Mad #416

Mad #416 from April 2002 pulls off one of the magazine's cheekiest cover tricks: Alfred E. Neuman is conspicuously absent, replaced only by his red silhouette and a thumbtacked sticky note from "The Editors" solemnly explaining they couldn't afford their own mascot due to the slumping economy. It's a wonderfully self-deprecating gag that manages to make the lack of a cover image funnier than most covers with one. Inside, Desmond Devlin and Hermann Mejia take aim at The Lord of the Rings with their parody "Bored of the Rings: The Feeble Schtick of Ka-Ching!" — so if you enjoyed the films, prepare to enjoy them slightly less and laugh considerably more.