Mad #502

Mad's year-end roast of 2009 arrives in sparkling fashion with issue #502, its cover — by Mark Fredrickson — dominated by a bedazzled, rhinestone-studded glove giving a gleaming thumbs-down against a bright blue backdrop. The image perfectly sets up the magazine's "20 Dumbest People, Events, and Things of 2009" theme, with the cover promising pointed criticism aimed at a who's-who list that includes David Letterman, Kanye West, Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, and more. It's MAD doing what it does best: gleefully skewering the year's most cringe-worthy moments with wit and a whole lot of sparkle.