Mad #66

MAD #66 from October 1961 delivers one of the magazine's cheekiest cover concepts: Alfred E. Neuman, grinning gap-toothed in his red jacket and clutching a note, has crashed what appears to be a presidential press conference — complete with the official Seal of the President of the United States on the podium — while a JFK caricature rubs his forehead in exasperated disbelief before a crowd of bemused reporters. The banner promises this issue "will make J.F.K. —" and then delivers the punchline: "(Mainly because he isn't mentioned once!)" — a wonderfully self-aware bit of MAD mischief. Cover artist Kelly Freas renders the scene with polished, almost painterly realism that makes Alfred's gap-toothed intrusion all the more delightfully absurd.