Mad #511 (John Ficarra) Angry Birds and 50th Anniversary of Spy vs Spy Issue - October 2011

I suppose that Angry Birds is a really entertaining way to waste your time but I got off that boat after Pong.  Charles Akins (cover), Akins again ("New Editions of Angry Birds We'd Like to See") and Al Jaffee (Fold-In) found some really clever ways to satirize this computer game.  I like the Sarah Palin bird and the Conan O'Brien bird best.  O'Brien would do this as a tongue-in-cheek joke but Palin would never understand this article - not in a million years.

Antonio Prohias (1921-1998) started this "one-joke" Spy vs. Spy feature 50 years ago and it has now outlived him by 13 years.  Peter Kuper has turned it into a two-page, full-color feature but it is still just a one-joke cartoon.  You see, one of the spies tries to kill the other or steal something from him, and the other one gets wise to the plot and dismembers him or vice versa.  Ha ha.  I guess it appeals mostly to the simple-minded Mad reader.  The Mad editors asked 40+ artists to paint little spy dolls and they did but most of them are rather strange.  The best one is by Tom Otterness. 

The drawing of 2.5 Men by Hermann Mejia on page 8 is excellent.  I also always enjoy the artistic talent of Rick Tulka ("Overheard at the Kardashian Wedding") but the subject matter is not worth his ink. [JAM 8/20/2011]

The host of "I Hate My Name!" is "Michael Hunt."  (If you don't know, I can't help you.)

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
An Embarassment [sic] of Richard's - Phool's Gold Exchange
Poehler Expedition - Parks and Regurgitation
Waiting for the Other Coup to Drop - Dictators Next to be Overthrown
A Waist Is a Terrible Thing to Mind - What's NJ Governor Chris Christie Eating Now?  [Fake Department]
Ash Backwards - 12 Good Things About Your Smoking Addiction
The Top Secret Spy vs. Spy 50th Anniversary Custom Figure Poster
Flight Club - New Editions of Angry Birds We'd Like to See
Here Comes the Wide - Overheard at the Kardashian Wedding
In Blog We Trust - Planet Tad!!!!!
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Lady Gaga
True Grid - Satellite TV Listings
That's False, Folks! - Still More Facts That Sound For a Second Like They Might be True ... But Aren't
Pen And Stink - The Strip Club
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Dorm Room with a View - Disturbing Facts About the Incoming Freshman Class of 2015

Fold-In - Angry Bird.