Issue Details

Issue	#493
Published	September 2008
Cover Price	4.99 USD
Pages	52
Editing	John Ficarra

Cover Details - "Yes We Can't"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman [as Alfred E. Obama]
Genre	satire
Pencils	Mark Fredrickson
Inks	Mark Fredrickson
Letters	typeset

1 page TNA Impact! advertisement "Wrestling So Real You Feel Pain"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for game from Midway Studios.

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

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman; Monroe; Amy Winehouse; Indiana Jones; Black Spy; Trumpkin
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	Art is from various places in the magazine. The feature "Hitting The Snail On The Head Department" is phony and does not actually appear in the issue.

3 page Letters And Tomatoes Department story "Random Samplings of Reader Mail"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman; Kal Penn
Script	John Ficarra
Letters	typeset
Notes	Letters, photos and fan art from: Josh Drubin; Izzy Grinspan; Andy Selsberg; josh Kimberlin; Matthew Zarr; Rev. John R. Haas; Abigail Garfinkle; Daniel Mardirosian; James Nolan; Vinnie Klement; Yahawa AshaquaAmy Miller; Miles Robicheaux; Victoria Salvati; Tim Caswell; Leo Traub; Emil Bubala; Anthony Zambrano; Kyle Monk; Devon Thorne; Ed Meisinger; Michael Schnell; Emily Brookstein

Half page credits

Genre	fact
Letters	typeset

1 page Jump Festa advertisement "Win A Trip To Japan!"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for Shonen Jump convention by Viz Media. Appears between pages 1-2 of letters pages.

1 page Heck: Where The Bad Kids Go advertisement "Heck"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for book from Random House Children's Books. Appears between pages 3-4 of letters pages.

3 page Random Acts of Mindless Dept.; Ways To Avoid Paying To Check A Suitcase When You Fly; Calvin And Jobs; Pull My Cheney!; The Godfrey Report; Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds; Dregslist; Rejected Comic Strips; Amnesia Cop; Don Sequitur story "The Fundalini Pages"

Characters	Calvin; Steve Jobs; Miley Cyrus; Grant Dullard; Don Sequitur
Synopsis	Various short satires of pop culture.
Genre	satire; humor
Script	?; Dick DeBartolo; Jacob Lambert
Pencils	?; Rick Tulka; Tom Cheney; Gary Hallgren
Inks	?; Rick Tulka; Tom Cheney; Gary Hallgren
Letters	?; typeset
Notes	Contributors (roles unknown) include: Peter Bagge; Zachary Baldus; Tom Cheney; Dick DeBartolo; Jonathan Edwards; Gary Hallgren; Darren Johnson; Jeff Kruse; Jacob Lambert; Joe Quinones; Rick Tulka

1 page A Mad Political Poster; Rookie Monster Dept. illustration "The 46-Year-Old Political Virgin"

Characters	Barack Obama
Genre	satire
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset

5 page An Indy Film Dept. story "Inadiaper Jones And The Kingdom of The Creative Dry Spell"

Characters	Inbanana Jones; Ireeka Shpilkis; Muck Wilson; Marryin Ravingwood; Mack McHeel; Charles Steerforth; Lox Loxley
Synopsis	Inbanana and company bumble throught the jungle to his marriage.
Genre	satire
Script	Arnie Kogen
Pencils	Hermann Mejia
Inks	Hermann Mejia
Letters	typeset
Notes	The Indiana Jones character's name changes everytime it's used, comprising the following: Inadiaper Jones; Inbanana Jones; Influenza Jones; Incontinent Jones; Incompetent Jones; Inadequate Jones; Indigestion Jones; Incorrigible Jones; Inanimate Jones; Inconsistent Jones

1 page NBC; USA Network advertisement "AST Dew Tour"

Characters	Adam Jones
Synopsis	Ad for AST Dew Tour tv show series.
Pencils	Bo Bridges (photo)
Inks	Bo Bridges (photo)
Colors	Bo Bridges (photo)
Letters	typeset

3 page Serge-In General Dept. story "A Mad Look At Summer Fun"

Synopsis	Things that can go wrong with summer fun.
Genre	humor
Script	Sergio Aragones
Pencils	Sergio Aragones
Inks	Sergio Aragones

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.

2 page Crack Is Aack! Dept. story "Amy"

Characters	Amy Winehouse
Synopsis	Parody strips in the style of Cathy.
Genre	satire
Pencils	Gary Hallgren
Inks	Gary Hallgren
Letters	typeset

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

Characters	Rex [Mr. Kensington]; Hamburger Helper Hand
Synopsis	A month in the life of Tad, as he finds and cares for a lost dog.
Genre	humor
Script	Tim Carvell
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset

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

Characters	Black Spy; White Spy
Synopsis	Two strips. In the first, the Black Spy is captured by a rocket he attempts to steal from the White Spy. In the second, the White Spy is attacked by a bird that was disguised as the Black Spy.
Genre	humor
Script	Peter Kuper
Pencils	Peter Kuper
Inks	Peter Kuper

1 page A MAD Ad Parody; Sloppy Disc Dept. story "In Stores This Week!"

Synopsis	A fake ad for a music CD.
Genre	satire
Script	Darren Johnson
Letters	typeset

4 page Angster's Paradise Dept. story "Monroe and...The New Phone"

Characters	Monroe; Monroe's mother; Monroe's father; Monroe's grandfather; Phone Company Frank; Walter; Mr. Bines; Cameron Shnivle
Synopsis	A phone company erects a cell tower in Monroe's yard and gives the family top-of-the-line phones as payment. As usual, Monroe has a great time for awhile until everything falls apart.
Genre	humor
Script	Anthony Barbieri
Pencils	Tom Fowler
Inks	Tom Fowler
Colors	Carl Peterson

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 space travel.
Script	Jeffrey Lozenge ?
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	House ad for Mad subscriptions; #19 in a series.

2 page The High Corpse of Living Dept. story "When The Recession Hits Funeral Homes"

Synopsis	Extreme examples of funeral homes' money-saving efforts.
Genre	humor
Script	Teresa Burns Parkhurst
Pencils	Teresa Burns Parkhurst
Inks	Teresa Burns Parkhurst
Letters	Teresa Burns Parkhurst; typeset

2 page Lauren Order Dept. story "MAD Heads For The Hills Outtakes"

Genre	satire
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Stills from the tv show "The Hills" with fake dialog.

3 page Trip Tease Dept. story "The MAD World of Travel"

Synopsis	Several gags on travel subjects.
Genre	humor
Script	Stan Sinberg
Pencils	Marc Hempel
Inks	Marc Hempel
Letters	typeset

1 page A Mad Political Poster; Leave It To Geezer Dept. illustration "No Country For Old Man"

Characters	John McCain
Genre	satire
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset

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

Characters	JAck Black; Alfred E. Neuman; White Spy Jr.; Black Spy Jr.
Script	various
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	House ad for MADKids magazine, showing several features from the next issue.

4 page Whose Lion Is It Anyway? Dept. story "The Chronic-Ills of Yawnia Prince Thespian"

Characters	Loosely; Deadmund; Snoozen; Peeper; Prince Thespian; Pumpkin; Triflehunter; Redo-Cheep; King MyAss; Grumpy (cameo); Dopey (cameo); Aslan; George W. Bush (cameo)
Synopsis	The children and Prince Thespian defeat the forces of King MyAss.
Genre	satire
Script	Dick DeBartolo
Pencils	Mort Drucker
Inks	Mort Drucker
Letters	typeset

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

Synopsis	Cover of MAD #229 with a variation to find the differences on.
Genre	humor
Pencils	Don Martin
Inks	Don Martin
Letters	typeset
Notes	Answer included.
Reprinted	From Mad (EC, 1952 Series) #229

1 page Mad Fold-In activity "What Horrific Disaster Is Leaving Many Experts Feeling Bewildered And Helpless?"

Characters	Amy Winehouse
Synopsis	Answer is: Amy Winehouse
Genre	humor
Script	Al Jaffee
Pencils	Al Jaffee
Inks	Al Jaffee
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 17 different pages.

1 page Soulcalibur IV advertisement "What's Within Your Soul?"

Characters	Yoda; Darth Vader
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for game from Namco Bandai and Lucasfilms. On back cover.