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

Issue Details

Issue #43
Published December 1958
Cover Price 0.25 USD
Pages 52
Editing Albert B. Feldstein

Cover Details - "scarecrow"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Genre humor
Pencils Kelly Freas (painted, signed)
Inks Kelly Freas (painted, signed)
Colors Kelly Freas (painted, signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Mad (EC, 1952 Series) #480

1 page American Expense Account Cheques story "I Never Carry More Than $50 in Cash"

Characters Brigitte Bardot (sic)
Synopsis Parody of American Express Travelers Cheques ads.
Genre satire
Pencils Kelly Freas (signed)
Inks Kelly Freas (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Inside front cover.

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

Synopsis Art is excerpts from this issue.
Pencils various
Inks various
Letters typeset

2 page The Double-Play's The Thing Dept. story "MAD's M.V.B.T.A. Awards"

Characters Harry Jingo; Babe Brando; Enos Schwack; "School Boy" Drake; Hank Ozone; Jake Jacobs; Leo Screech
Synopsis Acting awards for baseball players hamming it up for fans and the camera during games.
Genre humor
Script Larry Siegel
Pencils George Woodbridge (signed)
Inks George Woodbridge (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

Half page MAD For Keeps promo (ad from the publisher) "Help Make This Christmas A Memorable One"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis House ad for hardcover book from Crown Publishers.
Pencils ? (photo)
Inks ? (photo)
Letters typeset

Half page The Brothers MAD promo (ad from the publisher) "People Who Have Read It Are Raving About It"

Synopsis House ad for a MAD paperback book.
Pencils ? (photo)
Inks ? (photo)
Letters typeset

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

Characters The Alfred E. Neuman [Auto] Racing Club; Bill Gaines's daughter
Synopsis Letters of comment, mostly about issue #40. Includes a photo of Bill Gaines's (unnamed) daughter.
Script Albert B. Feldstein; Alexander Wilde; Ron Bergman; Jack Litch; Carolyn Walker; Bradley Pieper; Chuck Venturi; Gene Herson; Jon Kwitny; The Alfred E. Neuman [Auto] Racing Club; G. J. Manos; Nancy Gaines; William Doorly
Pencils various; ? (photo)
Inks various; ? (photo)
Letters typeset
Notes Notes that "Famous Monsters of Filmland #2" includes some article reprinted from an issue of MAD.

Half page Alfred E. Neuman promo (ad from the publisher) "Cleaned Out!"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis House ad for pinups suitable for framing.
Pencils Norman Mingo (painted)
Inks Norman Mingo (painted)
Letters typeset

Half page MAD Magazine promo (ad from the publisher) "Do Your Christmas Shopping Early"

Characters Santa Claus
Synopsis House ad for MAD subscriptions.
Pencils Bill Elder
Inks Bill Elder
Letters typeset
Notes Illustration is excerpt from a previous issue of Panic.

4 page Installment Overdue Dept. story "The End of Comics"

Characters Puck; Little Orphan Annie; Daddy Warbucks; Annie's real mother; Sandy; Mandrake The Magician; Lothar; Pogo; Albert the Alligator; Dick Tracy; Chief; Junior; Toonerville's The Skipper; Mary Worth; Mary's nephew; Mammy Yokum; Pappy Yokum; Li'l Abner; Dennis The Menace; Henry; Smilin' Jack; Blondie Bumstead
Synopsis Possible final strips for when newspapers have to eliminate comics to use the space for more educational features.
Genre satire
Script Tom Koch
Pencils Wally Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Letters ?; typeset
Notes Parodies these strips: Little Orphan Annie; Mandrake The Magician; Pogo; Dick Tracy; Mary Worth; Li'l Abner; Dennis The Menace; Henry; Smilin' Jack; Blondie
Reprinted in MAD Special [MAD Super Special] (EC, 1970 series) #36

3 page Togetherness Dept. story "Future Magazine Mergers"

Characters Dwight Eisenhower; Harry Truman; Nikita Krushchev
Synopsis Unlikely magazine titles for when magazines merge.
Genre satire
Script Tom Koch
Pencils Bob Clarke
Inks Bob Clarke
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

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

Synopsis Enemy frogmen successfully blow up each other's ships and are then stranded mid-ocean.
Genre satire
Pencils Joe Orlando (signed)
Inks Joe Orlando (signed)

2 page Don Martin Dept. story "The Electricians"

Synopsis Two building maintenance men try to find why a toaster won't work.
Genre humor
Script Don Martin (signed)
Pencils Don Martin (signed)
Inks Don Martin (signed)
Letters typeset

3 page Hollywood Dept. story "If Hollywood Directors Staged...Advertising Photos"

Synopsis Parodies of ads depicted in the styles of directors: Alfred Hitchcock; Elia Kazan; Cecil B. DeMille; Sam Katzman.
Genre satire
Pencils Wally Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Ads parodied are: Body By Fisher; Joy Detergent; Marlboro Cigarettes; White Rock beverages.

3 page Food For Thought Dept. story "Pushcarts"

Synopsis History of merchandising by pushcarts and projection to a future where stores are so large that vendors sell by pushcarts within the stores.
Genre humor
Script Dave Berg (signed)
Pencils Dave Berg (signed)
Inks Dave Berg (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted In Dave Berg's Mad Trash (EC, 1981 series) #[nn]

2 page Relax In Discomfort Dept. story "Health Chairs"

Synopsis Taking the fad of reclining chairs to extremes.
Genre humor
Pencils Bob Clarke
Inks Bob Clarke
Letters typeset

2 page Hobble Them Goblins Dept. story "The MAD Halloween Trick-Or-Treatment"

Synopsis A list of revenges against common Halloween pranks.
Genre humor
Script Frank Jacobs
Pencils Mort Drucker
Inks Mort Drucker
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

2 page Verse of The People Dept. text article "The MAD Treasury of Unknown Poetry"

Synopsis Parodies of famous poems.
Genre satire
Script Tom Koch
Pencils Joe Orlando
Inks Joe Orlando
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]

2 page Light of Your LIFE Dept. story "Special Lamps For Reading Magazine"

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis Reading lamps designed in styles to match popular magazine content.
Genre humor
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset

2 page Extra! Extra! Dept. text article "Misleading Headlines"

Characters Sarah Klunk; Sidney Klutz; Byron Brisket; Gladys Glotz; Carl Umlaut; Fred Mildew; Hank Shlubb; Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis Headlines that purposefully do not describe the underlying newspaper articles.
Genre satire
Script Frank Jacobs
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

2 page Danny Kaye Dept. story "The New Baby"

Characters Danny Kaye
Synopsis Song lyrics as performed by Danny Kaye, with illustrations.
Genre humor
Script Milton Schafer; Danny Kaye
Pencils Wally Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Song copyright 1957 by Frank Music Corp.
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]

3 page And Then I Wrote Dept. story "Coming Musicals"

Synopsis Broadway musicals based on unlikely source material.
Genre satire
Script Larry Siegel; Frank Jacobs
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

1 page Don Martin Dept. story "The End Of A Perfect Day"

Synopsis A man has trained his dog to fetch him everything...including his wife.
Genre humor
Script Don Martin (signed)
Pencils Don Martin (signed)
Inks Don Martin (signed)

3 page Bob & Ray Dept. story "Music Report"

Characters Bob Elliott; Ray Goulding; Wally Ballew; Filbert Hoffenberger
Synopsis Wally interviews a man who tests the truth of song lyrics and watches him demonstrate "It's a treat to beat your feet in the Mississippi Mud."
Genre humor
Script Bob Elliott; Ray Goulding
Pencils Mort Drucker (signed)
Inks Mort Drucker (signed)
Letters typeset

1 page Television Dept. text story "Payhouse 90"

Synopsis Ficticious filming schedule for tv show, showing that it mostly consists of commercials.
Genre satire
Script Albert Meglin
Letters typeset
Notes Show parodied is Playhouse 90. Writer credit from "Totally MAD" CD collection.

2 page Traumatic Workshop Dept. story "The Smithshop"

Synopsis The ultimate in the trend towards combined home woodworking shop tools, parodying the Shopsmith.
Genre satire
Pencils Bob Clarke (signed)
Inks Bob Clarke (signed)
Letters typeset

3 page To Blazes With The Trail Dept. story "Woodlore"

Synopsis A guidebook to (phony) dangerous plants and animals of the woods.
Genre humor
Pencils George Woodbridge (signed)
Inks George Woodbridge (signed)
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Mad About the Fifties (Little, Brown & Co., 1997 series) #[nn]

1 page Danny Kaye Dept. story "The Bathtub Admiral"

Characters Danny Kaye
Synopsis Song lyrics as performed by Danny Kaye, with illustrations.
Genre humor
Script Milton Schafer; Danny Kaye
Pencils Wallace Wood (signed)
Inks Wally Wood (signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Song copyright 1957 by Frank Music Corp.: this and writer credits given in the first Danny Kaye Dept. of this issue.

1 page Don Martin Dept. story "Down Lovers' Lane"

Synopsis Two couples carve a heart; one on a tree and one on a forehead.
Genre humor
Script Don Martin (signed)
Pencils Don Martin (signed)
Inks Don Martin (signed)

1 page MAD T-Shirts promo (ad from the publisher) You'll "Go Far" In A MAD T-Shirt

Characters Alfred E. Neuman
Synopsis House ad for t-shirts with Alfred E. Neuman on front.
Pencils Larry Maleman (photo); Wally Wood
Inks Larry Maleman (photo); Wally Wood
Letters typeset
Notes On inside back cover.

Marginal Thinking Dept. filler "Proverbs Revisited"

Synopsis Common proverbs with twist endings.
Genre humor
Letters typeset
Notes Appear in the margins of 22 pages of the issue.

1 page Crust Gumpaste story "Look Mom - No More Cavities!"

Characters Melvin Furd
Synopsis Parody of ad for Crest Toothpaste, with painting signed as "Norman Rocknroll."
Genre satire
Pencils Kelly Freas (painted, signed)
Inks Kelly Freas (painted, signed)
Colors Kelly Freas (painted, signed)
Letters typeset
Notes Back cover.