Sick #91, 1 of 3

Another Monday, another issue of Sick, this issue is #91 from July 1972. The cover is by Joe Simon.

Inside front and back cover of the issue.

People younger than me always give me a blank look whenever I make a reference to All In the Family or Archie Bunker. When I explain it to them, they find it hard to believe the show ever existed. You could never have such a show now. Today it's just remembered as a show about a guy who calls his son-in-law a Meathead and has a wife who sings badly, but it would still shock today. The first few episodes were mainly about “white flight”, and a typical show had ethnic slurs that could never be aired now, even when taken back. It's dated in that even as late as the early seventies, acknowledging a house has a bathroom or showing a married couple sharing a bed, or even anyone saying the word “sex”, was considered dirty for TV, but it's nothing you'd think twice about if it were in a Pixar movie. It's the racial humor that's somewhat more shocking now, even though it's making fun of prejudice.

The pictures of Nixon are from previous issue. Don't know if I mentioned this before, but I have the hunch there was a tight budget for the magazine, considering most of the articles either didn't have artists or were reprints.

John Costanza

Sick #31, 1 of 3

Here was America at its Sickest in September 1964. Under a cover by Jack Davis.

Surfing the internet, you can sometimes find the originals for some things, like this here.

Joe Simon

In this piece by Paul Laikin and Gray Morrow, the contents page says:

They made a complete fuss about Shakespeare's birthday, but completely overlooked Longfellow's birthday, No party, no gifts, not even a card... Well, Henry Wadsworth, we haven't forgotten. You may not be as big as Shakespeare, but remember you haven't been as dead as long either. Wait a few years...

Bob Powell

Contents again:Motlotlehi Moshoeshoe 2nd, the paramount chief of Basutoland in the future would be known as Lesotho. It's about time they changed the name. We wondered why they waited so long. It will open up a new world for Basutoland. Lesotho is more concise, easier to remember and more authoritative. So, congratulations, Basutoland—we mean Lesotho. Now if Motlotlehi Moshoeshoe will change his name, that will really swing.You can't count too heavily on write-ins..

Cartoons by Bob Tupper,Bob Weber, and others.

Angelo Torres

Arnoldo Franchioni

Sick #30, 3 of 3

The last of this issue of Sick from August 1964. I forgot to post this last week but the other two parts are here and here.

Instead of movie parodies as a comic like Mad did, they would do a plot summary with text and photos, like with their parody of From Russia, With Love

The contents page says:”From Russia With Love”, the new James Bond movie... “What's your name, stranger?” “My name is 007” “Funny, you don't look Italian”... Talking about “Russia” and “Love”, and “From”, and “With”, Krushchev had his birthday and had a party, the Communist Party...

The Air Force in Germany kept telling us to train our planes clear of the 70-mile zone on the East Berlin border. The orders go on to say that in case of overflights, if the planes are attacked by Red fighters, they should be sure to dispose of all cameras, film, and other spy equipment... President Eisenhower said if he saw a Russian plane over U. S. territory,he would have had it shot down. Unfortunately while he was President, no Russian plane ever flew over a U. S. golf course

Art here is by Bob Powell

Joe Simon

Sick #43, 2 of 3

More from the 43rd issue of Sick from March 1966. The first part is here.

This parody of The Old Farmer's Almanac written by Paul Laikin and illustrated by Arnoldo Franchioni is described on the contents page thusly:
A protest against a magazine that we really have nothing to protest about—except that they're beating us and everybody else in sales. This parody is another in our series of magazine spoofs designed to get even on our competition for what they're doing to us—namely, making us look really SICK!

Illustrated by Angelo Torres. Again according to the contents:
A protest against the overspecialization of sports magazines today. If this trend continues, we may soon be seeing titles like “Left-Handed Basketballs”, “Hockey Pucks” and “Cue-Stick Chalk”

Bob Powell

Joe Simon

Jack Sparling
A protest against continuing stories now flooding nighttime television. If you miss one program, you don't know what's happening, but in OUR continuing story, if you read every word, you still won't know what's happening!