Mad #37 (Albert Feldstein) - Ernie Kovacs Issue - January 1958

This was the first issue of Mad that I bought [as a child].  Re-reading it almost forty years later, I find that I enjoy the humor as much.  It is the only issue with three of the Wood/Kovacs "Strangelys."  My other favorite parts were "Be the first kid on your block to rule the world" (Mad's Xmas Toys) and Alfred E. Neuman's "One Day Wonder Diet" (Report to Russia). [PSA2]

Man's face is in the newspaper he is reading. ("Report to Russia" - page 16)

Departments:
So's Your Old Super Man - Realistic Comic Book Heroes
Under the Spreading Christmas Tree - Mad's Xmas Toys
Bzz-Bzz-Bzzzt - Secret Sportalk
Don Martin - Three Strange Tales
Ernie Kovacs - Strangely Believe It
Punch in the No's - Distinctive Rejection Slips
Red Carpet - Report to Russia
Bob and Ray - Ambiguous Signs, Inc.
Hollywood - Scenes We'd Like to See
Shake, Rattle, and Roll - Mad's Xmas Games
Characters That Grow on You - See Them Now
War Is Heck - How to Wage Peace
Sound Thinking - Mad Goes Hi-Fi
We Couldn't Think of a - The Seven Blunders of the World
Orson Bean - Orson Bean's Civil War
The Bard of Birdland Shakespeare, Up-To-Date
Season's Greetings - A Very Merry Christmas ... And a Happy New Year