MAD #423 — November 2002

"You can avoid many a close shave by not working yourself up into a lather!" — Alfred E. Neuman

Contents

• The Usual Gang of Idiots 1952–2002 Pull-Out Poster (inside cover)
  C2+
• Contents Page
  1
• Letters and Tomatoes Dept.

  Notes

  • readers recall first exposure to MAD, subscription ad (art by Kelly Freas from #72)
  2,4,6
• Drawn-Out Dramas

  Marginal Thinking Dept.

  Sergio Aragones
  (various places around the magazine)
• Road to Sedation (movie satire)

  Hanks For Nothing Dept.

  Written by Arnie Kogen / Art by Hermann Mejia
  8–13
• The MAD 50th Anniversary Timeline 1952–2002

  Mock it on Your Calendar Dept.
  16–18
• MAD Deconstructs TV Talk Shows — The Late Show with David Letterman

  The Chat 'n the Stat Dept.

  Written by Desmond Devlin / Art by Rick Tulka

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Classics #23 — October 2008
  20–21 sample
• Monroe and PlayStation 2 — Part Two

  Angster's Paradise Dept.

  Written by Anthony Barbieri / Art by Bill Wray / Color by Mike Manley
  23–27
• People Who Should Have Won This Year's Nobel Prizes

  Award to the Unwise Dept.

  Written by Mike Mikula / Art by Drew Friedman
  28–30
• Spy vs. Spy — cave-painting cavemen dinosaur

  Joke and Dagger Dept.

  Peter Kuper

  Reprinted in 2 collections

  • Spy Vs. Spy 2 — The Joke and Dagger Files — 2007
  • Spy vs. Spy — The Top Secret Files — 2011
  32–33
• A MAD Look at Advertising

  Serge-In General Dept.

  Sergio Aragones

  Reprinted in 2 collections

  • MAD Treasure Trove of Trash — Vol. 7 — December 2023
  • MAD #35 — February 2024
  36–38
• Melvin & Jenkins' Guide to Breaking Up

  The Schmucks Stop Here Dept.

  Written by Desmond Devlin / Art by Kevin Pope

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Classics #16 — July 2007
  40–41
• When Other Magazines Follow Maxim's “Sex, Beer & Babes” Formula For Success

  Knock-Off, Knock-Off! Who's There? Dept.

  Written by Ricky Sprague / Art by Scott Bricher

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Classics #17 — September 2007
  44–45
• The Lighter Side of...

  Berg's-Eye View Dept.

  Dave Berg / Color by Digital Chameleon

  Dave Berg (1920–2002) — Thanks for 45 Years of Madness!

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD's Greatest Artists: Dave Berg — 2013
  47–50
• Cents-Less Coupons

  All Hail Scissor Dept.

  Written by Scott Maiko / Photos by Irving Schild

  Reprinted in 7 collections

  • MADvertising — 2005 (excerpt)
  • MAD Kids #2 — March 2006 (excerpt)
  • MAD Classics #20 — January 2008
  • Amazingly Stupid MAD — 2012 (excerpt)
  • Epic MAD — 2012 (excerpt)
  • Amazingly Stupid MAD — Expanded Edition — 2013 (excerpt)
  • MAD Fixes Cats — Special Collector's Edition 2025 (excerpt)
  51–54
• New America Online 9.0 (ad parody)

  Dislike a Version Dept.

  Written by Mike Snider
  55
• The Distinguishing Warning Signs of a Crummy Fraternity

  Oh, Be Hazed! Dept.

  John Caldwell

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Classics #18 — October 2007
  56–57
• Minority Retort (movie satire)

  Wrecking Cruise Dept.

  Written by Dick DeBartolo / Art by Mort Drucker
  60–64
• MAD's Ridiculous 50th Anniversary Crossword Puzzle

  Blanks for the Memories Dept.

  Patrick Merrell
  66–67
• Fold-In — For years, where has there been a major intelligence failure?

  Al Jaffee

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • The MAD Fold-In Collection 1964–2010 — 2011
  C3