Mad #125

Mad #125 from March 1969 delivers one of the more delightfully subversive cover concepts in the magazine's run: a giant green glass jar, labeled like a poison bottle complete with Alfred E. Neuman's grinning face above a pair of crossed bones, and the deadpan warning "One Man's Magazine May Be Another Man's Poison." Cover artist Irving Schild's photo-realistic rendering of the jar against a bold yellow background gives the whole gag a wonderfully straight-faced presentation that makes the joke land even harder. At a self-described "cheap" 35 cents, this 1969 issue packages Mad's cheerful irreverence in its most literally hazardous form yet.