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This Sergio Aragonés masterpiece is included as a fold-out poster within Inside Mad. His priceless gift to all Mad fans (actually $29.95 or cheaper for the book on Amazon) shows over six decades of Mad contributors and ephemera within a mish-mash of Mad office walls. The only thing missing in this beautiful mess is a key. With the help of Mad fans, Mad contributors, and Mad producers, I have attempted to label everything you see with brief (pop-up) descriptions and links to pertinent pages... so we all can be Inside Mad. Email me with any details you come across - madcoversite@yahoo.com -
Roll over for navigation controls on the bottom of the window (including fullscreen). Zoom in for the pop-up tags. Hover over the pop-ups for information. |
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Alfred E. Neuman -
Mad's mascot -
The famous face of Mad with permanent smile and missing tooth, known for Mad's classic phrase, 'What, Me Worry?' Norman Mingo's image of him on #30 set the standard.
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The "Walking Eye" is a
Wallace Wood pre-MAD character from the mid-1940s. See The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood Volume 1 (Fantagraphics 2017) edited by
Bhob Stewart and J. Michael Catron.
See pages 31 and 130.
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Sergio Aragones' decision to put Alfred E. Neuman on an island as a castaway may be a simple tribute to the countless island gags that appeared in Mad over the years from Sergio, Don Martin, Don 'Duck' Edwing, John Caldwell, Al Jaffee, and others. Here's one on the back cover of issue #233.
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Superduperman -
from comic book #4.
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This optical illusion is a POIUYT from the cover of #93, March 1965.
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Knife cuts through pea-soup fog in the opening of Ping Pong from comic book #6.
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Moxie - Alfred E. Neuman's girlfriend - See back cover of #44.
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Cover of Mad #71, June 1962.
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Horrifying Clichés -
Paul Coker drawn series shows clichés as monsters come to life.
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Possible reference to the Mad Trips publisher Bill Gaines would take contributors on the world over, including safaris. Sheep has something to do with Amsterdam.
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Lana Limón - Production Artist
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Doug Thompson - Assistant Art Director
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Cover of Mad #501, October 2009.
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A rocket built by Al Jaffee for 'If Kids Designed Their Own Christmas Toys' from issue #76, January 1963.
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Joe Raiola - Writer / Senior Editor - in a tent because he's an outdoorsman, with a pitchfork from one of his subscription ad photos
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The 'Alfred E. Neuman For President' campaign - always the most viable candidate through the years, like on the back cover of Special #33.
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Moxie soda was a MAD sponsor in the 1950s.
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Nick Meglin - Writer / Co-Editor from June 1985 until January 2004 -
big into tennis
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Alfred as a scarecrow on the Kelly Freas cover of #43.
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Alfred paints the road around the center line on the cover of #96.
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12" to 14" resin statue of Alfred E Neuman released in the 90s from Spencer Gifts and Warner Brothers stores. Sometimes seen on eBay or Amazon for ridiculous prices.
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Patricia Dwyer - Assistant / Associate Art Director
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Al Jaffee - Artist / Writer - always inventive on his flying fold-in rug
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Rubber Chicken hangs from Mad office ceiling
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Usually spelled 'Max Korn'
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Dorothy Crouch - VP-Licensed Publishing / Associate Publisher
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Norman Mingo - Cover Artist -
drew the definitive Alfred E. Neuman used as a guide for all artists
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Kids replaying their favorite Mad cover #356.
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Potrzebie - One of the frequently used nonsense words appearing randomly within the pages of the magazine.
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A Sergio Aragones gag from 'A Mad Look At Batman' from #106, Oct 1966.
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Three players got separated from the group playing 43 Man Squamish in the pages of #95, June 1965.
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The little illegible word balloons on the walls are the actual nametags next to everyone's offices at DC and MAD.
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The little illegible word balloons on the walls are the actual nametags next to everyone's offices at DC and MAD.
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The little illegible word balloons on the walls are the actual nametags next to everyone's offices at DC and MAD.
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The little illegible word balloons on the walls are the actual nametags next to everyone's offices at DC and MAD.
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'Mole!' from comic book #2.
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Child on the cover of comic book #1.
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This is a fairly accurate representation of the MAD display case near the office entrance. It contains samples of over 50 years worth of MAD merchandise (both self-manufactured, licensed and unlicensed), MAD curios, one-of-a-kind and limited edition items, as well as props used in MAD photo shoots over the years.
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The cover of #6, August-September 1953.
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The
cover of #8, December 1953-January 1954.
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Bumble, the assistant to 'Frank N. Stein!', from comic book #8.
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Life-like 'Beautiful Girl of the Month' reads comic book #11, May 1954.
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Suspicious character temporaily tailed by 'Shermlock Shomes!' and Dr. Whatsit from the cover of comic book #7, October - November 1953.
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'Flip' the bird and some little flips, recurring image flips up where you least expect it.
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Lamont Shadowskeedeeboomboom, also know as 'Shadow!' appears in and on the comic book cover of #4, April - May 1953.
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'Melvin!' from comic book #2.
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From The Mad World of William M. Gaines - hardback edition page 40: "It was (former art director John) Putnam who grew the giant avocado plant that became immortalized in Mad as Arthur."
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Axolotl - One of the frequently used nonsense words appearing randomly within the pages of the magazine (actually a Mexican salamander, but never referred to in that context).
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Tom Nozkowski - Production
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Lenny (The Beard) Brenner - Production / Art Direction
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Stan Freberg - known for work outside of Mad as an author, recording artist, comedian, radio personality, and more.
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Bob Elliott - Writer /
half of the comedy team of Bob & Ray
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Ray Goulding - Writer / half of the comedy team of Bob & Ray
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Mort Drucker loves his wife Barbara
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Tom Richmond - Artist -
National Cartoonists Society President -
drawing Superheroes Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Superman
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Dick DeBartolo - Writer -
GizWiz gadget guru -
his dog lovingly looks on
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Arnie Kogen - Writer -
with special gray typewriter paper
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Nadina Simon -
Associate Art Director
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Amy Vozeolas -
Associate Editor
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Jack Albert -
handled lawsuits
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The guy with the School of Visual Arts portfolio is still waiting.
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Gloria Orlando -
handled subscriptions
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Cover of Mad #233, September 1982.
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Cover of Mad #112, July 1967.
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Cover of Mad #102, April 1966.
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Cover of Mad #104, July 1966.
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Cover of Mad #90, October 1964.
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Cover of Mad #101, March 1966.
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Cover of Mad #150, April 1972.
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Cover of Mad #116, January 1968.
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Cover of Mad #103, June 1966.
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Back cover of Mad #70, April 1962.
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Cover of Mad #76, January 1963 (and the first issue featuring work by Sergio).
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Cover of Mad #30, December 1956.
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Cover of Mad #126, April 1969.
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Cover of Mad #166, April 1974.
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Cover of Mad #154, October 1972.
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Cover of Mad #161, October 1973.
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The Mad Mobile was a bonus in the annual Mad Follies #4, 1966.
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Larger than life character from Don Martin's The Indignant Husband from Mad #96, July 1965.
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Greasy character on the back cover of Mad #345, May 1996.
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Hawks & Doves -
an Al Jaffee series from the early 70s - available complete in this later Mad Special #118, February 1997 (first one on the back cover, too). Peace!
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William Gaines - Publisher of Mad for over 40 years.
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Al Feldstein -
Editor from September 1956 until June 1985, holding up his cover to Weird Fantasy #13.
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Annie Gaines -
Wife of and assistant to Bill Gaines, Managing Editor -
Bill was a wine connoisseur.
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The voodoo doll had individual pins labelled with the titles of MAD's various imitators. A pin would be removed when the copycat title ceased publication. Gaines was down to one pin by 1992.
Mad Special #1 contained a build-it-yourself Mad Voodoo Doll bonus.
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Bill loved Zeppelins, had many hanging from his ceiling. -- (Photo courtesy of Jason Levine)
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Bill loved Zeppelins, had many hanging from his ceiling. -- (Photo courtesy of Jason Levine)
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| This King Kong face was an actual papier mache sculpture built by Aragones and given to Gaines as a gift. It hung outside Gaines' window at 485 Madison for years. -- (color photo courtesy of
Jason Levine) |
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The Black Spy -
Arch Nemesis: The White Spy -
an Antonio Prohias invention first seen in the pages of Mad #60.
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The White Spy -
Arch Nemesis: The Black Spy -
an Antonio Prohias invention first seen in the pages of Mad #60.
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Known for the meticulous attention to detail in his historical and other drawings, George Woodbridge's subjects nearly jumped off the page.
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During a Mad Trip to Germany in 1980, German editor Herbert Feuerstein and publisher Klaus Recht present Bill Gaines a portrait of the back of Gaines' head painted by Rolf Trautmann (thanks Michael Elias for photos from German Mad #141).
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Alfred E. Neuman statue created for the film 'Up The Academy', now a destination in the Mad offices to stand with to have your photo taken.
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Opposed to writing the same things over and over in business correspondence, Bill Gaines would use one of his many stamps to make short work of the task.
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This cash register belonged to Nick Meglin's grandfather and was given as a Christmas gift to Bill Gaines.
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Giant slide rule given as a Christmas gift to Bill Gaines.
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Clock time-bomb given as a Christmas gift to Bill Gaines.
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Emergency shirt and tie given as a Christmas gift to Bill Gaines.
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Possible personal hardbound collection of Mad magazines or Ross Cochran reprints.
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Ross Cochran reprints of the E.C. titles with 'Tales from the Crypt' in front.
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Among the scribbles, Sergio Aragones draws Groo and Maggie Simpson, some of his outside-of-Mad comic work.
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The sad-looking Christmas tree is left up all year as an in-house joke.
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The old art drawers were full of original art, black & white art and fold-ins.
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Chia Bieber Pet from #508.
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Similar to the Alfred-in-the-box on cover #33.
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Belongs with the operators on #216.
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The MAD animated show on Cartoon Network.
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From The Mad World of William M. Gaines - hardback edition page 239: "Gaines owns a print of King Kong, which he shows at the slightest hint of interest. He also possesses those parts that were cut out before the movie was released -- scenes in which the great ape strips the clothes off Fay Wray, crushes various victims underfoot, and, at one point, has a man for lunch. The scenes were removed for fear King Kong might appear too unsympathetic."
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From The Mad World of William M. Gaines - hardback edition page 40: "It was (former art director John) Putnam who grew the giant avocado plant that became immortalized in Mad as Arthur. A few years later, he grew another plant. A leafy sprout of cannabis sativa, which he kept hidden behind a piece of cardboard. One day (former Editor Al) Feldstein saw the greenery, recognized it for what it was, and said strongly, 'You want to get us arrested? Get that thing out of here.' Putnam complied. He removed the plant from its pot, or vice-versa, cured its leaves, and saw that it was disposed of in a nonwasteful manner."
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A bit of a long-shot, but worth mentioning an elephant connection from Dick DeBartolo's Good Days and Mad - pages 54-55 (and from the WilliamGaines.com website): "Gaines and I become fast friends shortly after a MAD dinner where he mentioned 'The Elephant Hotel'. 'Oh you mean Lucy' I replied. Gaines had never met another person who knew about the Elephant Hotel and the next weekend he insisted we make a trip to Margate, New Jersey (right next to Atlantic City) to see it in person. Poor Lucy was falling apart, so Gaines said we have to find the Mayor and get a fund going to fix her up. We went on a search for the Mayor and found his house. Gaines gave him a check and told him what a find it was to have Lucy in town. He promised more help and spread the word."
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Enter at you own risk!
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This waiter looks like he could be straight out of the gag described by Dick DeBartolo in his Good Days and Mad - pages 177-178: "The last MAD trip Bill made was a cruise to Bermuda in the fall of 1991. By that time, the MAD trips had been opened up to include spouses for part of the tour, and on this trip, about forty MAD staffers, friends, and family members set sail on The Horizon. One evening while on deck, I was talking to a ship's officer, who said he was proud to have the MAD staff aboard. But he was especially proud, he added, that William M. Gaines was among us.
I recognized an opportunity, so I asked if he would like to play a practical joke on Gaines. He was very willing. I told him how much Bill loved the Marx Brothers and how he especially loved the overcrowded cabin scene in A Night at the Opera. I said I wanted to fill Bill's cabin with at least a hundred people. The officer asked me what I needed, and I told him, 'About four ship's mechanics with tool boxes, a half-dozen waiters with big trays of dishes, a lot of cleaning people with mops, brooms, vacuums...' et cetera. He agreed.
Now all this had to be carefully orchestrated, because you only get one chance to do something this elaborate! We got everyone assembled one deck above Bill's cabin. Annie had made sure that Bill was awake and was at least wearing underwear. (Thank God, he was!)
For openers, Duck Edwing and his beautiful wife, Cluck (yes, Duck and Cluck), entered 'just to visit.' Then about every ten seconds, someone knocked on the door and went in. After about ten MAD staffers were inside, we started sending the maids, engineers, and other ship's personnel, interspersed with more staffers. It took about two minutes for Gaines to figure out what was going on, and from that moment on, he laughed every time a new person came through the door. That night I managed to cram Bill's stateroom with about 150 people -- including a couple with a crying baby! Bill claimed this was his favorite practical joke ever, even though it was played on him."
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Possible cover of Mad #379, March 1999, even though background cover color is off.
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Possible bordered cover of Mad #364, December 1997, even though colors are off.
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In over a hundred "Letters" sections of the magazine, Sergio Aragones drew a prominent mail gag often featuring letter carriers.
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This guide holds an Alfred head on a stick that look awfully similar to this collectible (thanks Sam Parker).
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This guide holds an Alfred head on a stick that look awfully similar to this collectible (thanks Sam Parker).
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The famous six-fingered hand points to things of importance like subscription offers and bonuses in Specials.
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Sam is Googling The Mad Cover Site because he forgot the address again...
(just kidding)
Thanks - Sam Parker, Jerry Moore, Charlie Kadau, Mike Slaubaugh, Desmond Devlin, Adam Cooke,
Michael Elias, Sam Viviano, Ellen Berg Cohen, David Williams, Ryan Flanders, and Jason Levine.
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