Mad #372 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - I.D.I.O.T.S. Issue - August 1998

The South Park double cover by Sam Viviano was by far the best of these three [Nos. 371-373].

Issue #371 features the excellent parody of 99-cent stores written by newcomer Scott Maiko.  I love the clownbird that appears twice on page 25.  See also the editor's comments in Letters and Tomatoes for #372.  I think we have not seen the last of the clownbird.

 I was also very impressed by the debut of writer Eric Perlin in #372 with "Inspirational Divine Institute of Total Salvation" (IDIOTS).  "The Alrighty One will refrain from smiting you if you surrender your heart, soul and Walkman to Him.

The September (#373) issue was for the comets.  Bennett, Drucker and Bunk deliver three different parodies of the comet movies.  We did not really expect Mad to ignore these improbable disasters.

Viviano, Devlin, newcomer Scott Bricher, Drew Friedman, Schwartzberg and Jaffee do South Park.

Frank jacobs, Friedman, Charlie Kadau, Guy Blackwell and John Caldwell join the Clinton-bashing frenzy.  This target is too easy for Mad.

I guess we must expect at least two more years of Clinton jokes, but what about this Titanic thing.  DeBartolo, Timothy Shamey, Herman Mejia and Mike Snider continue the parodies.

Monroe goes to camp then back to school.  How many times must this protagonist be tortured in a repetitive strip that is drawn poorly?  We get eleven more ugly, depressing pages without Stimpy in the background.  It is appropriate that Charlie Brown should appear to share Monroe's pain.  (I do not like this one but some people do.)

M & J please take a hike.

Keith Seidel is the new artist: "Old-Timers" in #372 and "Sportsmanship" in #373.  His style (caricatures-in-action?) is quite different.  Time will tell if Mad has a new star.

I like to see the feminine touch of Shary Flenniken & Peggy Doody.  Flenniken is the National Lampoon veteran (Trots & Bonnie).  The humor is tame and the drawings are nice.  I would rather see good clean art than bad gross art.

The best drawings in the three issues [Nos. 371-373] were by Friedman ("X Files"), Bob Clarke (clownbirds), Angelo Torres (Charo floats), Tom Bunk (mall scene), Blackwell (Ken Starr), Mejia (Pamela Lee), Caldwell (Bunk-like crowds) and Rick Geary (Garth et al.).   [MADlog #12 - October 1998]

Departments:
The Disgrace of Spade's - Just Spoof Me
VH-Dumb - Mad Pop Off Video: Usher "Nice and Slow"; Ben Folds Five "Brick"
Bombing & Clod - You're Really Not Much of a Terrorist If
The World According to AARP - When Other Old-Timers Try to Relive Their Greatest Day
In Hire Straits - Job Hunting with the Single Career Girl in the Big City
The Schmucks Stop Here - Melvin & Jenkins' Guide to Fine Dining
Prose And Converts - A Typical Religious Fanatic Tract
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
The Blight House - Mad's Do-It-Yourself Complete Clinton Scandal Guide
Let the Games Be Grim - The Mall-Rat Olympics
Angster's Paradise - Monroe & ... The Summer Camp Job
The Excerpt Files - Quotes We're Afraid We'll Hear if Bill Clinton's Secret Service Agents Testify
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Magic
Frank on a Roll - The Stalking of Pamela Lee
The Fall of the Romano Empire - Everybody Loathes Raymud
When the Ship Hits the Scam - The Official Titanic-Oriented Artifacts & Stuff Catalog
Grieving Las Vegas - Mad's Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds

Fold-In - Singer