| Issue | #3 |
| Published | January - February 1953 |
| Cover Price | 0.10 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Harvey Kurtzman |
| Genre | humor; horror |
| Pencils | Harvey Kurtzman |
| Inks | Harvey Kurtzman |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Script | Harvey Kurtzman; William Gaines |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Letters of review for Mad #1, with illustration. On inside front cover. |
| Characters | Joe Friday; Ed Saturday; Mr. Glotz; The Chief |
| Synopsis | Joe and Ed travel around the world NOT solving a crime. |
| Genre | satire |
| Pencils | Bill Elder [as Sergeant Elder] |
| Inks | Bill Elder [as Sergeant Elder] |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Notes | A parody of Dragnet tv show. |
| Reprinted | in Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (E.C., 1997 series) #1 |
| Characters | Roquefort; Camembert; Chantilly; Sergeant Guillotine; Goscinny; Frothingbash; Pastafazoo; Hossenpfeffer; Rasputin; Melvin; Melvin's wife Rosie |
| Synopsis | Melvin has joined the Foreign Legion to escape his wife and kids, but she decimates the entire regiment at Fort Wadi El Aycare. |
| Genre | satire |
| Pencils | John Severin (signed) |
| Inks | John Severin (signed) |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Notes | The first panel is an infinity picture. |
| Reprinted | in In Tales Calculated To Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #1 |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | House ad for E.C. comics. Printed as two ½ pages in bookend fashion around text story sequence. |
| Synopsis | Play-by-play announcing for a Roman gladiatorial double header, including a commercial. |
| Genre | humor |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Text story with an illustration. |
| Characters | Cosmo McMoon; Malfeasance O'Malley; Morningside Mac Mixmaster; Truman Remote; Vino Muscatel; Marie Severin |
| Synopsis | Cosmo solves a kidnapping of Truman Remote for Remote's publisher, Random Shack. |
| Genre | crime; humor |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Marie Severin runs a day nursery. |
| Characters | Godiva; Godiva's kid brothers; Renfrew |
| Synopsis | A vampire goes on a date with a werewolf. |
| Genre | humor; horror |
| Pencils | Wally Wood |
| Inks | Wally Wood |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Notes | References "Vault of Horror" #9. |
| Reprinted | in Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #1 |
| Characters | Lone Stranger; Golden; Pronto |
| Synopsis | The Lone Stranger bumbles his way through foiling a stage coach robbery. |
| Genre | satire |
| Pencils | Jack Davis (signed) |
| Inks | Jack Davis (signed) |
| Colors | Marie Severin |
| Notes | A parody of the Lone Ranger. |
| Reprinted | in Mad Reader, The (Ballantine Books, 1954 series) #93; Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad (EC, 1997 series) #1; Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn] |
| Pencils | ? (photo) |
| Inks | ? (photo) |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Ad for auto seat covers. |
| Characters | Roger Hirsch; George Jowett |
| Pencils | ? (photo) |
| Inks | ? (photo) |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Ad for body-building method. On inside back cover. |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Ad for seed sales opportunity. On back cover. |