MAD about Super Heroes: By the Usual Gang of Super-Idiots

Superman and Batman appear on the cover of "Mad About Super Heroes," along with Alfred E. Newman, because most of the parodies found within have to do with those two comic book icons. For the Man of Steel the fun goes all the way back to Harvey Kurtzman's classic "Superduperman!" from "Mad" #4 (back when it was still a comic book) to "Smellville" from Mad #415. However, "Superduperman!", the parody of the comic book, is not to be confused with "Superduperman" the take off on the first movie, which were followed by "Spuerduperman II" and "Stuporman ZZZ," which is not to be confused with the television series "Lotus & Cluck: The New Misadventures of Stuporman." One of the things I found interesting reading through these stories was how hard it must be after several decades to come up with a new name for Superman's secret identity, from Clark Bent to Cluck Camp. The Caped Crusader receives similar treatment, from the classic Wally Wood drawn "Bat Boy and Rubin!" to "Bats-Man" the television show to the blockbuster "Battyman" movie and its "Buttman Returns" and "Buttman and Rubbin'" sequels. This collection comes courtesy of "the usual gang of super-idiots," and includes classic artwork by Mort Drucker, Sergio Aragones, Al Jafee, Angelo Torres, and Don Martin (these guys must have worked for nothing because this book is, by its own admission, priced "Cheap!). There are two sections in the volume that offer up the stories in full-color, but, of course, these are restricted to offerings from the comic book days of "Mad" (e.g., "Plastic Sam" and "Woman Wonder") and back covers (e.g, "Famous Artists' Paintings of Comic Book Characters"). There are other full-length movie parodies as well of the "X-Men" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies, although I liked the "Upcoming Movies Based on Comic Books," which simply offered up quickies on "Human Torch Song Triology," "Hulk Fiction" and "JLA Confidential." Another favorite is the "Real-Life Superhoeres at Comic Book Conventions," which uses the names of familiar heroes from "The Amazing Spider-Man" to "Wonder Woman" to describe the fans who read such literature. So there is a nice mix of formats to these comic looks at the comic books as the world's greatest super heroes are "mercilessly mocked and ridiculed by the world's dumbest artists and writers." Of course, if you did not read the original comics or see these movies, then you will never ever get all of the jokes. But then that is the whole point of satire, right?

This was a great book to just laugh at.