Ghostbusters parodies in print - Cracked, MAD, etc.

Found some ‘humor mags’ in a box, thought I’d scan a couple and see if anyone wants to see some more?

This first one’s from 1989, with a cover image that triple-spoofs the summer blockbuster wars.

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The best GB content of this issue, in my opinion, was this centerfold white-on-black art. Sure, they get some terms wrong, but I felt the ghost imagery really caught the feel of some of the RGB cartoon merchandising, and I like the illustration of Belushi as Slimer.

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Shall I keep scanning?

Alex

Yes please! :smiley: too bad they can’t spell Aykroyd correctly. Ouch on the PKE comment.

any higher def on that last one? :slight_smile:

Awesome topic and i cant wait to see where this goes!

The scanned file is much bigger but it got reduced in the upload on Facebook.

Here, I broke it down into its separate pages…

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It still got reduced, but not as much. If that’s not big enough, PM me with your email addy and I will send the original.


Continuing through that same issue, Cracked 249, on page 30 we get this lone GB-germane example in a three-page article with classic cartoon characters parodying movie posters. ('Crocodile Bunnee' with Bugs instead of Paul Hogan, 'A Nightmare on Elmer Street' with E. Fudd instead of Freddy, etc.)

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Looks like Casper must've heard the Bill Murray-suggested title for GB2.

On the next page an RGB parody begins.

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On the last page of the issue (p. 50) we get some 'Shut-Ups' that are GB-themed.

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And on the back cover we see the Cracked mascot, Sylvester P. Smythe, in a GB portrait.

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Alex

Nice find you did!

More please, if you have some.

Yes, [I do] have some!

From the next issue, Cracked’s 250th Issue Semi-Spectacular, we get the movie parody for GB2. It ran on pages 10-14.

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However, that’s all the GB content I can spot in that issue…

But I’ve got more in the stack!

Alex

Still visiting the same well, Cracked also put out their Super Cracked Special #3 that same year.

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This one featured GB artwork on both the front cover and the entire inside cover.

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But there wasn’t any real GB-dedicated content on the inside, just a cameo in an odd Tarzan parody. I didn’t scan the entire thing, just the ‘BlobBusters’ panels.

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Alex

That’s nearly it for the Cracked issues, so here we’ll transition into the MAD magazines.

Both Cracked and MAD would sometimes slip the Ghostbusters in as visual gags in other satires.

Going back a little earlier in 1989, before the sequel came out, in Cracked 243, the ‘boys in grey’ cameo in the last panel of a ‘Christmas Carol’ parody depicting Rodney Dangerfield as Ebenezer Scrooge, perhaps a deliberate ‘Caddyshack’ reunion.

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While over at MAD, the 'busters have a quick walk-on in the parody of the 1990 movie ‘Ghost’ in issue 301, which was printed in March of 1991.

In fact, three movies are spoofed in this one panel, with Richard Dreyfuss’ character from 1989’s ‘Always’ giving Patrick Swayze some afterlife lessons.

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Funnily enough, Dreyfuss and Bill Murray did appear together in the movie ‘What About Bob?’ which opened just a couple of months later in '91.

Alex

Those scans are too awesome. Thanks for posting.

Another MAD offering, from issue 290 in the fall of '89.

On the cover, Alfred E. Neuman becomes the GB2 logo, giving a thumbs down instead of a V for victory.

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And MAD’s satire of the movie begins with this double-spread on pages 4 and 5…

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Hmmm… Murray’s metal detector isn’t a bad substitute for equipment, considering the KUD meter is in this film.

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Notice that both Cracked and MAD did variations on the same gag here, of replacing the Scolari Bros. with past movie gangsters. And is that Jim Varney reacting in fright at the sight of the Corleones?

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Alex

This is the last one from that box. It’s a 1991 “MAD Super Special” which reprints a three-in-one parody of films that all came out in 1984. This one was bound rather than stapled, so it was a little harder to scan, and some of the artwork in the cracks gets lost.

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Hey, the Venkman parody character seems to have some problems adding. (see second panel below)

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I didn’t scan the ‘Purple Rain’ or ‘Karate Kid’ segments, but if anyone wants to see them, just ask.

Anyone got any other old humor magazine parodies? I confess I really love the artwork. It’s interesting to see the details of the uniforms and equipment that these artists were able to discern when the movies were only viewable on the big screen.

And I love all the little details they pack into the panels.

Visual gag about Winston, who otherwise doesn’t even appear in the MAD parody of GB1…

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Caricature of Ivan Reitman himself in the Cracked satire of GB2…

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Alex

Great stuff! You did a good job.

It’s very interesting to see these. For that, thanks for uploading.

As for the actual content… I fail to see how this stuff is funny or even mildly amusing. I guess I never did like Cracked or MAD.