Mad #446

MAD #446 arrives in October 2004 with a stomach-churning cover by Mark Fredrickson that puts a wide-mouthed, drooling man face-to-face with a rat dangled by its tail — the perfect gross-out image for the issue's Fall TV Preview skewering Fear Factor and eleven other shows. The Spy vs. Spy duo peek in from the upper corner as a reminder that MAD's regulars are still very much along for the ride, and Peter Kuper brings his distinctive hand to the Spider-Man 2 parody "Spider-Sham Too" inside. If you were watching TV (or avoiding it) in the fall of 2004, this issue captures that cultural moment with the gleefully bad taste MAD does best.