CATALOG RECORD

Mad #54

EC · Series began 1952 · April 1960

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Dates

Cover date: April 1960
On sale: February 11, 1960
Pages: 52

Editions and covers

Original edition
Source ↗

Creators

pencils: Kelly Freas, Norman Mingo, Bob Clarke, Don Martin, Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, Dave Berg, George Woodbridge, Mort Drucker, Bill Elder, Lester Kraussinks: Kelly Freas, Norman Mingo, Bob Clarke, Don Martin, Dave Berg, Mort Drucker, Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, George Woodbridge, Bill Elder, Lester Krauss, J. Fred Muggs, C. C. Beall Jr.colors: Kelly Freasscript: Larry Siegel, David Barbour, Al Feldstein, Tom Koch, Don Martin, Al Jaffee, Arnie Kogen, Dave Berg, Frank Jacobs, Nick Meglin, Sy Reit

Stories

How We Retired at the Age Of 11 With $800 a Month · 1 pages
Parody of ad for Phoenix Mutual Insurance.
Ad Testimonials From Politicians · Dollar Diplomacy Dept. · 4 pages
Ads we might see if politicians made paid endorsements of consumer products.
Magician · 2 pages
A magician disappears when all the animals he was hiding on his person leave.
How I Turned $6.85 Into A Zillion · One for the Bucks Dept. · 1 pages
Parody of ad for real estate "get rich" books.
Around The World With U.S. Television · Variations On A Screen Dept. · 6 pages
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.
The Interpreter · Nyets To You Dept. · 3 pages
How international diplomatic conversations might turn out if celebrities, in character, were used as interpreters.
Educational Billboards · Roads Scholar Dept. · 2 pages
Slyly including educational content in highway billboards.
America Is Getting Soft · 4 pages
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).
Garbage · A Heap 'O Livin' Dept. · 2 pages
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 · Workers Of The World, Rewrite! Dept. · 3 pages
Specialized picket signs for various professions.
My Fair Ad-Man · 7 pages
The musical "My Fair Lady" is retold with two ad-men trying to give a makeover to a beatnik.
Mail By Missile · Spatial Delivery Dept. · 2 pages
The disasters that could follow using missiles for mail delivery.
The Hero · 1 pages
A man tries to be a hero before understanding the situation...ending in tragedy.
Doctors' Progress · Thar's Gold In Them Thar Ills Dept. · 2 pages
Comparisons between seeing your local doctor in the second half of the 1800s and today.
Movie Land · Stars And Tripe Forever Dept. · 5 pages
Parody of typical Hollywood star gossip magazines.
Uncle Herman And The Coke Machine · 1 pages
Uncle Herman has a nose that could work as a bottle opener...and it does.
MAD "Y'OX" · Marginal Marvin Dept. · 0 pages
Captions with arrangements of "X"s and "O"s as the art.
The Man In Command · Aspire Boot-Lick Polish · 1 pages
Parody of Esquire Boot Polish "Ship's Officer" ad.

Characters

Uncle SamAlfred E. NeumanRichard NixonJohn F. KennedyWinston ChurchillNikita KhrushchevHarry S. TrumanDwight D. EisenhowerAdlai StevensonTony CurtisGary CooperCary Grant

Reprinted in

Three Ring Mad (1964), More Trash from Mad (1958), The Ridiculously Expensive Mad (1969), The Worst from MAD (1958), The Completely Mad Don Martin (1974), Dave Berg's Mad Trash (1977), Dave Berg's Mad Trash (1981), Mad for Decades (2007), Mad's Greatest Artists: Don Martin (2014)