Mad #295 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - John Ficarra Issue - June 1990

John Ficarra has been on the editorial staff of Mad since 1984.  He started as a writer but was quickly hired as an associate editor and became co-editor with Nick Meglin when Al Feldstein retired.  Although primarily an editor, Ficarra has continued to contribute to 75 issues as a writer, mostly under the pseudonym "J.Prete."  In this issue, three Mad artists poked fun at Ficarra.  Paul Peter Porges placed the editor in "Americans 9 Most Wanted Jerks" as a yearbook editor named. "Ficar A. Johns."  Dave Berg put Ficarra, Meglin, Bill Gaines and Joe Raiola in "The Office" as usual.  And, John Caldwell put Ficarra at the drawing board in "6 Unpromising Intros to Articles in Mad."  One of the great features of Mad is its inside jokes that take jabs at each other.  In addition to Ficarra, publisher Gaines was identified as the owner of "Gaines Manure Co." by Mort Drucker ("Bleak for the Future Part II").  Co-editor Meglin was also skewered by Sergio Aragones in a marginal (page 21) in which he is clobbered by a giant tennis ball falling off of "The Tennis Shop."  [JAM 12/20/2011]

Departments:
21st Century Fox - Bleak for the Future Part II
A Word to the Guise - When "Doublespeak" Takes Over Completely
Recall Waiting - "When I Was Your Age ..." Stories Today's Kids Will Be Telling Their Grandchildren
Let the Maims Begin - Sports Disasters of the 1980's
Tales from the Duck Side - The Meaty Mermaid Menace; The Longwinded Laboratory Liquidation
Bland on the Run - America's 9 Most Wanted Jerks
Splurge in General - Some Truly Joyous Things You Could Do If You Won the Lottery
Off the Beaten Laugh Track - TV Sitcoms that Break Fresh Ground
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Compiling It On - Mad's Really Relevant Collection of Lists
Crawl of the Wild - TV and Movie Credits You Probably Missed
From Bad to Reverse - More Mad Switcheroos
Turtle Whacks - A Modern Day Fairy Tale
Child-A-Bruce - Look Who's Squawking
Media-Morphosis - If Famous Movies Were Made into Comic Strips
Zaps All, Folks! - Mad's Ultimate TV Remote Control

Fold-In - Coffin