Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #32
Published April 1957
Cover Price 0.25 USD
Pages 52
Editing Albert B. Feldstein

Cover Details - "Alfred with hieroglyphics"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Genre humor
Pencils Norman Mingo (painted, signed)
Inks Norman Mingo (painted, signed)
Colors Norman Mingo (painted, signed)
Letters typeset

1 page Utterly MAD promo (ad from the publisher) "How Much More of This Stuff Can You Take?"

Characters Pronto
Synopsis House ad for 4th paperback MAD book, "Utterly MAD", and previous releases.
Pencils Jack Davis
Inks Jack Davis
Letters typeset
Notes Illustration is excerpt from a previous issue.

1 page Vital Features foreword, introduction, preface, afterword "Departments"

Genre fact
Pencils various
Inks various
Letters typeset
Notes Art is excerpts from this issue. Masthead quote is from Chamfort (1741- 1794). There is a credit of Nick Megliola for ideas, but no indication of what articles.

2 page Newspaper Comics Dept. story "Nansy"

Characters Nansy; Nansy Duck; Pinnochio; Dick Nansy; Junior; Pat [Patton]; Li'l Nansy; Abner Mae; Nansy Canyon
Synopsis A look at a joke from one cartoon strip as it might be interpreted by other strips.
Genre satire
Pencils Wallace Wood
Inks Wallace Wood
Letters typeset
Notes Parodies of Nancy, Donald Duck, Dick Tracy, Li'l Abner and Steve Canyon.
Reprinted in MAD Special [MAD Super Special] (EC, 1970 series) #36; in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1

Half page Mad Magazine promo (ad from the publisher) "You Can Break The Magazine Habit!"

Synopsis House ad for MAD Magazine subscriptions.
Pencils Wally Wood
Inks Wally Wood
Letters typeset

1 page Letters Dept. letters page "Random Samplings of Reader Mail"

Synopsis Letters of comment, mostly about issue #31.
Script Albert B. Feldstein; Robert Hollinger; Chuck Levy; Danny Lichty; Steve Ellerbroek; Joshua Zerlin; Bob Singer; Bruce Brown; Bill O'Keefe; "Lucky" Simonds; Fred Beard; Tom Main; Mark Trail; Bob Koeser; Arthur Miller; Bryson Kitchen; Ken Corey; Alan Besser; Albertha Spaulding; Wendell Crowley; Dave Little; E. Pally Achee; Don Calfa; George Tysh; John Benson; M. Reine, Jr.; Ray Prochaska; Alfred Mazolie; Tom Donoher; Bruce Marshall
Pencils various
Inks various
Letters typeset
Notes Art is excerpts from issue #31.

Half page text article "Statement of Ownership"

Genre fact
Script John F. Putnam
Letters typeset
Notes For October 1, 1956. Publisher: William M. Gaines, Editor: Albert B. Feldstein, Managing Editor: John F. Putnam, Owners: E. C. Publications, Inc.; William M. Gaines; V. E. McAdie; J. K. Gaines.

Half page Alfred E. Neuman promo (ad from the publisher) "Now In Full Color!"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis House ad for pinups suitable for framing.
Pencils Norman Mingo; Wally Wood ?
Inks Norman Mingo; Wally Wood ?
Letters typeset

5 page People Dept. story "The Steve Allan Story"

Characters Steve Allan; Ray Geneburn; Ed Suvillan; Elvis Presley; Wes Yeast
Synopsis Shows Steve at work and discusses how tv show is produced.
Genre satire
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Parody of tv's Steve Allen Show.
Reprinted in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1

1 page Hollywood Dept. story "Scenes We'd Like To See: The Faithful Dog"

Synopsis A hunter is stuck in a bear trap and sends his dog back to town for help, whereupon the dog is captured by the local dog catcher.
Genre satire
Pencils Joe Orlando (signed)
Inks Joe Orlando (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]; in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1

2 page Crystal Ball Dept. story "It's Gonna Be A Mad Mad Year!"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman; Lila Vavoom; Sam Westee; Javier Pereira
Synopsis Foolish predictions for world events in the coming year.
Genre humor
Script G. Stang
Pencils Wallace Wood (signed)
Inks Wallace Wood (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

2 page Movies Dept. story "The Bad Seat Is The Big Shocker!!"

Characters Rhodent [Ratty McCormack]; Fancy Kelly; Evileye Varden; Melvin Cowznofski; Henry Bones; Claude Bagel
Synopsis Makes the argument that the Rhodent character in the movie was actually sweet and caring and ends with a petition to allow children to see the movie.
Genre satire
Script Paul Laikin
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Parody of the movie "The Bad Seed." Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

3 page T.V. Dept. story "Big Big Story"

Characters Joe Phipps; pirates; Joe's boss
Synopsis After years of laboring in obscurity, reporter Joe finally finds a big story, only to be fired when he's three days late finding it.
Genre satire
Script Don Martin (signed)
Pencils Don Martin (signed)
Inks Don Martin (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Parody of tv show "The Big Story"?

4 page Orson Bean Dept. text article "Making A Paper Eucalyptus Tree"

Characters Orson Bean
Synopsis Orson delivers a monologue built around his paper trick, and instructions for making the tree.
Genre humor
Script Orson Bean
Pencils Wally Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Letters typeset

1 page Awards Dept. story "The Rolly Cigarette Ad"

Synopsis A couple discusses all the things they got with coupons from Rolly Cigarettes.
Genre satire
Script Allen Robin
Pencils Mort Drucker (signed)
Inks Mort Drucker (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Parody of Raleigh Cigarette ads. Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Reprinted in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1

2 page Point of View Dept. story "The Ideal Woman"

Synopsis The ideal woman as visualized by 6 magazines, compared to the women who read the magazines.
Genre humor
Script D. Purdy
Pencils Kelly Freas
Inks Kelly Freas
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Reprinted in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1

2 page Rare Old Cartoons Dept. story "The Prisoner, When Arrested, Clung To The Railings"

Synopsis Police are unable to arrest a man until they saw apart the iron fence he is clinging to.
Genre humor
Script Henry Mayo Bateman (signed)
Pencils Henry Mayo Bateman (signed)
Inks Henry Mayo Bateman (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted From Punch (?) #? (1917)

4 page Sweatshirt Dept. story "What's Happened To Sports Magazines?"

Characters Duke Snyder
Synopsis Analysis of older style and modern sports magazines, with their differing viewpoints on the sports versus lifestyles of sports personalities.
Genre satire
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1

2 page Nostalgia Dept. story "Childhood Chums"

Characters Johnathan Gordon; Barbara Bridgewood; Robert Miltown
Synopsis Messages to Alfred E. Neuman from three classmantes, at different points in their lives.
Genre humor
Script Nick Meglin
Letters ?; typeset
Reprinted in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1

2 page Overtaxed Seating Capacity Dept. text story "Movies Are Longer Than Ever"

Characters Bick Benedick; Leslie Lynnton; Luz Benedick; Vashti Snythe; Jett Rink; Anita Ekberg
Synopsis Reviews of three very long movies: Giant, War And Peace, and The Ten Commandments.
Genre humor
Pencils Wallace Wood (signed)
Inks Wallace Wood (signed)
Letters typeset

3 page Tom Lehrer Dept. text article "Tom Lehrer Sings"

Characters Tom Lehrer
Synopsis A brief fake biography with an illustrated song, including sheet music.
Genre humor
Script Tom Lehrer; ?
Pencils George Woodbridge (signed)
Inks George Woodbridge (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]; in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1

2 page Soft-Sell Advertising Dept. story "Future TV Ad"

Characters Charlie; Bill
Synopsis Phony ad storyboard for Schveppes Activated Sparkling Seltzer.
Genre humor
Script Don Martin (signed)
Pencils Don Martin (signed)
Inks Don Martin (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1

4 page Jean Shepherd Dept. story The "Night People" vs. "Creeping Meatballism"

Genre humor
Script Jean Shepherd
Pencils Wally Wood
Inks Wally Wood
Letters typeset
Reprinted in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1

4 page Dating Dept. story "The MAD Dating Technique"

Synopsis Reviews different techniques of the shy type, agressive type and MAD type.
Genre humor
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]; in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1

1 page Famous Artists Schools advertisement They Drew Their Way From "Rags To Riches"

Characters Albert Dorne; Norman Rockwell; Eric Ericson; John Whitaker; John Busketta; Harriet Kuzniewski
Synopsis Ad for commercial artist training.
Script Rex Taylor
Pencils ? (photo)
Inks ? (photo)
Letters typeset
Notes On inside back cover.

Classified Dept. text article "Fictitious Want Ads Placed By Famous Folk"

Synopsis One-line want ads misattributed to celebrities and historical figures.
Genre humor
Letters typeset
Notes Occur on 17 different pages of the issue.
Reprinted in More Trash From MAD (EC, 1958 series) #1 [portions]; in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1 [portions]

1 page illustration "MAD Record Labels"

Synopsis Phony record labels for 45s.
Genre humor
Script Albert B. Feldstein
Pencils Wally Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes On back cover. Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]; in Worst From MAD (EC, 1958 Series) #1