Page 80 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2020)

there was an audience for such knowing
Over the years, Lucas has enjoyed
MAD’s constant skewering of the Star
Wars universe. To Jonathan Bresman,
this makes perfect sense. After all, the
first issue of MAD was published in 1952,
when Lucas was in elementary school.
“George is of the MAD generation,”
Bresman explains. “MAD was on the
same wavelength as ILM and George were.”
Bresman points out the article “The
Star Wars Log” (MAD #230, April 1982)
as evidence of this harmony. Written by
longtime MAD scribe Frank Jacobs and
illustrated by Harry North, the feature
is a fictional “top secret” file, ostensibly
from the desk of George Lucas himself,
detailing what the remaining films in the
Star Wars saga are going to be about (it was
published after Empire, but before Return
of the Jedi). It includes the following
passage: “Both Boba Fett and Jabba
the Hut [sic] were once comrades
of Darth Vader, and this is brought out
in our ninth film, “Yessir, That’s My Boba”
(No. 4 in the series). We find out that
Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber was once
recharged by Boba Fett’s father, who we
80 INSIDER
references. But MAD writers were (and still
are) different. They, alongside MAD’s
illustrators and editors, have always added
extra layers and details that a reader might
only catch after reading a particular piece
for the third or fourth time. For MAD, it is all
about the details.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES
BLECCH
According to Bresman, this attention to
detail is a key reason why MAD’s Star Wars
parodies have always worked so well as
both parody and satire. They were written
and illustrated by people who understood
and admired the Star Wars saga. “There
was kind of an interesting dynamic going
on,” Bresman reveals. “Because George
COVER STARS
MAD MAGAZINE HAS LAMPOONED
STAR WARS ON NUMEROUS
OCCASIONS OVER THE YEARS.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE
FUNNIEST EDITIONS!
Alfred as Darth Vader, MAD #196,
January 1978
The MAD Star Wars Musical, MAD #203,
December 1978
Alfred as Yoda, MAD #220,
January 1981
suspect might be Chewbacca.” As you
can see, Jacobs accidentally predicted the Mr. T as Darth Vader and Alfred as
eventual appearance of Boba Fett’s father! Wicket, MAD #242, October 1983
Jacobs’ unintentional prescience isn’t
lost on Bresman. “Even though Jacobs Alfred as Jabba the Hutt, MAD #354,
is joking, he anticipated a lot of the February 1997
prequels. He has stuff in the article
about the Force being Luke’s father, Star Wars Characters’ Bodies Spelling
which kind of pre-dates the virgin birth Out “Star Wars” MAD Star Wars
of Anakin. And Jacobs has all this stuff Spectacular, summer 1999
about clones.” Oddly enough, when “The
Star Wars Log” brings up the subject of Collector’s Covers Parodying the
clones, Jacobs even writes that they will Episode I Poster, MAD #383, July 1999
appear in “No. 2 in the series,” which
will be titled “Send in the Clones!” Alfred as Darth Maul, MAD #368
In retrospect, it’s amazing how much September 1999
research Frank Jacobs did while writing
“The Star Wars Log.” He took the time Collector’s Covers Parodying Attack
to correctly name-check planets such of the Clones, MAD #419, July 2002
as Alderaan, and though he misspells
Chewbacca’s homeworld as “Kazhyyyk,” Alfred as Emperor Palpatine, MAD
he must be given credit for even including #454, June 2005
a reference to Kashyyyk in the first place.
Most comedy writers in the 1980s would not Alfred as a First Order stormtrooper,
have attempted that level of accuracy when MAD #532 April 2015
writing a “mere spoof,” especially since—in
that pre-internet era—they didn’t know that