Issue Details

Issue	#20
Published	February 1955
Cover Price	0.10 USD
Pages	36
Editing	Harvey Kurtzman
Notes	Character appearances, Department names and other miscellaneous info for this issue added by Donald Dale Milne, December 2008.

Cover Details - "Composition"

Synopsis	Cover appears as a high school composition notebook.
Genre	parody; satire
Letters	typeset
Notes	Character appearances, Department names and other miscellaneous info for this issue added by Donald Dale Milne, December 2008.
Reprinted	in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]

1 page Panic; Mad promo (ad from the publisher) "No, I Said! You Can't Have My Copy of MAD!"

Synopsis	A house ad for MAD and Panic subscriptions.
Pencils	Will Elder
Inks	Will Elder
Notes	Inside front cover.

8 page Newspaper Cartoon Dept. story "Katchandhammer Kids!"

Characters	Hans Katchandhammer; Feetz Katchandhammer; Der Kapitan; Inspektor; boat company man; Mamma
Synopsis	A parody of the Katzenjammer Kids comic strip.
Genre	parody; satire
Script	Harvey Kurtzman
Pencils	Will Elder (signed)
Inks	Will Elder (signed)
Colors	Marie Severin ?
Notes	The script appears to be real German at the beginning, before changing into a pastiche of English, German and pseudo-German.
Reprinted	in Inside Mad (Ballantine Books, 1955 series) #124; in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1

7 page Comic book Dept.; Kane Keen story "Sound Effects!"

Characters	Kane Keen; Joe Arrrgh
Synopsis	A murder mystery with no dialog, only sound effects.
Genre	parody; satire
Script	Harvey Kurtzman
Pencils	Wally Wood (signed)
Inks	Wally Wood (signed)
Colors	Marie Severin ?
Reprinted	in MAD Special [MAD Super Special] (EC, 1970 series) #12

1 page Piracy promo (ad from the publisher) "We Know You'll Enjoy..."

Synopsis	A house ad for a subscription to Piracy.
Colors	Marie Severin ?

1 page MAD Mumblings letters page "MAD Mumblings"

Synopsis	Letters of comment from Abe Lieberman, Brooklyn NY; Gene Compton, Mibone NC; Eddie Evans, Dallas TX; Lawrence Rogers, Seattle WA; Walter Sandvik & Richard Whitman, Hopewell Junction NY; Margaret Charles, New York, NY; Doug Polling, Toledo OH; GGG, Derby NY; Jere Thomas, Mobile, AL; Tom Lathrop, Los Angeles, CA; Glenford Friffen, Portland OR; Al Teaff, Houston TX; and Louis Grimshaw, Ontario CN
Letters	typeset

1 page text article "Bop"

Synopsis	A dictionary of Bop slang.
Genre	parody; satire
Letters	typeset

6 page Poetry Dept. story "Paul Revere's Ride!"

Synopsis	A humorous illustration of the poem by Longfellow.
Genre	parody; satire
Script	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (script); ?
Pencils	Jack Davis (signed)
Inks	Jack Davis (signed)
Colors	Marie Severin ?

5 page Comparison Dept. story "Cowboy!"

Characters	Lance Sterling; John Smurd
Synopsis	Parallel stories comparing the movie version of the Old West with real life.
Genre	parody; satire
Script	Harvey Kurtzman
Pencils	Jack Davis (signed)
Inks	Jack Davis (signed)
Colors	Marie Severin ?
Reprinted	in Mad Strikes Back (Ballantine Books, 1955 series) #106

Half page classified ads advertisement "Look Here!"

Letters	typeset
Notes	Classified ads.

Half page Lighting Ju-Jitsu advertisement "You, Too, Can Be Tough!"

Synopsis	An ad for Bee Jay ju-jitsu instruction.
Letters	typeset

1 page National Schools advertisement "Television-Radio-Electronics"

Letters	?; typeset
Notes	An ad for National Schools training courses.

1 page Johnson Smith & Company advertisement "New Catalog of 3100 Novelties"

Synopsis	An ad for Johnson Smith & Company novelty catalog.
Letters	typeset

1 page Powerhouse Binoculars advertisement "9X Area Magnification!"

Synopsis	An ad for Powerhouse binoculars from Thoreson's.
Pencils	? (photo)
Inks	? (photo)
Letters	typeset
Notes	inside backcover

1 page The FUNMan advertisement "Prizes Given"

Synopsis	Ad for the FUNman religious wall motto sales.
Letters	typeset