Mad #431 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Hulk Issue - July 2003

Ang Lee's 2003 movie was widely panned.  I did not see it and neither did any of the Mad writers before this issue went to print.  In spite of that, the Mad editors devoted 15 pages to the "Incredible" one if you count two covers, two ads and a fake Jaffee fold-in.  The best of all of the Hulk drawings is the alternate cover by Mark Fredrickson.  The best of the articles is the double-splash page ("A Mad Peek Behind the Scenes on the Set of The Hulk") drawn by Tom Richmond and written by Dick DeBartolo & Greg Leitman.  The Richmond rendering is loaded with "green" jokes.  Here are the ones that I see: Green dogs Snoopy and Opie, Greenpeace, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Green Hornet, Tom Green, Kermit, Sprout, Green Giant, Green Smurf Alien, Green Acres, Lucky Charms eater, Green Eggs & Ham, Green Party Candidate Ralph Nader, Batman & Superman (green with envy?), Green Bay football player, Oscar, "Tavern on the Green", Lorne Greene, Green-haired Rocker, green beans, etc.  In the double-cover issue, I counted 34 Hulks.

In addition to all of the Hulks, Mad #431 featured the first-ever, six-page, fold-out poster ("Mad's New Sesame Street Characters That Better Reflect Today's World").  3/Design Studio created 14 new Muppets that you will never see on television.  Arie Kaplan and Josh Malinow wrote the jokes.  Also in this issue on the second Letters pages is the very important discussion regarding the true meaning of "Potrzebie".  Yours truly had the only correct answer ("that thing that bounces").  [JAM 5/13/2014]

Color Pages: 37 of 56 pages (66%)
Humorous Content: 45 of 56 pages (80%)

Departments:
It's Not the Heat, It's the Stupidity - C.S. OY: Miami
Hogwarts And All - Shamazon.com: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
The Chat 'N the Stat - Mad Deconstructs TV Talk Shows ... This Month: Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Dieting
Children's Television Work Schlock - Mad's New Sesame Street Characters That Better Reflect Today's World
Tongue 'N Sheik - Al-Jazeera TV Guide
No Cobain, No Gain - Selected Highlights from Courtney Love's Journal
Gross Encounters - Which Big Budget Summer Blockbuster Will Make the Most Money
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and ... The Big Apple Part One
Don't Touch That Vial - If the PBS Pledge Drive Was Run by Crackheads  [fake department]
Green Achers - Hulk-A-Rama!; The 10 Most Pathetic Hulk Fans; A Mad Peek Behind the Scenes on the Set of The Hulk; Mad's Less-Than-Incredible Hulk Outtakes; The Hulk Has a Bad Week!  [Mad's Celebrity Las Vegas Cause-of-Death Betting Odds - The Hulk]

Fold-In - Medical Marijuana [not The Hulk]