Mad #350 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Bill Clinton Issue - October 1996

Bill Clinton presided over eight years of peace and prosperity in U.S. history but he had some personal flaws that taint his legacy.  Long before anyone had heard of Monica Lewinsky, writer Stan Hart summed Clinton's first term in "It's a Blunderful Life" drawn by Mort Drucker.  Hart's strange choice for the role of the angel was Richard Nixon who had died in 1994.  Clinton was also one of the quotees in Mike Snider's "Quotes You Can Bet Were Never Said."  We are still waiting for Jim Carrey's Oscar acceptance speech.  Dick DeBartolo also found room for a Clinton jab in "It's Depends Day" ("I'll bet President Clinton wished he had a first lady like me!")  If nothing else, this issue again proved that Mad editors were equal-political-party satirists. [JAM 4/10/2013]

The "big deal" feature of the issue is the cooperative-advertising venture with America Online.  The enclosed CD-ROM included some repeated Mad stuff that would soon be just a small subset of the Totally MAD software package produced by The Learning Company with a bit of help from yours truly.

After many years of trying, I finally landed a letter in the magazine.  I know it's lame, but I'll take it.

Bill Wray made his first Mad appearance as the artist for "Single Louts."  His future "Monroe" style is in evidence here.

Look for Charlie Brown, Cathy, Tintin, Katzenjammer Kids, ET, Betty Boop, Calvin, Alfred E. Neuman, Bert & Ernie, Swee' Pea, Pinocchio, Orphan Annie, Raggedy Ann, Henry, Lucy Van Pelt, Snoopy, Felix, Waldo, Jughead, Nancy, Sluggo and Dennis the Menace as workers in "Kathie Lee's ... Sweatshop."

More gore: vomiters (pages 11, 28 and 46), torturers (pages 15 and 23), knife wounds (pages 22 and 43), zits (page 26) and loose body parts (page 44).

Departments:
A Tip of the Capra - It's a Blunderful Life
Tales From the Duck Side - The Bracing Bon Vivant Balloonacy
A Stitch in Crime - Kathie Lee's 12 Warning Signs That You're Working in a Sweatshop
Uttered Nonsense - Quotes You Can Bet Were Never Said
Bodacious Cantatas - Works of the Great Composers That Never Mad It
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Whistle While You Lurk - When You're the Biggest Fan/But You Might Just Be a Stalker If
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Body Piercing
Executive Derision - A Mad Guide to Corporate Thinking
Marred Attacks! - It's Depends Day
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Shoving It Up Their Assets - Better Things Billionaires Can Do to Help the U.S.A. Than Run for President
Coming Apart at the Themes - Mad's 1997 Calendar Preview
Court-Ship TV - Single Louts

Fold-In - Mosh Pit