Issue Details

Issue	#489
Published	May 2008
Cover Price	4.99 USD
Pages	52
Editing	John Ficarra

Cover Details - "Meet Mr. Roids"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman
Genre	humor
Pencils	Mark Fredrickson
Inks	Mark Fredrickson
Letters	typeset

1 page Professor Layton and The Curious Village advertisement "untitled"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for game from Level-5 Inc. Inside front cover.

1 page Table of Contents foreword, introduction, preface, afterword "Departments"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman; Monroe; Ty Pennington; Slomantha; The Little Prince
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	Art is from various places in the magazine. The feature "Frodo-Shop Department" is phony and does not actually appear in the issue.

2 page Letters And Tomatoes Department letters page "Random Samplings of Reader Mail"

Characters	Ozzy Osbourne
Synopsis	Letters, photos and fan art.
Script	John Ficarra; Ralph Marston; Chris Behen; Mor Weinberger; Paz Weinberger; Mike Parker; Cyndi Parker; Andi Person; Derek Parks; Peter Carter; Nick Acquadro
Pencils	? (photo); Peter Carter (photo); Nick Acquadro (photo)
Inks	? (photo); Peter Carter (photo); Nick Acquadro (photo)
Colors	? (photo); Peter Carter (photo); Nick Acquadro (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Includes information about the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, because it features Spy vs. Spy items in the gift shop. Also includes a correction to the list of "Friends of Minkey-Lini" in issue #488, noting that Dick DeBartolo's credit had been omitted.

1 page Mad Magazine promo (ad from the publisher) "An Important Message From MAD's Director of Business & Development "

Characters	Jeffrey Lozenge
Synopsis	A message on skin ointments.
Script	Jeffrey Lozenge ?
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	House ad for Mad subscriptions; #9 in a series. Appears between pages 1-2 of letters column.

1 page MAD books promo (ad from the publisher) "Millions of Trees Gave Their Lives For These Books"

Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for the following MAD books: Spy Vs. Spy 2; MAD About Star Wars; The MAD War on Bush; The Completely MAD Don Martin. Appears between pages 2-3 of letters column.

Half page credits "untitled"

Genre	fact
Letters	typeset

1 page MAD Classics promo (ad from the publisher) "Subscribe to MAD Classics...and Own This MAD Classic!"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Shows covers to several issues of MAD Classics and also MAD #166.

3 page Random Acts of Mindless Dept.; The Fast 5; Melvin & Jenkins; Bitterman; Less Popular Conspiracy Theories; What If...?; Lelievre and Let Leilevre; How To Tell A Terrorist From A Regular Schmoe story "The Fundalini Pages"

Characters	Fidel Castro; Barack Obama; Oprah Winfrey; Melvin; Jenkins; Loch Ness Monster; Idi Amin; Dick Cheney; Ulysses S. Grant; Joe Bitterman; Rachel; Nick
Synopsis	Various short satires of pop culture.
Genre	satire; humor
Script	various
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	Contributors (roles unknown) include: Peter Bagge; Tom Bunk; Desmond Devlin; Garth Gerhart; Jeff Kruse; Jacob Lambert; Glen LeLievre; Hermann Mejia; Kevin Popo

1 page Observation Dreck Dept. activity "What The Heck Is The Difference?"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis	Cover of MAD #326 with a variation to find the differences on.
Letters	typeset
Notes	Answer included.
Reprinted	From Mad #326 (EC, 1952 series)

5 page Milking Amnesia Dept. story "Slomantha? Who Cares!"

Characters	Slomantha; Derek Shepherd; Slomantha's mother; Slomantha's father; Slomantha's ex-best friend; Flank; Demeana; Odd; Earl
Synopsis	The setup and a typical day in Slomantha's life with amnesia.
Genre	satire
Script	Dick DeBartolo
Pencils	Tom Richmond
Inks	Tom Richmond
Letters	typeset
Notes	Parody of the tv show "Samantha Who?"

1 page Cell Phonies Dept. story "An AT&T Commercial We'd Like To See"

Characters	Roger Clemens; Andy Pettitte
Synopsis	Roger's call drops Andy's replies, causing Roger to think he's in the clear with Congress.
Genre	satire
Script	Desmond Devlin
Pencils	Drew Friedman
Inks	Drew Friedman
Letters	typeset
Notes	Parody of AT&T commercials where important details of calls over competitors' networks are lost.

3 page Crass of Characters Dept. story "Other Kids Book Scerets Revealed Now That Dumbledore Has Been Outed"

Characters	Clifford The Big Red Dog; Thomas The Tank Engine; The Hardy Boys; Encyclopedia Brown; Waldo; Captain Underpants; Willy Wonka; VeggieTales characters; The Velveteen Rabbit; The Baby-Sitters Club; Margaret; The Little Prince; The Berenstain Bears; Aslan
Synopsis	Unknown past secrets of favorite children's book characters.
Genre	humor
Script	Jeff Kruse
Pencils	Gary Hallgren
Inks	Gary Hallgren
Letters	typeset

1 page The Apple of Their Ire Dept. story "Hello, I'm Barack. And I'm H. C."

Characters	Barack Obama; Hillary Clinton
Synopsis	Hillary is losing the election but refuses to withdraw.
Genre	satire
Pencils	Hermann Mejia
Inks	Hermann Mejia
Letters	typeset
Notes	Parody of Apple Computer ads where the PC makes a fool of itself.

2 page Spiking The Punchline Dept. story "If Different Comedians Told The Same Joke"

Characters	Dane Cook; Jay Leno; Larry The Cable Guy; Bill Maher; Carlos Mencia; Ellen DeGeneres; Lewis Black
Synopsis	The old joke, "Why did the chicken cross the road?", as it might be told by various comedians.
Genre	satire
Script	Harrison Greenbaum
Pencils	Jason Seiler
Inks	Jason Seiler
Letters	typeset
Notes	Similar bit in MAD #77 (March 1963), "If Five Comic Strip Cartoonists Interpreted The Age-Old Riddle, "Why did the chicken cross the road?""

2 page A MAD Pull-out Poster; Needles And Sins Dept. illustration "Bad News Bare-Asses"

Characters	Roger Clemens; Andy Pettitte; Brian McNamee; Eric Gagne; Sammy Sosa; Miguel Tejada; Barry Bonds
Synopsis	Phony movie ad for movie about Major League Baseball's drug-using rule-breakers.
Genre	satire
Pencils	Sam Sisco
Inks	Sam Sisco
Letters	typeset

2 page MADKids promo (ad from the publisher) "MADKids On Sale Now!"

Characters	Miley Cyrus; Black Spy; White Spy; Mario; Willy Nilly
Synopsis	Various pages from recent MADKids issues.
Script	various
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	House ad for MADKids current issue and subscriptions.

2 page In Blog We Trust Dept. text story "Planet TAD!!!!!"

Characters	Tad; Miss Engel; Ben Irvin; Mike Fine; Noah Simon; Jay Shepard; Abigail Wallace; Fred Carter; Eddie Lee; Chuck
Synopsis	Tad ends up as the only boy in a school play.
Genre	humor
Script	Tim Carvell
Pencils	? (photo); Brian Durniak
Inks	? (photo); Brian Durniak
Letters	typeset

4 page Serge-In General Dept. story "A MAD Look At Doctors"

Synopsis	A look at problems doctors face.
Genre	humor
Script	Sergio Aragones
Pencils	Sergio Aragones
Inks	Sergio Aragones

2 page Bauer Outtage Dept. story "MAD's Do-It-Yourself 24 Season 7 Plotline"

Characters	Jack Bauer; Hillary Clinton; Norbit; Don Imus; Indiana Jones; Chloe; Oprah Winfrey
Synopsis	Pieces of 24 plots and other junk, categorized so the reader can assemble several possible plotlines.
Genre	satire
Script	Darren Johnson
Pencils	Rick Tulka
Inks	Rick Tulka
Colors	Wildstorm FX
Letters	typeset
Notes	Parody of tv show "24."

2 page Mistake A Vacation Dept. story "Signs You've Chosen The Wrong Spring Break Destination"

Synopsis	Lame and horrible things that could go wrong on a spring break vacation.
Genre	humor
Script	John Caldwell
Pencils	John Caldwell
Inks	John Caldwell
Letters	typeset

1 page Joke And Dagger Dept. story "Spy Vs. Spy"

Characters	Black Spy; White Spy
Synopsis	The Black spy feigns superstitious behavior and the White Spy sets a trap to take advantage of that, but the Black Spy springs one on him instead.
Genre	humor
Script	Peter Kuper
Pencils	Peter Kuper
Inks	Peter Kuper

4 page Angster's Paradise Dept. story "Monroe and...Extreme Makeover"

Characters	Monroe; Monroe's mother; Monroe's father; Monroe's grandfather; Ty Pennington; Javier
Synopsis	Monroe's mother gets the house on the tv show Extreme Home Makeover. Monroe stays to work with the construction crew, ruptures a gas line that is not repaired properly, and the house explodes just after the makeover is completed.
Genre	humor
Script	Anthony Barbieri
Pencils	Tom Fowler
Inks	Tom Fowler
Colors	Ryan Flanders

1 page Apple of Our Ire Dept. story "Hello, I'm Barack. And I'm H. C."

Characters	Barack Obama; Hillary Clinton
Synopsis	Hillary has received fewer votes but insists she's ahead anyway.
Genre	satire
Pencils	Hermann Mejia
Inks	Hermann Mejia
Letters	typeset
Notes	Parody of Apple Computer ads where the PC makes a fool of itself.

2 page Plane Nonsense Dept. story "MAD's Washed-Up Lost Outakes"

Characters	Hurley
Synopsis	TV show "Lost" stills with fake dialog.
Genre	satire
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset

2 page A Poke In The Lie Dept. story "Things We'll Probably Overhear At The Upcoming Barry Bonds Trial..."

Characters	Barry Bonds
Synopsis	One-liners that fit a circus trial atmosphere.
Genre	humor
Script	Jeff Kruse
Pencils	Paul Coker
Inks	Paul Coker
Letters	typeset

1 page Shin Chan advertisement "The Potty Starts Here!"

Synopsis	Ad for DVD of Season One, from Usui Yoshito and Funimation Entertainment.
Letters	typeset

1 page Mad Fold-In activity "Where Does Everyone Agree The Level of Patient Care Is Deplorable?"

Characters	Dr. Phil McGraw
Synopsis	Answer is: Dr. Phil's show.
Genre	humor
Script	Al Jaffee (signed)
Pencils	Al Jaffee (signed)
Inks	Al Jaffee (signed)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Inside back cover.

Marginal Thinking Dept. filler "Drawn-Out Dramas"

Genre	gags
Script	Sergio Aragones
Pencils	Sergio Aragones
Inks	Sergio Aragones
Notes	Gags appear on 13 different pages.

1 page Ninja Gaiden II advertisement "Ninja Gaiden II"

Synopsis	Ad for game from Temco Ltd.
Letters	typeset
Notes	On back cover.