Hey, it's our first Christmas issue!
Whole issue is here.
The highlight for me of this issue is the authentic Kmart ad parody. Having made friends with the lady in advertising at Kmart, (where I was working my way through college) she let me go through the old graphics so I took enough to do a bunch of fake ads for the magazine. People who are paying attention will notice that I duplicated the ads for Cracked several years later.
Whole issue is here.
The highlight for me of this issue is the authentic Kmart ad parody. Having made friends with the lady in advertising at Kmart, (where I was working my way through college) she let me go through the old graphics so I took enough to do a bunch of fake ads for the magazine. People who are paying attention will notice that I duplicated the ads for Cracked several years later.
My highlight of this issue is the authentic Kmart ad parody. Having made friends with the lady in advertising at Kmart, (where I was working my way through college) she let me go through the old graphics so I took enough to do a bunch of fake ads for the magazine. People who are paying attention will notice that I duplicated the ads for Cracked several years later.
Additionally, I did the well-worn bit "Predictions for...", in this case for 1979. I also got to do something that would evolve into one of my favorite bits. I created a Plague version of the President John Sawhill, John Sorehill, and would write bits about him as a grouchy old coot for a couple of issues. I was constantly bouncing back and forth between evergreen bits and pop culture and this was one of my few contributions to actual school-base humor.
Oh, about the cover. Some of us really wanted to have a magazine mascot or logo. The Grim Reaper seemed a logical choice for something called "The Plague." Less logical was Zol Umatra. He first appeared in the second issue and the one after that (3rd). He was a polarizing figure, half the staff hated him, the other half liked him. I was in the latter camp. To me it was a real Alfred E. Neuman-type (altho' more like Sylvester the Janitor from Cracked, since we were able to make real use of him in stories) who could grace our cover and be a character in the issue. And plus, we had pick up a decent artist (Amy Burns) who gave us one of the stronger covers we had in the early years.
Additionally, I did the well-worn bit "Predictions for...", in this case for 1979. I also got to do something that would evolve into one of my favorite bits. I created a Plague version of the President John Sawhill, John Sorehill, and would write bits about him as a grouchy old coot for a couple of issues. I was constantly bouncing back and forth between evergreen bits and pop culture and this was one of my few contributions to actual school-base humor.
Oh, about the cover. Some of us really wanted to have a magazine mascot or logo. The Grim Reaper seemed a logical choice for something called "The Plague." Less logical was Zol Umatra. He first appeared in the second issue and the one after that (3rd). He was a polarizing figure, half the staff hated him, the other half liked him. I was in the latter camp. To me it was a real Alfred E. Neuman-type (altho' more like Sylvester the Janitor from Cracked, since we were able to make real use of him in stories) who could grace our cover and be a character in the issue. And plus, we had pick up a decent artist (Amy Burns) who gave us one of the stronger covers we had in the early years.
