Mad #411

Mad Magazine goes in close — very close — for this November 2001 issue, filling the entire cover with an extreme close-up of Alfred E. Neuman's gap-toothed, freckled grin, with a tiny American flag painted right on one of his front teeth. It's a bold, patriotic twist on the magazine's most familiar face, and the oversized composition gives the whole thing an absurdly cheerful energy that feels very much at home in Mad's irreverent tradition. Issue #411 also promises "Planet of the Remakes" inside, signaling the satirical wit fans have come to expect.