We know what you’re thinking. In this age of digital photography and Photoshopping, it would be oh so easy for us to take a photo of the First Lady shopping at Target yesterday and fill her cart with a treasure trove of MAD books, DVDs, T-shirts, Spy Halloween costumes and more in a desperate attempt to elevate our status and drum up business for our ersatz line of products. But you would be wrong! It wasn’t “oh so easy!” It was actually a lot of work!
The Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves will go down in baseball history as the two biggest team collapses in September ever. With the Triple Crown of terrible pitching, poor hitting and spectacularly shoddy fielding, the teams brilliantly sealed their elimination from postseason play.
Only time will tell if The X-Factor is worthy of receiving "The Ecch-Factor" treatment in our pages.
There’s a legal thriller beginning in Los Angeles and paparazzi from around the world have got to be there as the trial begins for Michael Jackson’s former personal physician. Dr. Conrad Murray is charged with the involuntary manslaughter of the King of Pop. The question is: will he beat it? From our "MAD 20 Dumbest 2009" issue (#502), comes this hit.
For the last couple of years, with every 2-year subscription to MAD, we’ve offered a collectible, limited-edition print of a classic MAD cover. And when MAD #512 goes on sale on Oct. 25, it will announce the latest print in the collection — “Alfred Eating Corn on the Cob.” Um, except that we just announced it here…oops.
Actually — can we level with you? Since we started The Idiotical, we’ve gotten very close with our online readers. And that’s why we’re giving YOU, our internet-savviest friends, the FIRST CHANCE to subscribe and get your very own piece of MAD history! So don’t delay — the prints are limited (as indicated by the whole “limited-edition” thing) — head over to our subscription page or call 1-800-4 MAD-MAG and lock it down!
(Use this keycode when ordering: MDCCPRT)
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel more than a little uneasy as "Just Below the Surface" makes it's blog debut. It's by Douglas Paszkiewicz. Happy Monday! 
MAD’s own gap-toothed grinning idiot mascot Alfred E. Neuman once again dons the cape…and the cowl…and the bustier…and the rubber ducky inner tube to transform himself into some of our favorite superheroes in a new line of collectible figures from DC Direct! They'll be available April 4, 2012, so start saving your nickels!
Last week, we asked readers of The Idiotical to guess what Hermann Mejia is working on for MAD #512. "c0ur7n3y" was the first commenter to get it right: Hermann's illustrating our spoof of smash-hit zombie smashfest, The Walking Dead! (It's written by Desmond Devlin, so you know it's going to be great.)
Today, we bring you Hermann's finished art for the opening splash. Wait until you see the rest of it! Half-eaten brains have never looked so beautiful.
Now...can you guess the title of our spoof? Oops, we already told you! It's called "The Walking Dud". Zing!
Artist: Hermann Mejia
Yesterday’s repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy made it possible for openly gay people to serve in the military. It was an historic day and reminded us of another historic day in gay military history, which we commemorated back in September 1993, MAD #321.
Look! Up on the roof deck, sipping an iced tea! It's Fantabulaman by Ted Rall! 
