Mad #54

(April 1960)

How We Retired At The Age Of 11 With $800 A Month (Table of Contents)

Phonyex Mutual / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Larry Siegel

Pencils:

Kelly Freas (painted, signed)

Inks:

Kelly Freas (painted, signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

satire-parody

Synopsis:

Parody of ad for Phoenix Mutual Insurance.

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover.
Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

Departments (Table of Contents)

Vital Features / foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

various (see Notes)

Inks:

various (see Notes)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Synopsis:

table of contents

Indexer Notes

Art is excerpts for various stories in this issue.

It's Better To Give Than To Receive (Table of Contents)

Son of MAD / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.33 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

? (photo)

Inks:

? (photo)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Synopsis:

House ad for 7th MAD paperback book.

You Get Nine Issues For The Price of Eight (Table of Contents)

MAD Magazine / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.17 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Synopsis:

House ad for subscriptions.

Random Samplings of Reader Mail (Table of Contents)

Letters Dept. / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Albert B. Feldstein; David Barbour; Douglass Dunn; Richard Nagle; J. G. Cummins; Ivan Ludington, Jr.; Gary Auten; Marie Woods; Lon Pinkowitz; Ken Boldt; A. J. May; Curtis Croulet; Dave McClelland; Mrs. Tom Woods

Pencils:

Kelly Freas; Ivan Ludington, Jr. (photo); ? (photo)

Inks:

Kelly Freas; Ivan Ludington, Jr. (photo); ? (photo)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Characters:

Fred Astaire [as Alfred E. Neuman]; Barrie Chase

Synopsis:

Letters of comment, many about issue #52, and comments on a recent Fred Astaire TV show where he appeared in an Alfred E. Neuman mask.

Indexer Notes

One image is an excerpt from previous issue.

A Loveable April Fool (Table of Contents)

Alfred E. Neuman / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.17 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Norman Mingo (painted)

Inks:

Norman Mingo (painted)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Characters:

Alfred E. Neuman

Synopsis:

House ad for pinups suitable for framing.

If You're Looking For Laughs... (Table of Contents)

MAD hardcover books / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.33 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

? (photo)

Inks:

? (photo)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Synopsis:

House ad for MAD For Keeps and MAD Forever.

Ad Testimonials From Politicians (Table of Contents)

Dollar Diplomacy Dept. / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Tom Koch

Pencils:

Bob Clarke

Inks:

Bob Clarke

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Characters:

John F. Kennedy; Richard Nixon; Harold Stassen; Adlai Stevenson; Harry Truman; Jim Hagerty

Synopsis:

Ads we might see if politicians made paid endorsements of consumer products.

Indexer Notes

Products used are Vitalis hair tonic, Blatz beer, Wheaties cereal, Bausch & Lomb contact lenses, Gillette razors, and Acme School of Ventriloquism.

Magician (Table of Contents)

Don Martin Dept. / comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Don Martin (signed)

Pencils:

Don Martin (signed)

Inks:

Don Martin (signed)

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

A magician disappears when all the animals he was hiding on his person leave.

How I Turned $6.85 Into A Zillion (Table of Contents)

One For The Bucks Dept. / text story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Al Jaffee [as William Nickelnurser]

Pencils:

? (photo)

Inks:

? (photo)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

satire-parody

Characters:

William Nickelnurser

Synopsis:

Parody of ad for real estate "get rich" books.

Around The World With U.S. Television (Table of Contents)

Variations On A Screen Dept. / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Larry Siegel

Pencils:

Wallace Wood (signed)

Inks:

Joe Orlando (signed); Bob Clarke (signed); Wallace Wood; Kelly Freas (signed); Mort Drucker (signed); Dave Berg (signed); Don Martin; George Woodbridge (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

satire-parody

Characters:

Uncle Sam (cameo); Tim; Marjorie; Batty; Buz; Catty; Rilley; Timothy; Maude; Beatrice; Herbert; Kate; Sir Cedric Koukie; Brigitte; Henri; Paladinawa; Mishuginov; Timolikov; Dorschka; Ivan; Vladimir

Synopsis:

A typical "Father Knows Best" type of TV show plot and how it might be redone using stereotypes of people in Britain, France, Japan, and Russia.

Indexer Notes

Some characters not named.

The Interpreter (Table of Contents)

Nyets To You Dept. / comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Arnie Kogen

Pencils:

Joe Orlando

Inks:

Joe Orlando

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Characters:

Nikita Khrushchev; Dwight Eisenhower; Jimmy Cagney; Mort Sahl; Jack E. Leonard; Gary Cooper

Synopsis:

How international diplomatic conversations might turn out if celebrities, in character, were used as interpreters.

Educational Billboards (Table of Contents)

Roads Scholar Dept. / comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Tom Koch

Pencils:

Bob Clarke (signed)

Inks:

Bob Clarke (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

Slyly including educational content in highway billboards.

America Is Getting Soft (Table of Contents)

Berg's Eye View Dept. / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Dave Berg

Pencils:

Dave Berg

Inks:

Dave Berg

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

Dave develops the thesis that as the US becomes fatter and lazier, and ends up driving everywhere instead of walking, we'll become pushovers for the lean hungry barbarians, just as ancient Rome did. Only our invaders will be from the east (oriental).

Reprints:

• in Dave Berg's Mad Trash (EC, 1981 series) #[nn] (1981)

Reprint Note before Migration:

• in Dave Berg's Mad Trash (EC, 1981 series) #[nn]

Indexer Notes

Uses small in-house personal scooters to ride, foreshadowing the Segway.

Garbage (Table of Contents)

A Heap 'O Livin' Dept. / comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Frank Jacobs

Pencils:

Bob Clarke (signed)

Inks:

Bob Clarke (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

A collection of peoples' garbage arranged so that the right-hand page shows the results of the lifestyle lived on the left-hand page.

Distinctive Picket Lines (Table of Contents)

Workers Of The World, Rewrite! Dept. / comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Frank Jacobs

Pencils:

George Woodbridge (signed)

Inks:

George Woodbridge (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Characters:

Alfred E. Neuman

Synopsis:

Specialized picket signs for various professions.

My Fair Ad-Man (Table of Contents)

Shaw-Fired Plot Dept. / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Nick Megliola

Pencils:

Mort Drucker (signed)

Inks:

Mort Drucker (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

satire-parody

Characters:

Officer Einsfoot; Henry Higgenbottom; Charles Pickerwick; Irving Mallion

Synopsis:

The musical "My Fair Lady" is retold with two ad-men trying to give a makeover to a beatnick.

Indexer Notes

Characters are drawn as: Officer Einsfoot [Dean Martin]; Henry Higgenbottom [Cary Grant]; Charles Pickerwick [?]; Irving Mallion [Frank Sinatra]

Mail By Missile (Table of Contents)

Spatial Delivery Dept. / comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Sy Reit

Pencils:

Bob Clarke

Inks:

Bob Clarke

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

The disasters that could follow using missiles for mail delivery.

The Hero (Table of Contents)

Don Martin Dept. / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Don Martin (signed)

Pencils:

Don Martin (signed)

Inks:

Don Martin (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

A man tries to be a hero before understanding the situation...ending in tragedy.

Doctors' Progress (Table of Contents)

Thar's Gold In Them Thar Ills Dept. / comic story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Al Jaffee

Pencils:

George Woodbridge (signed)

Inks:

Joe Orlando (signed); Bob Clarke (signed); Wallace Wood; Kelly Freas (signed); Mort Drucker (signed); Dave Berg (signed); Don Martin; George Woodbridge (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

Comparisons between seeing your local doctor in the second half of the 1800s and today.

Movie Land (Table of Contents)

Stars And Tripe Forever Dept. / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Larry Siegel

Pencils:

Joe Orlando

Inks:

Joe Orlando

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

satire-parody

Characters:

Sal Mineo; Elsa (Baklor ?); Arnold Stang; Louella Parsnips; Biff Bopp; Kim Storch; Edd "Kookie" Byrnes; Winston Churchill; Lance Boyle; Phoebe Bebe; Gary Crosby; Fabian; Tony Curtis; Rock Cowznofski; Cary Grant; The Three Stooges

Synopsis:

Parody of typical Hollywood star gossip magazines.

Indexer Notes

Rock Cowznofski is drawn to resemble Alfred E. Neuman as Clark Gable.

Uncle Herman And The Coke Machine (Table of Contents)

Don Martin Dept. / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Don Martin (signed)

Pencils:

Don Martin (signed)

Inks:

Don Martin (signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Synopsis:

Uncle Herman has a nose that could work as a bottle opener...and it does.

Here's Your Chance To Get A Head (Table of Contents)

Alfred E. Neuman bust / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Lester Krauss (photo); Bill Elder; ?

Inks:

Lester Krauss (photo); Bill Elder; ?

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Characters:

Konrad Strainer

Synopsis:

House ad for china bust of Alfred E. Neuman.

Indexer Notes

In addition to a photo of the bust, a retouched excerpt of art of Konrad Strainer from "Medical" is used.
Inside back cover.

MAD "Y'OX" (Table of Contents)

Marginal Marvin Dept. / filler / 0 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Characters:

Marginal Marvin

Synopsis:

Captions with arrangements of "X"s and "O"s as the art.

Indexer Notes

Appears in the margins of 25 pages.

The Man In Command (Table of Contents)

Aspire Boot-Lick Polish / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Kelly Freas (painted, signed)

Inks:

Kelly Freas (painted, signed); C. C. Beall Jr. (painting); J. Fred Muggs (painted); Norman Mingo (painted, signed)

Colors:

Kelly Freas (painted, signed)

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

satire-parody

Characters:

Commander Fenwick Sternwallow

Synopsis:

Parody of Esquire Boot Polish "Ship's Officer" ad.

Indexer Notes

back cover