Mad #540 (John Ficarra) - Donald Trump Issue - August 2016

How could MAD avoid this subject in this year of the Trump.  There is so much material here for humorists.  The issue starts with the spring-loaded cranium cover drawing by Mark Fredrickson and then it gets better and better.  "The Trumpalini Pages" and the "Trump University" certificate parody find our favorite anti-hero on the cover of "Whine Enthusiast" ("We sample the sourest grapes of 2016"); mis-remembering world and national tragedies such as "Cinnabon Square", "Deepwater Verizon" and "7/11" (the real one); an unfavorable comparison to "Burger King's Whopper"; the birdnest, comb-over hairdo; and "a shady, uninformative and dubious course of study" (now being litigated among 3,500+ other frauds).  The excellent movie parody ("Battyman v Stuporman") by Desmond Devlin and Tom Richmond pegs The Donald as the next billionaire villain to replace "Lax Truther".  It continues with Desmond Devlin comparing 13 Trump quotes with actual Bible quotations.  I am sure there are more but there is only so much space in a 56-page, bi-monthly magazine.  Finally, the back cover shows the 2016 presidential contest as a parody ("Uncivil War") of the latest Captain America slugfest.  This is enough Trump for me but the real thing is going to drag along for another five months.  Although the latest Batman parody is the best humor in the issue, Tom Bunk deserves a special mention for his extremely-detailed, double-spread ("Coney Island").  True MAD fans will remember the first double-spread of the same ("Corny Island") in Mad #36 by the late, great Wally Wood.  [JAM 6/11/2016]

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages and The Trumpalini Pages
Battle of the Blands - Battyman v Stuporman
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
From Bad to Verse - Donald Trump vs. the Bible
Low Man on the Scrotum-Pole - Vasectomies Through History [fake department]
In Blog We Trust - Planet Tad!!!!!
Shore Losers - Mad's Tom Bunk visits Coney Island
A Complete Disaster - New Olympic Events That Americans are Sure to Win
Red, White, Blue and Gray - America's Civil War vs. Captain America: Civil War
I'll See You in Helmet - The Official First Order Stormtrooper Recruitment Pamphlet
Pen And Stink - The Mad Strip Club
Rotten to the Encore - The Mad Vault (Lenny Brenner 1932-2016)
Cringe Benefits - Perks of the New $1,049 Disneyland Annual Pass
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Trees
UFC Match.com - Dating Tips for Rhonda Rousey
D.I.Y. Bother - This Week's Home Depot How-To Clinics

Fold-In - Injured Football Player