Mad #261 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Miami Vice Issue - March 1986

The cover of Mad was much better when drawn by Kurtzman & Elder.  Notice Don Johnson's hairdryer holster and the wanted posters for the Ayatollah and an alligator.  It was rare for any mad cover artist to add humor to the editors' cover concept.  Kurtzman & Elder also drew "Camouflage Tricks of City Animals" written by Rurik Tyler.  Unfortunately, the subject left little room for Elderesque humor.  The "Grand Opening! - Everything Must Go!" sign is clever.  The Lou Silverstone/Mort Drucker parody ("Miami Price") is the best of the issue.  This was one of the rare issues (see also Mad #121, 190, 212, 219) that did not include Al Jaffee's fold-in since this feature began in 1964.  Jaffee had the back page ("Mad Pooper Scooper") and the baseball drawings for "Zonk Me Out at the Ball Game" by Frank Jacobs.  However, neither of these pages compensated for the missing fold-in.  Other than the wise decision to bring back Kurtzman & Elder, there has been little difference between the Meglin/Ficarra Mad and the Feldstein Mad.  [JAM 6/25/2011]

Departments:
Fops And Robbers - Miami Price
Don Martin - One Tuesday Morning on Easter Island; One Wednesday Morning in New York City; One Thursday Morning in the Dungeon
Motion Picks - Mad's Do-It-Yourself "Indiana Jones" Sequel
The Quest Is Yet To Come - Mad's Great American Scavenger Hunt
Dick - American Express Commercials We'd Like To See
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Faking a Trip - Enjoy a Mid-Winter Beach Vacation at Home
Where's the Beast? - Camouflage Tricks of Big City Animals
Polite Switch - Mad's 14 Rules of Good Behavior
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Take a Powder - New Uses for Arm And Hammer Baking Soda
Tuner Fishing - Specialized Cable TV Networks of the Future
Wide World of Snorts - Zonk Me Out at the Ball Game
No Soap, Ratio - Mad's Human Equivalency Scale
United Status of America - A Mad Guide to Yuppies, Yullies and Yuffies
Sleuth Decay - Murder She Hopes
Meet Market - Mad's Personal Ads

Fold-In - (none)