?" on page 35 but no such article exists. 

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
Take This Jobs, and Shove It - Mad Rates the iPad for Various Demographics
Cars and Defect - Toyota Story
Comparison Chopping - Bieber Versus ...
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at the Twilight Saga
The Agony of Deceit - The Mad World of Lying and Cheating
The Demagogues Must Be Crazy - The A-Hole Team
Designated Twitter - Mr. T Tweets While Watching The A-Team
The Incredible Sulk - 9 Unmistakable Signs That You're Not Quite Over Your Ex
Jesse Shames - Reich Guard
Pen and Stink - The Mad Strip Club
Grease Meets Jest - KFC's New Triple By-Pass Sandwixh
The Diva is in the Details - More Sarah Palin Contract Demands
Joke and Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Can You Jeer Me Now? - 12 Reasons We Hate Cell Phones
A Stair to Remember - 1001 Escalators to Ride Before You Die (Scamzon.com parody)
The Pet Offensive - Pestco
A Grooms' Day Scenario - Archie Marries Jughead
The Articles Formerly Known as Reprints - The Mad Vault
Father Knows Molest - One Afternoon in the Confessional

Fold-In - Abs