Mad #115
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMad #115 is the birthplace of 'Star Blecch,' Mad's first-ever Star Trek parody, which arrived midway through the original series' second season and immediately became a touchstone for how popular culture engaged with the franchise. The parody's nickname 'Star Blecch' proved so durable that Mad returned to it for every subsequent Trek film and spin-off series over the following decades, cementing this issue as the origin point of a running satirical tradition. Beyond Star Trek, the issue captures Mad at the height of its cultural authority — a moment when being lampooned in its pages was, as the magazine's own history attests, widely taken as confirmation that a property had truly arrived. The now-famous on-set photograph of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy in costume reading this very issue during location filming became an enduring image of 1960s pop-culture convergence.
"Star Blecch" is a satirical blast from EC’s Mad #115 (1967), where three over-the-top race car drivers go head-to-head in a ridiculous duel of speed, ego, and romantic conquests—pure comedic chaos. Written by Dick DeBartolo and illustrated with sharp, exaggerated flair by Mort Drucker, the story channels the style of "Grand Prix" with a delightfully absurd twist. The cover, by Bob Clarke, captures the zany spirit with its bold, stylized artwork.
In "Star Blecch," a hilariously inept crew of spacefarers tackles a planetary plague in a deadpan parody of *Star Trek*, where every solution backfires with escalating absurdity. The story’s satire thrives on its mock-serious tone and the crew’s increasingly disastrous attempts to save the day—Jo, the captain, leads with confidence that’s utterly misplaced.
In "Grim Pix," three over-the-top race car drivers go head-to-head in a wildly exaggerated contest to claim victory on the track and charm the most women—each more self-absorbed than the last, all in a razor-sharp satire of Hollywood racing films.
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Mad #115 went on sale October 3, 1967, under the editorship of Al Feldstein, with John Putnam as art director and Nick Meglin and Jerry De Fuccio as associate editors — the same tight team that had steadily grown the magazine's readership through the decade. By late 1967 Mad was published by E.C. Publications, which had by that point passed through several ownership changes since William Gaines sold the company in 1961, landing under the umbrella of National Periodical Publications (DC Comics' parent) around 1964. The issue's lead parody was scripted by Dick DeBartolo and drawn by Mort Drucker, whose caricature work was already regarded as the gold standard of the form; the cover riffed on Avis Car Rental's well-known 'We Try Harder' advertising slogan, a timely gag given that a companion piece inside mocked the Hertz–Avis rivalry directly.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published December 1967 (on-sale date October 3, 1967) by E.C. Publications Inc., edited by Al Feldstein.
- 'Star Blecch' — Mad's first-ever Star Trek parody — appears in this issue, scripted by Dick DeBartolo and illustrated by Mort Drucker; it caricatures William Shatner as 'Captain Kook,' Leonard Nimoy as 'Mr. Spook,' DeForest Kelley as 'Dr. BeCoy,' and Nichelle Nichols as 'the phone operator.'
- The 'Star Blecch' title coinage proved so enduring that Mad used it as the running brand for every subsequent Star Trek parody it published, covering all films and spin-off series through the 2000s.
- William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were photographed in costume reading this issue on location during filming of the Star Trek episode 'A Private Little War' (October 2, 1967); Mission: Impossible stars Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were also photographed with the same issue.
- The issue's cover parodies the Avis Car Rental 'We Try Harder' advertising campaign; a companion interior piece extends the joke by depicting the Hertz–Avis rivalry devolving into name-calling.
- Additional notable contents include a Mort Drucker–illustrated parody of the film Grand Prix (scripted by DeBartolo), a Don Martin solo strip set in a supermarket, margin cartoons by Sergio Aragonés, a seven-page 'Evolution of Dating' piece by Larry Siegel and George Woodbridge, and an Al Jaffee Fold-In on the inside back cover.
- A 'Mad Pictorial Political Dictionary' piece featuring caricatures of Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy reflects the charged political atmosphere of late 1967.
- Multiple features from this issue were reprinted across later collections, including The Pocket Mad #36 (1974), a BSV-Williams German edition, Dave Berg's Mad Trash (1977 and 1981), and Mad Super Special #97 (1994).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Mad #9 (1968), The Ridiculously Expensive Mad #[nn] (1969), Mad Special [Mad Super Special] #7 (1972), Mad #45 (1973), Mad #54 (1973), The Pocket Mad #36 (1974), Mad #92 (1976), Dave Berg's Mad Trash #[nn] (1977), Dave Berg's Mad Trash #[nn] (1981), Mad Special [Mad Super Special] #34 (1981), A Mad Big Book [Mad Zaps The Human Race!] #[nn] (1984), Mad Special [Mad Super Special] #83 (1992), Mad Star Trek Spectacular #[nn] (1994), Mad Special [Mad Super Special] #97 (1994), Mad for Decades #[nn] (2007), Mad's Greatest Artists: Don Martin #[nn] (2014), Mad's Greatest Writers: Frank Jacobs #[nn] (2015), Mad #28 (2022), Svenska Mad #3/1977
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