Mad #549 (John Ficarra) - Dumbest People 2017 - February 2018

This may be the least funny issue of the millennium.  The "20 Dumbest" list has devolved into a series of parodies about the worst political tragedies of the calendar year.  To his credit, Al Jaffee is the only writer/artist who selected a non-tragic cultural issue (fidget) for his subject.  Awful President Trump dominates ten of the twenty dumbest.  And, ugly right-wingers O'Reilly, Spicer, Pence, Christie and Jones fill four more.  The final score is Republicans 14, Democrats 1 (Weinstein) and others 5.  The worst of them all (Putin), somehow manages to skate by with just a cameo on the introductory page.  It seems that the world is now ruled by a group of James Bond villains (Trump, Putin, Kim Jong Un, et al.).  After the 20 Dumbest and a fairly good "Dewey Derwin" adventure, this penultimate Ficarra-edited issue is composed of desk-clearing fillers.  Trying very hard to find funny here, I have selected the "CLODCO" ad parody by Jeff Kruse and Mike Loew as the best of otherwise slim pickings.  Let us hope that Ficarra and company can rise to the occasion and deliver one more gem of an issue for their swan song with Mad #550. [JAM 12/7/2017]

Departments
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
20 Dumbest People, Events and Things 2017
Character Flawed - Dewey Derwin Destroys the World!
The Incredible Bulk - Clodco Wholesale
The Greatest Stories Ever Hurled - Projectile Vomit Baby Through History
The Scarlet Sweater - Mad's Guide to Shameful Winter Attire [fake department]
Dates & Confused - Tinder Bio Translations
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Rotten to the Encore - The Mad Vault
Pen And Stink - The Mad Strip Club
A Walk in the Parkhurst - 10 Toons by Teresa Burns Parkhurst
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Food Trucks
Out with the Old, In with the Neuman - The Gap-Toothed Gallery

Fold-In - Fidget