MAD #253 — March 1985

"People who make the same mistake the second time are the lucky ones who didn't kill themselves making it the first time!" — Alfred E. Neuman

Contents

• Ad for More Trash from MAD — Special Summer 1985

  featuring 8 shocking ridiculous full-color MAD mini-posters
  C2
• Contents Page
  1
• Letters Have It Dept.

  Notes

  • William Gaines image from Jack Davis. Ads for A MAD Look at the 50's Paperback and Subscriptions
  2–3
• Drawn-Out Dramas

  Marginal Thinking Dept.

  Sergio Aragones
  (various places around the magazine) summary
• Roger Ebore and Gene Sissy review three films (movie satires)

  Deja Review Dept.

  Written by Arnie Kogen

  • Intro Page — Art by Sam Viviano
    Reprinted in 3 collections

    • MAD Special #77 — Winter 1991
    • The Spring Training MAD — 1993 (Paperback #92)
    • MAD Spoofs Movie Classics — Special Collector's Edition 2015
  • Ghost-Dusters — Art by Sam Viviano
    Reprinted in 3 collections

    • MAD Special #77 — Winter 1991
    • The Spring Training MAD — 1993 (Paperback #92)
    • MAD Spoofs Movie Classics — Special Collector's Edition 2015
  • Purple Acid Rain — Art by Harry North, Esq.
    Reprinted in 4 collections

    • MAD Special #77 — Winter 1991
    • The Spring Training MAD — 1993 (Paperback #92)
    • MAD Art — 2002 (excerpt)
    • MAD Spoofs Movie Classics — Special Collector's Edition 2015
  • The Karocky Kid — Art by Angelo Torres
    Reprinted in 4 collections

    • MAD Special #77 — Winter 1991
    • The Spring Training MAD — 1993 (Paperback #92)
    • MAD Spoofs Movie Classics — Special Collector's Edition 2015
    • MAD #21 — October 2021
  4–12
• The Trend Toward Rottenness in the Comic Strips / When All Comic Strip Characters Turn Rotten

  Sour Greats Dept.

  Written by Larry Siegel / Art by Bob Clarke

  Reprinted in 4 collections

  • MAD Special #73 — Winter 1990
  • MAD Takes the Cake — 1992 (Paperback #90)
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — Number Two — 2001
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — The Mother Load — 2004
  13–15 sample
• Don Edwing Looks at Funerals

  Bury Funny Dept.

  Don (Duck) Edwing

  Reprinted in 3 collections

  • MAD Special #104 — June 1995
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — Turd in a Series — 2003
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — The Mother Load — 2004
  16–19
• The MAD Chain Letter

  Post Waste Dept.

  Written by Frank Jacobs

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Special #86 — March 1993
  20
• An Instant Guide to American Regional Types

  Sectional Education Dept.

  Written by Frank Jacobs / Art by Paul Coker, Jr.

  Reprinted in 5 collections

  • MAD Special #75 — Summer 1991
  • Unstoppable MAD — 1992 (Paperback #91)
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — Number Two — 2001
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — The Mother Load — 2004
  • MAD's Greatest Writers — Frank Jacobs — 2015
  21–23 sample
• The Lighter Side of...

  Berg's-Eye View Dept.

  Dave Berg

  Reprinted in 3 collections

  • MAD Special #73 — Winter 1990
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — Turd in a Series — 2003
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — The Mother Load — 2004
  24–28
• MAD's Lurid Romantic Textbooks

  Hot Off the Press Dept.

  Written by Tom Koch / Art by Harry North, Esq.

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Special #75 — Summer 1991
  29–31
• A MAD Look at Pets' Back Talk

  Snapping Answers Dept.

  Paul Peter Porges

  Reprinted in 4 collections

  • MAD Special #75 — Summer 1991
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — Number Two — 2001
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — The Mother Load — 2004
  • Insanely Awesome MAD — Deluxe Edition — 2014
  32–33
• The MAD 1984 Quiz

  Orwell That Ends Well Dept.

  Written by Desmond Devlin / Irving Schild photo

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Special #73 — Winter 1990
  34–35
• If You Walk Down a Dark Street

  Opt-tickles Dept.

  Written by Frank Jacobs / Art by George Woodbridge

  Reprinted in 5 collections

  • MAD Special #73 — Winter 1990
  • Unstoppable MAD — 1992 (Paperback #91)
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — Number Two — 2001
  • The MAD Bathroom Companion — The Mother Load — 2004
  • MAD's Greatest Writers — Frank Jacobs — 2015
  36–37
• MAD's Modern Believe It or Nuts!

  RIP, Please! Dept.

  Written by Frank Jacobs / Art by Bob Clarke

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Special #99 — Early Fall 1994
  38
• Exciting New Uses for Miracle Velcro

  Fasten Furious Dept.

  Al Jaffee / Idea by T.J. Glenn

  Reprinted in 3 collections

  • MAD Special #75 — Summer 1991
  • MAD Takes the Cake — 1992 (Paperback #90)
  • MAD Special #140 — September 1999
  39–41 sample
• Supergall (movie satire)

  Maid of Steal Dept.

  Written by Dick DeBartolo / Art by Jack Davis

  Reprinted in 3 collections

  • MAD Special #73 — Winter 1990
  • MAD #44 — August 2025
  • MAD Spoofs Superheroes — Special Collector's Edition — 2026
  42–47
• Spy vs. Spy — pull into gator's pool (logo) / shark in torpedo

  Joke and Dagger Dept.

  Antonio Prohias

  Reprinted in 5 collections

  • MAD Special #80 — March 1992
  • Unstoppable MAD — 1992 (Paperback #91)
  • Spy Vs. Spy — The Complete Casebook — Antonio Prohias — 2001
  • Spy Vs. Spy — Omnibus — Antonio Prohias — 2011
  • MAD Presents Spy Vs. Spy — An Explosive Celebration — 2015
  48
• Fold-In — What new labor development gave this worker much more time to spend with his family?

  Al Jaffee

  Reprinted in 4 collections

  • MAD Special #75 — Summer 1991
  • The MAD Fold-In Collection 1964–2010 — 2011
  • MAD Treasure Trove of Trash — Vol. 5 — Apr/May 2023
  • MAD Hodgepodge of Humor — Vol. 2 — Aug/Sep 2025
  C3
• Back Cover — Upside-down Pyramid Construction

  Written by Don (Duck) Edwing / Art by George Woodbridge

  Reprinted in 3 collections

  • MAD About the Eighties — 1999
  • MAD #25 — June 2022
  • MAD Treasure Trove of Trash — Vol. 2 — Aug/Sept 2022
  C4