Mad #358 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - X-Files Issue - June 1997

Drew Friedman provided the cover art of Mulder & Scully and the three-page "Real Reasons Why the X-Files is Totally Unbelievable" for the paranormal, FBI-angst series that never seemed to resolve anything.  Writer Mike Snider examined eight of the situations that most viewers will agree made X-Files a strange television phenomenon.  The series went from one supernatural event to next for ten years (1993-2002) always leaving the loosest of all loose ends including one trip to the big screen in 1998.

This issue also featured once of the most unusual articles ("Disney-fied Versions of Adult Films") as the Monroe & Melvin & Jenkins era Mad continued to demonstrate its edgier side not exactly targeting the preteen market.  Ace writers Desmond Devlin and Frank Jacobs accepted the challenge to do short parodies of three "adult" movies (Pulp Fiction, The Silence of the Lambs, and John Wayne Bobbit Uncut) that would usually not appear in Mad.  The twist here is that the writers were ask to add the Disney touch to the movie parodies.  The drawings by Sam Viviano are excellent but the concept is just too weird for comfort.  Animated hypodermic needles, dwarves in straight jackets and talking kitchen utensils make this more of an "improv" exercise than anything else.  Is Mad an adult humor magazine now? [JAM 5/24/2013]

Departments:
Behind the Intoxicate Ball - Dewar's Ad Rejects
Behind the Eviscerate Ball - Mil-lemon-ium
Behind the Detonate Ball - The Nights & Days of Desmond the Bungling Bomber
Behind the Nauseate Ball - Watch Out Guys, It's a Chick Flick!
Behind the Incarcerate Ball - "So, You're Going to Prison!"
Behind the Inebriate Ball - Safety Tips for the Party Animal
Behind the Humiliate Ball - Monroe & ... a Day at the Beach
Behind the Defibrillate Ball - The ER Patient's Bill of Rights
Behind the Meditate Ball - A Mad Look at Spirituality
Behind the Recapitulate Ball - "How We First Met" Stories That Today's Young Lovers Will be Stuck With
Behind the Donate Ball - The 1997 DNC Rate Card
Behind the Out-of-Date Ball - The Lighter Side
Behind the Federal Bureau of Investigate Ball - Real Reasons Why The X-Files is Totally Unbelievable
Behind the Animate Ball - Disney-fied Versions of Adult Films
Behind the Cremate Ball - Mad's Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds

Fold-In - Superman