Cover of the Week 3/4 – Green Lantern 19 MAD variant by Mark Frederickson

MAD magazine began life as a comic book before it became a magazine and satirizes each and every part of the current cultural climate. It has always aimed to corrupt the minds of many children as well as adults and now it  has hit the DC New 52 series in celebration of Alfred E. Neuman’s birthday. He has turned 12 again for the umpteenth time and has graced the cover of Green Lantern, with as little grace as possible! I have been researching the cultural icon Alfred E. Neuman, because MAD magazine was never sold over the pond, so the odd tv reference that was the base of my knowledge. I think this cover is so hilarious because firstly I love to see different species in unique GL outfits, the stranger the better, and secondly I love to see what they can bring to the power ring. He looks like a cheeky child happy to be in a superhero costume at a fancy dress party and does what every child would do: abuse the ring to do something silly. I can guarantee you that Guy has created some equally revolting construct actions, and then some! Max Frederickson is a wonderful artist because he can create a caricature, which by definition involves some form of facial exaggeration, but make them look equally very realistic (check out this site for some of his illustrations http://thedesigninspiration.com/articles/30-awesome-character-illustrations-by-mark-fredrickson/). Even Neuman in this cover could easily be mistaken for a real child because his features, though goofy, are well proportioned, his hair is pencilled and coloured realistically and his skin has natural folds and curves. It is an excellent cover parodying the Green Lantern corp, which brings welcome refreshment to the continual universe changing events, it always seems to go through.