Issue Details

Issue	#495
Published	November 2008
Cover Price	4.99 USD
Pages	52
Editing	John Ficarra
Notes	ISSN 024 9319

Cover Details - "Comedy Before Country" Election Issue

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman
Genre	humor
Letters	typeset
Notes	ISSN 024 9319

1 page Sexdrive advertisement "Sexdrive"

Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for the movie by Summit Entertainment. On inside front cover.

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

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman; The Joker; John McCain
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	Art is from various places in the magazine. The feature "Why So Sirius? 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	Alfred E. Neuman; Black Spy; White Spy; Bill Clinton; Jacobus Dixon; Michael Grinspan; Matt Lassen; Jon Marquis; Aaron Sidorov; Laurie Sanford; Erin Miller
Synopsis	Photos of MAD interns.
Script	John Ficarra
Pencils	?; ? (photo)
Inks	?; ? (photo)
Colors	?; ? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Letters, photos and fan art from : Griffin Benzel; Andrew Rybczynski; Brenner Williams; Christina Collins; Nikki Franda; Evan Caprenter; Ryan Murphy; Bryce Waslak; Tommy La Voy; Jacob McDaniel; Yahawa Ashaqua

1 page Silent Hill Homecoming advertisement "Silent Hill Homecoming"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for game from Konami. Appears between pages 1-2 of letters pages.

1 page Heritage Auction Galleries; MAD advertisement "You Can Own MAD Original Art!"

Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for a Heritage auction. Shows covers of MAD #31, #43, #106, #126 and others. Appears between pages 2-3 of letters pages.

Half page credits

Letters	typeset
Notes	On 3rd page of letters column.

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 liberty.
Script	Jeffrey Lozenge ?
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	House ad for Mad subscriptions; #27 in a series.

3 page Random Acts of Mindless Dept.; Bitterman; Least Popular Halloween Costumes of 2008; The "Real" Reasons Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Was Delayed; Pull My Cheney!; Advantages and Disadvantages story "The Fundalini Pages"

Characters	Joe Biden; Sarah Palin; John McCain; Joe Bitterman; Bill O'Reilly; John Edwards; Jethro Gruntman; Heinrich von Boffo; Dogstar Zamana; Claxton Baker
Synopsis	Various short satires of pop culture.
Genre	humor
Pencils	various
Inks	various
Letters	typeset
Notes	Contributors (roles unknown) include: Scott Bricher; Tom Bunk; Tom Cheney; Dick DeBartolo; Desmond Devlin; Garth Gerhart; Jeff Kruse; Sam Sisco

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

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

6 page Don't Wayne On My Parade Dept. story "The Dork Knight"

Characters	Battyman [Bruce Whine]; The Jokester; Radish Dawson; Harvey Dink; Katie Holmes; Tom Cruse (cameo); Bozo (cameo); Ronald McDonald (cameo); Superman (cameo); Commissioner Walk-on; Neuman; Cookie Monster (cameo)
Synopsis	Loosely follows the plot of the movie "The Dark Knight."
Genre	satire
Script	Desmond Devlin
Pencils	Tom Richmond
Inks	Tom Richmond
Letters	typeset
Notes	No name is given for the Morgan Freeman character.

2 page Lexicon-job Dept. story "Mad's Updated Glossary to The War On Terror"

Characters	George Bush; Joe Lieberman; Colin Powell; John McCain
Synopsis	Fake definitions for words used to describe aspects of the War on Terror.
Genre	satire
Script	Desmond Devlin
Pencils	Paul Coker
Inks	Paul Coker
Letters	typeset
Notes	A follow-up to an article in MAD #438.

4 page Serge-In General Dept. story "A MAD Look at Fortune Tellers"

Synopsis	A look at some possible goofy outcomes of fortune telling.
Genre	humor
Script	Sergio Aragones
Pencils	Sergio Aragones
Inks	Sergio Aragones

2 page Alfred E. Neuman; A MAD Political Poster; Campaignin' The Ass Dept. illustration "Hopeless"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman
Genre	satire
Letters	typeset
Notes	A parody of the Barack Obama poster "Hope."

3 page The Chat 'N The Stat Dept. story "MAD Deconstructs TV Talk Shows"

Characters	Keith Olberman; George W. Bush; John McCain; John Edwards; Andrea Mitchell; Bill O'Reilly
Synopsis	Minute-by-minute looks at features on "Countdown" taken to their extremes.
Genre	satire
Script	Desmond Devlin
Pencils	Peter Kuper
Inks	Peter Kuper
Letters	typeset

1 page MAD books promo (ad from the publisher) "It's Wall-to-Wall Stupidity!"

Characters	Alfred E. Neuman; Bill Clinton
Letters	typeset
Notes	House ad for MAD Magazine Poster Book and MAD About Politics pop-up book.

3 page Antique Slideshow Dept. story "A Look Back At The Historical Career of John McCain"

Characters	John McCain; Thomas Jefferson; James Monroe; Meriwether Lewis; William Clark; Sacagawea; Abraham Lincoln; Betsy Ross; Charles Lindberg; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Joseph Stalin
Synopsis	John McCain appears in historic paintings and photos of the past 400 years of American history.
Genre	satire
Pencils	Scott Bricher; ? (photo)
Inks	Scott Bricher; ? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Uses some real historic photos as bases for some computer changes.

4 page Angster's Paradise Dept. story "Monroe and...Domestic Terror"

Characters	Monroe; Monroe's mother; Monroe's father; Monroe's grandfather; Walter; Gustavo
Synopsis	Monroe's chemistry experiment blows up in class and the FBI takes him in for interrogation as a terrorist suspect.
Genre	humor
Script	Anthony Barbieri
Pencils	Tom Fowler
Inks	Tom Fowler
Colors	Carl Peterson

4 page Pen And Stink Dept.; Man On The Street; It Only Hurts When I Laugh; How To Dump An Invisible Man!; The Machine That Travels Through Time; The Family Follies!; Me, Myself and My Puppet; The Roommates: John, Joe and Jerry; Just Below The Surface story "The Strip Club"

Genre	humor
Script	Ryan Pagelow; Christopher Baldwin; Glen Lelievre;Joey Sayers; Rob Harrell; John Kovaleski; Todd Clark; Douglas Paszkiewicz
Pencils	Ryan Pagelow; Christopher Baldwin; Glen Lelievre;Joey Sayers; Rob Harrell; John Kovaleski; Todd Clark; Douglas Paszkiewicz
Inks	Ryan Pagelow; Christopher Baldwin; Glen Lelievre;Joey Sayers; Rob Harrell; John Kovaleski; Todd Clark; Douglas Paszkiewicz
Letters	Ryan Pagelow; Christopher Baldwin; Glen Lelievre;Joey Sayers; Rob Harrell; John Kovaleski; Todd Clark; Douglas Paszkiewicz
Notes	A collection of comic strips.

1 page A Mad Political Poster; In Veep Trouble Dept. illustration "Not Vetting Sarah Palin"

Characters	John McCain; Sarah Palin
Synopsis	A parody of movie poster for "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
Genre	satire
Pencils	?; ? (photo)
Inks	?; ? (photo)
Colors	?; ? (photo)
Letters	typeset

2 page The Apes of Wrath Dept. story "When Monkeys Go Bad"

Characters	Michael Jackson; Bubbles
Synopsis	A look at the things apes would do wrong if they thought more like people.
Genre	humor
Script	John Caldwell
Pencils	John Caldwell
Inks	John Caldwell
Letters	typeset

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

Characters	Black Spy; White Spy; Grey Spy
Synopsis	The Grey Spy lures the others into a trap, with her feminine wiles.
Genre	humor
Script	Peter Kuper
Pencils	Peter Kuper
Inks	Peter Kuper

2 page Electoral College Prep Dept. story "When High School Elections Are Run Like Presidential Elections"

Synopsis	What might happen if common practices in presidential elections were transfered to high schools.
Genre	satire
Script	Nathaniel Stein
Pencils	Jose Garibaldi
Inks	Jose Garibaldi
Letters	ty

1 page BBC Video; Amazon.com; 2 entertain Video Ltd. advertisement "The New British Invasion"

Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for DVDs of tv shows: Little Britain; The Office; Doctor Who; Robin Hood; Spaced; Torchwood

1 page Mad Fold-In activity "Who's Made A Fortune Collecting And Packaging Garbage?"

Synopsis	Answer is: TMZ.
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 11 different pages.

1 page Hell In A Cell advertisement "In Hell's Darkest Chamber, Immortality Waits."

Characters	Kane; Undertaker
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Colors	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	Ad for wrestling DVD with mini-busts bonus figurines, from World Wrestling Entertainment. On back cover.