Mad #232 (Albert Feldstein) - Greatest Hero Issue - July 1982

The Greatest American Hero was a semi-parody of superheroes that appeared on television for three years (1981-1983) starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca and Robert Culp (1930-2010).  The lead character never really did learn how to use his alien-given powers but somehow managed to conquer the evildoers in the end.  Culp was the chatty FBI agent who found the baddies for the reluctant hero.  This premise was probably closer to what would really happen if someone became super.  In Lou Silverstone's story, three terrorists stole a nuclear bomb and kidnapped Sellecca.  Katt dons his super suit but the terrorists surrender if the FBI agent promises to stop talking.  Along the way, our heroes encounter Mort Drucker's Batman, Robin, Mickey Mouse, Spiderman, Bill Cosby, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Judd Hirsch, Mary Poppins, Superman and Mad's zeppelin.  [JAM 12/9/2010]

One of the student's books is "The Philosophy of L. Brenner" (Mad's art director) on page 12; a missile has been launched from the classroom globe (page 13); Howard Gosell has a price tag on his toupee ($1.98) in "Mad's Occult Promoter of the Year;" older ladies always wear bird hats in Jack Davis drawings; Popeye meets Fred Flintstone in "Mad Looks in on Public Television."

Departments:
From Suit to Nut - The Greatest American Zero
Don Martin - One Gloomy Day in the Dungeons; One Sunny Day in the Dungeons; One Happy Day in the Dungeons
Detest Papers - The Mad Students Hate Book
Post Dated - If Junk Mail Had Always Existed
Schlock Treatment - A Mad Guide to First Aid
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Alphabet Dupe - Mad's ABC's of Writing Successful Exams and Term Papers
Fat's Entertainment - How to Look Slim and Trim without Diet or Strenuous Exercise
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
There's a Fraud in Your Future - Mad's Occult Promoter of the Year
Taking Two Tablets with a Grain of Salt - Mad's Modern Disclaimers to the Ten Commandments
Denounce of Pretension - Mad Looks in on Public Television

Fold-In - Sick Man