• October 8, 2012

An intro by Stephen Colbert may be tantamount in bookstores to the famed "Colbert bump." This round, the cable host, who admits "I saved my allowance up for it," and one of his writers, Eric Drysdale, are touting "Totally Mad -- 60 years of Humor, Satire, Stupidity and Stupidity," which also includes 12 removable classic Mad cover prints. Published by Time Home Entertainment, it goes on sale Oct. 30.

Edited by Mad editor John Ficarra, it features classic departments, such as "The Lighter Side," "Spy vs. Spy" and sassy movie sendups, like "The Oddfather." "Totally Mad" discusses Alfred E.Neuman, founder Bill Gaines and showcases six decades of a magazine that gleefully satirized politics, entertainment and pop culture by "the usual gang of idiots."

In Oct. 1987, it parodied a hit TV show it dubbed "LA Lewd"; 20 years earlier, Mad took on "Star Blecch." "Mad Men" fans will enoy the June 1960 "The Mad Madison Avenue Primer." ("Wouldn't you like Bourbon for breakfast, too?") On the political front, the January 2007 issue proposed The Iraqi Quagmire Chess Set, telling readers they can do "what the Pentagon never has: implement a strategy to win the war," which it calls "the dumbest thing of the year."

For millions of kids, Mad remains a smart, funny and irreverent look at American life and times. For adults who treasure those memories, "Totally Mad" is a potent reminder that print still matters.