Review: MAD Magazine #525- The 20 Dumbest People, Events And Things 2013

Mad Magazine #525

“The 20 Dumbest People, Events And Things 2013”

COVER-  Artist: Mark Fredrickson

Alfred E. dons his best striped suit ala Robin Thicke/Beetlejuice. Miley is giving him the normal “Ass back, tongue out, hair terrible” pose we’ve all grown accustomed to. The detail in this cover is astounding. The look of disgust on Alfred’s face only enhances the sheer horror that Miley’s face.

Since this edition of MAD is basically a clip show, I’ll list the subject matter of the 20 newsworthy subjects that made the list instead of focusing on each one intensively. That’s what my articles I liked/didn’t like are for!

1. The Dysfunctional US Congress
2. The Boston Bomber And Rolling Stone
3. Weiner and Spitzer Attempt A Comeback
4. Miley Cyrus Appears On The VMA’s
5. The Winklevoss Twins’ Bitcoin Venture
6. Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend
7. Ikea Serves Up Horse Meat
8. Obama’s Drone Policy
9. George Zimmerman

10. Dennis Rodman, Our North Korean Ambassador

11. The Obamacare Website Launch

12. The CBS/Time Warner Cable Dispute

1. 13.  Russia Passes Anti-Gay Laws

14. Paula Deen Drops The N-Word

15. Obama’s Bluff On Syria’s Chemical Weapons

16. The Leaking Of Classified Documents

17. Reese Witherspoon’s DWI Incident

18. The NSA Spying On Everyone

19. The NRA’s “More Guns” Solution

20. A Special MAD Fold In! “What Chemical-Using Villain Could Not Be Brought To Justice In 2013?”

 

SPY VS. SPY- Writer/Artist: Peter Kuper

The main cartoon revolves around the black spy trying to cross a bridge in a Swiss army knife. The white spy operates the bridge’s tollbooth. The white spy detonates the bridge when the black spy tries to cross. Much to the chagrin of the white spy, black spy’s car is equipped with a spring. Also to the chagrin to the black spy, white spy’s tollbooth guard is actually a giant blade, cutting black spy in two. The secondary comic consists of the white spy attempting to ambush the black spy with a baseball bat. White spy’s attack connects, but as always is the case, black spy has a trick up his sleeve: His umbrella is actually a legitimate bat, which in turn attacks white spy.

3 ARTICLES I LIKED

1. 1.    Secrets Edward Snowden Is Still Sitting On– Writer: Jeff Kruse / Artist: Anton Emdin

From the secret to the perfect omelette to the identities of additional gay Simpsons characters, this quick comic on The Fundalini Pages is sure to leave you with more than a few chuckles.

1. The Boston Bomber And Rolling Stone– No Writer or Artist credit given:Depicting The Boston Bomber on the cover of Rolling Stone was a ballsy move by the editors. Thankfully, MAD has shown us what it would look like if such publications as Bon Appetit and Cat Fancy would look like if they had similar intestinal fortitude!
2. Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend– Writer: Darren Johnson / Artist: Mick CoulasNormally when someone falls for something completely outlandish they’ve “drank the Kool-Aid.” But when it comes to San Diego Charger and former Notre Dame standout linebacker Manti Te’o, he was “Hawaiian Punk’d!” He fell for the biggest catfish story of them all and couldn’t prevent it from going to the press. Not the best way to nail down the ladies in sunny San Diego if the whole world knows that your dating history involves an imaginary girl made up by a family friend.

3 ARTICLES WORTH SKIPPING

1. 1.    Planet Tad– Writer: Tim CarvellGuys, seriously, please stop this. Or at least make a valid Twitter handle for this page so I may continually rip on it there. This is a void of funny that can’t be over looked.
2. 2.    Miley Cyrus Appears On The VMA’s– Artist: Scott BricherIt’s not that I truly didn’t like this little write up, I just feel as if it could have gona a little more in depth with the idea/writing. The depiction of Miley in her SONS leather jacket is visually pleasing, well as visually pleasing as Ms. Cyrus can be. I just think a lot was left on the table here.
3. 3.    Reese Witherspoon’s DWI Incident– Artist: Richard WilliamsIs this really a big enough story to make a top-20 list or was 2013 really just a slow year? Maybe a compilation of celebrity arrests would have been a bit more suitable here. That’s not to say that Ms. Witherspoon’s arrest wasn’t particularly funny due to her own arrogance and idiocy, but I think there probably were many funnier/more newsworthy topics that could have fallen to this spot.

OTHER ARTICLES WORTH CHECKING OUT

The Show Must Go On And On, The Fundalini Pages (all of them), The Swallowing, The Dork Side, Patience Man, A MAD Look At Sleepovers, Emoji Biographies, The Least Interesting Man In The World

 

JUDGE’S TABLE –  BUY THIS!

C’mon, you’ve got a couple extra holiday bucks burning a hole in your pocket! Maybe an Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card with some loose change left on it? Regardless of the situation, you should pick this up not only for the laughs, but for a constant reminder that 2014 is a year that we can only get better because by the looks of the list of 20, pop and world culture have hit rock bottom!

(@chefrichBB) thinks you should look into subscribing to MAD. That way we’ll be able to talk about all the inside jokes. Y’know…like friends!