Mad Magazine (U.S.) #444

Background

This issue features Alfred E. Neuman on the cover, as Doc Ock, with some lovely photoshop work having grafted the movie Ock tentacles cunningly onto Alfred.

Story 'Spider-Man 2 Missing Scenes & Spider-Man Has a Bad Week & Pet Peeves of Spider-Man's Girlfriend'

The first Spidey feature is a two-page spread of movie stills with funny comments stuck on 'em, like Doc Ock in full tentacled regalia, saying, "With all these tentacles, I'll be able to grope more women than Schwarzenegger could ever dream of!" Some are funny, some aren't. Overall, amusing. This two-page spread also appeared in Australian Mad Magazine #410, which was released about the same time.

The second feature is a one-page "Spider-Man has a bad week." Like, "Monday, forgets to remove mask when eating a taco... AGAIN." Nothing really funny in this lot, sorry folks.

The last Spider-Man feature is "John Caldwell's Pet Peeves of Spider-Man's Girlfriend." Featuring such witticisms as "The one spider power you never signed on for - his arachniflatulence." There are three pages of this kind of thing, and I didn't manage to raise so much as a repressed giggle at any of them. Rather disappointing.

Spidey also features in a few other minor gags, including an illustrated guide to "The first five guys in line to see Spider-Man 2." The number one in line is "Hardcore, middle-aged comic book collector who will miss every plot nuance because he's focused on spotting obscure cameos by Marvel inking and lettering guys." OK, that's funny. Ock's arms also turn up in Spy vs. Spy, which is the same Spy vs. Spy that is in Aussie Mad #410.

General Comments

Three Spidey features, but only one of them is funny. I didn't find too much else in the rest of the mag that caught my eye, either. It's not that I don't enjoy Mad humour, it's just that this didn't seem to be a particularly funny issue.

Overall Rating

Not their best work. Two webs.