Mad Magazine No. 204, January 1979
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image. Price sticker on front cover.
Few publications have skewered American pop culture with as much gleeful irreverence as MAD Magazine, and this late-1970s issue is a prime example of the legendary satirical periodical at the height of its cultural relevance. The cover — a wicked parody of Jaws II — sets the tone immediately, as a water-skiing woman is menaced by a monstrous shark, a visual gag that perfectly captures MAD's signature blend of sharp wit and slapstick absurdity. Inside, the issue takes aim at an eclectic roster of targets: the Marvel blockbuster The Hulk, the commercialism of Christmas gift-giving, the era's obsession with new-improved consumer products, and the then-hot scientific controversy surrounding human cloning. MAD Magazine was the brainchild of editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, and by the late 1970s it had become a rite of passage for generations of young American readers hungry for their first taste of real satirical commentary. With its roster of brilliantly irreverent contributors — artists and writers whose wit was matched only by their draftsmanship — the magazine holds a unique place in 20th-century American cultural history as a subversive force hiding in plain sight on newsstands everywhere. This issue is a time capsule of an era defined by blockbuster cinema, consumer excess, and Cold War anxieties — making you wonder just how much, or how little, has truly changed.
Author: -
Format: Paperback
Published: 1979, EC Publications
Genre: Cartoons & comic strips
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image. Price sticker on front cover.
Few publications have skewered American pop culture with as much gleeful irreverence as MAD Magazine, and this late-1970s issue is a prime example of the legendary satirical periodical at the height of its cultural relevance. The cover — a wicked parody of Jaws II — sets the tone immediately, as a water-skiing woman is menaced by a monstrous shark, a visual gag that perfectly captures MAD's signature blend of sharp wit and slapstick absurdity. Inside, the issue takes aim at an eclectic roster of targets: the Marvel blockbuster The Hulk, the commercialism of Christmas gift-giving, the era's obsession with new-improved consumer products, and the then-hot scientific controversy surrounding human cloning. MAD Magazine was the brainchild of editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, and by the late 1970s it had become a rite of passage for generations of young American readers hungry for their first taste of real satirical commentary. With its roster of brilliantly irreverent contributors — artists and writers whose wit was matched only by their draftsmanship — the magazine holds a unique place in 20th-century American cultural history as a subversive force hiding in plain sight on newsstands everywhere. This issue is a time capsule of an era defined by blockbuster cinema, consumer excess, and Cold War anxieties — making you wonder just how much, or how little, has truly changed.