Mad #149

Mad Magazine's March 1972 issue takes gleeful aim at the rat-horror film Willard, and Jack Rickard's cover captures the chaos perfectly: a wide-eyed, overwhelmed man is buried under a swarming tide of mice — all wearing Mickey Mouse ears and costumes — while a grinning Alfred E. Neuman cheerfully gestures at the mayhem behind him. The crowd of tiny rodent Disney-lookalikes spilling in every direction makes the joke land with satisfying absurdity. With Dick DeBartolo writing and Mort Drucker illustrating the interior parody "One Dark and Lonely Night," this is a prime example of Mad at its sharpest satirical best.