Mad #542 (John Ficarra) - Election 2016 Issue - December 2016

The Mad editors devoted 15 pages to this mostly dysfunctional election cycle, but the best article is the Kenny Keil/Jeff Kruse/Tom Richmond representation of "The Last 100 Days of the Obama Presidency".  The President finds time to jog naked with Mitch McConnell, sit for a portrait by George W. Bush, and grows some facial hair.  The best drawings about the current campaign are in "My Little Phony" and "Trumpkins" by Jacob Chabot.  While too much ink has been spent an election that has been hijacked by a racist, bigoted, misogynistic and dangerous demagogue, the Mad staff did find room to praise the body of work created by one of their greatest artists - Jack Davis (1924-2016).  One full letters page (with a sentence from me) and "The Mad Vault" offered a small portion his work and the plaudits that were so richly deserved.  Ancient Mad fans like me should enjoy the inclusion of drawings by Wally Wood (1927-1981) and Will Elder (1921-2008) in "Mad's 2017 Superhero Calendar".  [JAM 10/6/2016]

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
Barack to the Future - The Last 100 Days of the Obama Presidency
Sowing Their Wild Oaths - The MAD "I Will Make America Great Again" Citizen's Pledge
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Chart Failure - MAD's Breakdown of Donald Trump Voters & Hillary Clinton Voters
Script Tease - Mad's Make Your Own Walking Dead Episode
Gallop Poll - My Little Phony
In One Year And Out the Other - Mad's 2017 Superhero Calendar
In Blog We Trust - Planet Tad!!!!!
It's Complaining Cats And Dogs - More of Your Pet's Pet Peeves
Maim That Tune - "Imagine" Rewritten by Donald Trump
Pen And Stink - The Mad Strip Club
Lowering the Bar Association - Billboards for Highly Specialized Attorneys
Boys Will Be Toys - Trumpkins
Rotten to the Encore - The Mad Vault
And a Child Shall Read Them - "Parent Education" Pamphlets for Kids
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at New York
#Squadfoals - What If Taylor Swift and Her Friends Took Up Horse Breeding [fake department]
Going Against the Groeing - "The Shifty and Bats#it Show"
Cautionary Fails - Mad Presents Safety Tips for Everyday Situations

Fold-In - Car Crash