Welp, yes, I have already tried to Google it but the Fu seems low today.
I’m looking for an old cartoon that appeared in Mad magazine. I’m guessing it was around 1972-1977. Actually, I saw it in a paperback book compilation of various Mad cartoons but I suppose it originally appeared in the magazine.
I don’t know who the artist was except I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Al Jaffee, Don Martin or Antonio Prohías. I don’t think is was Dave Berg, but it might have been.
The cartoon is five or six panels. There is no dialogue. It shows an old sailor leaving his old wife to go out to sea. While he is away he periodically thinks of his wife (as shown as a image of the wife in a “thought balloon”).
As the days go by and he is away for a longer and longer time, each time we see him thinking of his wife’s image she becomes better looking. By the time he returns home he is imagining her as a beautiful young woman. Then he sees her again and she is the same old lady that he said goodbye to.
The "punchline"is: the old wife has an image of the old sailor as a very handsome young man and upon seeing her old sailor husband again, her “thought balloon” pops.
Does anyone else remember this cartoon? Can anyone find it on the inter-webz? I would be much obliged.
I believe *Mad-ly Yours *is original material, not reprints from the magazine. Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site gives the titles of the strips included; “Scrutiny on the Bounty” and “Point of View” both sound like they could be the one.
I have a faint recollection that “Point of View” might be the title. And after looking at examples of some of his art, it looks like it could indeed be Sergio Aragones.
Now the trick is finding it. I did a Google image search for “Sergio Aragones” and “Point of View” and haven’t come up with it.
OK. I just found “Scrutiny on the Bounty” on Google Image search and that’s not the one. I’m almost positive now that it’s by Aragones and I’m really thinking it’s “Point of View”.
Surprisingly enough, the software worked awesome after a warning during install that my computer did not meet requirements as it required cpu: 486. Also of note: a bolded note on the install CD’s case that the software would not install or run on Windows 3.1. It actually worked better than I ever remember it working previously.
However, no luck. Of course, if it was from a book and wasn’t a reprint it wouldn’t have been on the CDs anyway.
Regardless, thank you OP… I see some time to be wasted in the near future with some MAD nostalgia!
Thanks for that key info! How did you discover that? Do you have the book?
I just did a whole bunch of new searches using different combinations of the info you provided and I still came up empty. Mostly I did different image searches but I also searched on Google under “All” and I couldn’t even find a mention of it except for this thread and Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site.
Gilford’s site does show the cover of “In Mad We Trust” and lists the cartoons, including “Ship-Mates”, but since it doesn’t show it, I can’t be sure it’s the one I’m thinking of (of course, no offense to you, williamweigand. I believe you! I just want to see it with my own eyes). Thanks again!
williamweigand is absolutely right. I have that book now in my hand (no wonder I couldn’t find “Madly Yours!”) and the last strip in the book is the one you describe.
Except for the part in parentheses, that last sentence is almost exactly what I came on here to post. And I’d like to add that I’m impressed with how well you remembered the strip, I Love Me, Vol. I.
OK, I have a follow-up challenge for you MAD Magazine experts. I’ve looked for this cartoon online without success. I saw it in the late 70s or early 80s.
It consisted of a series of one-panel vignettes showing the evolution of a homemade apple pie business, from a sole proprietor operating out of her kitchen (“Mom’s Homemade Apple Pies”), to a small market, to a large store, and ultimately to a huge factory with the corporate name of “MOMCO INC” emblazened on it (with rail tank cars carrying tanks of artificial apple flavoring and preservatives into the factory).
Throughout, “Mom” is depicted as a grandmotherly type with white hair in a bun directing the action. In the final panel, she’s shown giving orders in the control room of the factory. Adjacent to the huge factory is a small competitor: a woman selling pies out of her kitchen (“Auntie’s Homemade Pies” or something similar).
ETA: So as I was writing this, I decided to do an online search again, and found it here in a blog that was posted just last month. Looks like my childhood memories held up pretty well. The only thing I don’t know is when it was first published.
Thanks! I thought the MOMCO logo had a definite '70s vibe.
This reminds me of a burger restaurant I used to go to in college in Houston, Texas. The name of the restaurant was “Charlie’s Hamburger Joint” and their slogan was “Over two dozen sold.”
Anybody remember a Dick Tracy spoof that had the little “crimestoppers notebook” pages as part of one of the panels? The one I always laughed at was how one could make a burglar alarm out of a board with spikes in it, placed under the window. The panel showed a screaming crook with the spikes coming out of the top of his foot.
