Saturday 16 December 2017

Mad Magazine, Dirty Larry - September 1972

MAD is an American humour magazine founded in 1952 by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, launched as a comic book before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media, as well as the cultural landscape of the 20th century, with Editor Al Feldstein increasing readership to more than two million during its 1974 circulation peak. As of January 2017, Mad has published 544 regular issues, as well as hundreds of reprint "Specials", original material paperbacks, compilation books and other print projects.

The magazine is the last surviving title from the EC Comics line, offering satire on all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures. Its format is divided into a number of recurring segments such as TV and movie parodies, as well as freeform articles. Mad's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, is typically the focal point of the magazine's cover, with his face often replacing that of a celebrity or character that is lampooned within the issue.



In September 1972, Issue 153 featured an adaptation of Clint’s Dirty Harry. Lampooned as Dirty Larry, the issue sadly didn’t use the Eastwood character for the front cover. However, it’s a fun adaptation, so thought I would post it here. The strip is illustrated by Mort Drucker who drew 238 Film Spoofs for Mad Magazine in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, or 52.3% of all Mad Magazine Film Spoof parodies. He also drew 113, or 30.46 % of all Mad Magazine TV Show Parodies. I have had the scans on file for a long time now, so a big thank you to whoever took the time to scan these pages and upload them to the internet. 

3 comments:

Henry R. Kujawa said...

Crazy but true! "DIRTY HARRY" was my very 1st Clint Eastwood movie.

The night I first watched it, on ABC, I had the "MAD" parody open, sitting on my lap, so I could follow it along with the movie.

I've had a panel of this on my wall for decades. Thanks for posting!

Henry R. Kujawa said...

Bar none, this is my FAVORITE "MAD" movie parody. I've had a panel from it on my wall for decades. In fact, the night I watched my very first Clint Eastwood movie ever-- "DIRTY HARRY"-- when ABC ran it in October 1976-- I had the "MAD" version open on my lap so I could follow along with the movie.

I couldnt' believe what I'd been missing before then. I've been watching Eastwood films ever since. One of these days, I plan to get all 5 "Harry" films on DVD. I've been putting up with "fullscreen" VHS copies for decades now.

Unknown said...

You'll have the actual magazine very soon!!