Strange find in the cheap bins-Jughead 's Soul Food

I got this recently in a box of comics from one of my cousins. It is from the short lived line of Archie comics published by Spire. Spire was a company that published Christian comics. The Archie titles they put out seem to be the most remembered and the easiest to find. The first story "A La Carte" is all about Jughead trying to bring in what seems to be a hot dog vendor's cart into the Riverdale high school cafeteria. Mr Weathersbee tells Jughead he can't bring the cart inside. And so Jughead takes it out side,and this not so good story ends with Mr Weathersbee getting a hot dog with lots of mustard from ole Juggy and praying. The second story doesn't seem to have a title,but it begins with Big Ethel and Betty Cooper outside Jughead's house. Ethel freaks out when she sees Jughead and what looks to be a girl sitting on his couch. She gets really pissed cause "He says he can't STAND girls!!!". So she goes and knocks on his door and confronts him. Jughead seems to be very confused by this. And in the final panel we see why. Turns out Jughead was sitting on the couch watching tv with his dog Hotdog. Next one get a one page gag story,in which Jughead is eating and sharing his food with Hotdog,and so in the last panel Hotdog brings over his bone to share with Jughead. Ok so far this comic has been bad,but hasn't had much Christian propaganda. "Calorie Gallery" is the next story. Jughead is excited to see a help wanted sign in the window of a local bakery. He gets the job,but in typical Jughead fashion fucks it all up by "taste testing" all the food. A really lame story with a lame gag to end it. There are a couple of more stories but truthfully they are all uniformly shitty. Then towards the end of the comic,we are "treated" to a Big Moose story. The Archie gang notices that both Big Moose and Jughead both have trays full of huge piles of food. Juggie ask Moose if they should pray for their food. Moose mentions that he never does that. And Jughead compares Moose to his dog,who also never prays for his food. Jughead goes on a long tirade about how God creates the food. And how Moose should be thankfull for having food. LAME LAME LAME. Next up we get "Jughead Prayer Page" which has various Archie charecters praying for various things. Finally this steaming pile of feces is wrapped up with a short story were Prof. Flutesnoot is educating the Archie gang on how to eat properly. But Betty and Archie have to interupt him to go into a two page speach about how God created our bodies and other such shit. OK I have read about 10 or so of these Spire Archie comics,and I consider myself to be agnostic/atheist. So I know these comics aren't aimed at me. But outta the ones I have read this has to be one of the worst. Jughead's Soul food earns a F-.

Strange find in the cheap bins-Jughead 327

Jughead #327

Published by Archie comics group

The year is 1983 and this issue seems to be Archie comics attempting to show they aren't stuck in a time warp and are hip to the current trends. In the first story "The Punk" ,the story starts with Archie and Betty in the offices of the school newspaper. Archie is looking out the window and sees a girl and guy. Who both are dressed in the "punk" style. Archie makes a comment about how he finds that style utterly revolting. And the guy hears him and turns around and makes a comment. Archie is surprised to see the guy looks like Jughead but has a mohawk. He ask Betty if she saw this but she was busy typing up a story. So Archie goes out in search of Jughead and he finds him. "Back off NERD!" is Jugheads response to Archie. And then he says his new name is Captain Thrash. Archie ask if Jughead's dog,Hotdog, also has a new name. And he sure does it is Vicious,and now Hotdog has a golden chain for a collar and has a yellow stripe down his back and a purple one down his side. Archie goes to Dingy's ,which is the local punk hangout. Archie sees a guy who while doing "the Slam" ends up punching Jughead in the face. So Archie comes up behind the guy and restrains him. This pisses Jughead off and he takes Archie and throws him outta Dingy's. The next day Archie is outside the school talking to Veronica,and he happens to notice Jughead is in the newspaper office and is talking to Betty. Archie assumes Jughead is talking Betty into joining the Riverdale punk scene. So Archie and Veronica go to confront Betty. It turns out that Jughead was going undercover so he could write an article on the local punk scene. So the story ends with the gang all going to Dingy's so Jughead can get a hamburger. The rest of the stories in the issue are your typical Archie stories. But just for the scenes with Jughead as Captain Thrash this comic earns a B.

Grandmasters of Wrestling First Blood Volume 1

Grandmasters of Wrestling First Blood Volume 1
Distributed by Digiview Entertainment
While at first glance this DVD seems to be just a repackaging of one of the two previous discs. But it turns out that the cover is wrong, This seems to be held after Macabeemania 2. We start off with a backstage interview.Nikolai Volkoff is cutting a promo on Iron Sheik. Now we cut to Sheiky baby talking about his Jewish fans again.
Opening match is Ace Darling VS Mr. Motion,No idea who Mr Motion is.Ace seems to be the face. Motion comes to the ring with a valet that has major 80's big hair disease. Quick paced match,Oh shit Motion has a crew cut Mullet. Motion keeps working Ace's arm. Mr Motion ends up winning with a running powerslam. OK match that would have been better if it was about 4 minutes shorter.
Now It's time for Iron Mike Sharpe vs The Cheetah Kid. Well hopefully Mike's opponent shows up this time. And was Cheetah Kid one of the other gimmicks for one of the fat fucks from Public Enemy? Weird this seems to have been filmed thru a telescope,what the fuck is up with that. Cheetah kid seems to be wearing holiday streamers on his ring gear. Hmm I doubt Cheetah is either of the guys from Public Enemy. He seems to be trying to be a US indy version of Tiger Mask IV. Match is full of Sharpe stalling, But at least he doesn't seem as fat as he was on the last 2 DVDs. OK Sharpe enough stalling,Mike takes control of the match and starts whipping Cheetah Kid into the corners. Cheetah recovers and does a walk the ropes armdrag. He tries for it again but Sharpe kicks the rope, Then the camera angle goes to shit and all you can see is their legs. What the hell the match ends with Sharpe just walking out of the ring and heading outta the bingo tent the show is being held in.
Misty Blue VS Linda Dallas,Linda is out first. Misty comes out and has what looks to be the old NWA woman's world title. I don't expect much outta this match. Lots of work on the mat that isn't that good. Blue wins with an airplane spin.OK that match was completely worthless.
And the final match of First Blood Volume 1 is Sheik VS Volkoff. I hope it is at least better than the last match,but have a feeling that it won't be. Sheik comes out with his manager like one the last show. Volkoff comes out with some blond chick and he has the American flag with him. Oh shit he is singing "Hava Nagila" again,sweet! They pan the crowd and I see what appears to be a teenage Eric Posin. Sheik attacks Volkoff while he is singing and the match starts. And it is as bad as expected. It kinda reminds me of watching my uncles fight over the last can of beer on New Years Eve,but my uncles had better moves. Sheik stalls for long periods and then gets out a pair of brass knuckles. He never seems to use them,maybe he forgot about them. They go out in the crowd and Volkoff attacks Sheiky with a chair,and it ends up being a double countout.
Well besides Mr Motion vs Ace Darling,and parts of the Sharpe VS Cheetah Kid match this was a total shithole of entertainment. Fuck it I give it a C-.

Grandmasters of Wrestling Volume 2

Grandmasters of Wrestling Volume 2
Distributed by Digiview Entertainment
Volume 2 of the best selling wrestling DVD series,and it starts off with what is called a "musical Intermission. Which has Nikolai Volkoff VS Classy Freddie Blassie. Volkoff starts singing "Hava Nagila". Which of course the crowd eats up. And Blassie enters the ring sits down and sings "Pencil Neck Geek". Freddie is wearing a Monday Night War shirt and a jacket that looks like he stole it from the Baycity Rollers. Crowd enjoys this song too.
Now onto the first match of volume 2,Bam Bam Bigelow VS Nikolai Volkoff. Bam Bam is out first and looks a lot like he did during his second WWF run. Announcer informs us that this match has an 1 hour time limit,but since the DVD is only 1 hour and 5 minutes I doubt this match will go to the time limit. Volkoff looks flabby and way outta shape. But Bam Bam looks like he usually does. Not sure who is the face/heel in this match. Volkoff after his singing would be my choice for face. But crowd looks bored with this match. Double disqualification,and I really couldn't care. The match was bad,and sadly has been the best match so far on either volumes 1 or 2.
Backstage interview with Iron Sheik. Sheik it turns out is the Macabee Champion. He starts talking about all his Intelligent Jew fans. Sheik rants and raves in that way that only Sheiky can. He is wearing his Olympic singlet and a mid 80's WWF shirt. Sheik does his Persian club routine. And even challenges to Mighty Macabee to try out the clubs.Oh shit Sheik removes his shirt and he is so fat his belly button looks like a mini-cock.
Next up is Mighty Macabee vs Iron Sheik for the Macabee World title. Sheik comes out first with a manager and Iron Mike Sharpe. I do mark for the Ayatollah being on Sheik's flag.OK seems like the Sheik will do the club routine again.N Sheik mentions those "intelligent Jews" again. Sheik sings the Iranian National Anthem. And the crowds lets out a long sigh of boredom. Then he starts swinging the clubs and some goofball is counting,and Sheik does 100 of them. Now it is time for the Hulk Hogan of Macabeeian Championship wrestling to enter the ring,THE MIGHTY MACABEE. Who wears a singlet with a star of David on it,a mask,and carries a fencing foil.Maybe I will get lucky and he is a very skilled luchadore.A Masked Fencing Jewish Lucadore,but I have no such luck. Macabee seems to have at least been trained.HAHA he starts doing very Hulksterish poses. Sheik's manager keeps interfering and so he is escorted by security back to the lockeroom.Lots of stalling from Sheik. And Patera gets up from the ringside table and starts giving advice to Macabee. I hope it's "Never throw a boulder through a McDonald's window." Sheik pulls something outta his tights and hits MM square in the head. This causes The Mighty Macabee to end up outside the ring. Sheik follows him out and gets knocked down with a chair shot to the head. Macabee runs around the bleachers slapping hands with kids and doing more Hogan poses. They both get back into the ring and Macabee puts a sleeper on Sheik. Iron Mike enters the ring and hits Mighty with a chair. Macabee hits the mat and the bell is rung. Ref rules that Macabee wins by DQ. But MM gets on the mic and demands the match continues. He wants 5 more minutes with no DQs and if Mac loses he will take off his mask. I figure that Macabee will win the title,and end up being right. Maccabee goes and celebrates with the crowd,in which it is rumored is a very young David Bixenspan.While this volume was better than volume 1,it was some of the interviews that made it so. The ring action was still pretty bad. Grandmasters of Wrestling Volume 2 gets a C.

Grandmasters of Wrestling Volume 1

Grandmasters of Wrestling Volume 1
Distributed by Digiview Entertainment
The kinda infamous "Best selling wrestling DVD ever". We open with Ken Patera looking just like my dad's old mechanic buddy Bill Taylor. Ole Ken is being interviewed by some goofball in what looks to be a high school lockeroom. Ken starts going off on Iron Mike sharpe. Funny stuff,but can Ken back it up in the ring?
Same goofball is in the ring ang introducing Ken. Yeah this has to be a high school gym. Patera is now round like a weeble. Ken starts name-dropping The Mighty Maccabee. IIRC Macabee is some kind of Jewish thing.
Back to the lockeroom and Ace Darling is being interviewed by some different goofball. So Ace is now feuding with his old tag team partner Dangerous Devon Storm. OK seems to be that Ace is the face in this match,and he is cutting a generic early 90's wwf JTTS promo. Now we switch to Devon Storm. Looking all cool in his Citgo Shades. This seems to be from before Storm was in WCW as Crowbar.
First Match Devon Storm w/Dawn Marie VS Ace Darling
Devon comes out first with Dawn in the lead. She is spraying perfume. Devon runs the ropes and fucks with the announcer. Damn Dawn Marie has a decent ass. Ace comes out and walks around the basketball court playing to the fans. Seems to be lots of young kids in the audience. Kick ass Ace has a black satin jacket with something airbrushed on the back in neon colors! Storm takes the mic and insults the crowd in a very blah way. OK Ace mentions that this is Macabeemania 2. Announcer makes mention that the ref recently worked a WWF event. Cuts to Pantera and the announcer guy at the ringside table. And I notice that Patera is reading notes off what looks like a "script". Should that mean I might see a Stunt Granny appearance? A couple of Darling dropkicks and Storm is knocked out to the floor. For some reason this match is reminding me of the crusierweight division in 1992 WCW under the Watt's reign. Match is going fast slow fast slow kinda like a Nirvana song. Storm cheap shots Ace after Darling is distracted by Dawn. Weirdly it looks like there is mats outside the ring on only two sides. Storm slows it all down with 2 longish front face locks. Ace looks like a pre-massive amounts of steroids Scott Steiner. But he has a way shittier hurracarana. Ace gets the pin with a move off the top rope. OK match but really not that impressive.
OK now another backstage interview,well that should really be High school lockeroom interview. Iron Mike Sharpe,Who is getting pudgy. Cool Sharpe is gonna face off with Kamala. Might be a watchable Big guy match.
Back to the ring,20 minute time limit. Sharpe comes out first,and he grabs the mike and claims to be over 300 lbs of pure muscle. Kamala is announced,but instead we get Kim-chee who has on a blue hat this time instead of the usual white. And he pantomimes out a stupid story about why Kamala isn't here. Sharpe ask for a count out victory. But there is a substitute. KING KONG BUNDY!@!!!!!!!!! It is strange to me to see Bundy as a face,but the crowd is completely behind him. After Bundy slams him,Sharpe leaves the ring and gripes about Kamala not being here. Back and forth match,but slow. Well what else should i expect with almost 1000lbs of wrestler in the ring. It ends in a double count out. Bundy looks all pissed and stomps back to the lockeroom.This match sucked. Bundy was ok,but Sharpe looked really bad.
Now for the 3rd match on the DVD. Superfly Jimmy Snuka VS The Metal Maniac,a match that has happened many many many times on various Northeast Indies. There is a 20 minute time limit,in what is labeled a ALL STAR CLASSIC match. Maniac is out first and has a good sized beer gut.Metal calls out Snuka,who comes out to Curtis Mayfields "Superfly". Why do I get the feeling that this will be the best part of the match. Lots of stalling on the mat. Snuka hits the Superfly at the 9 minute mark and ends this abortion.
WOW well you do get what you pay for. The cheap price is surely what got this it's rep as best selling wresting DVD. Because the matches are all really bad. For the price of $1 it is worth picking up just to see some 80's superstars in horrid matches. But I sure wouldn't pay more than that.So Grandmasters of Wrestling Volume 1 earns a D+.

TPB winners 05

JLA Year One
Story by Mark Waid
Art by Barry Kitson
In the tradition of Batman,Metamorpho,and Nightwing. The JLA gets a 12 issue series updating their origin to the modern age.This trade tells the story of how Martian Manhunter,Hal Jordan the Green Lantern,Aquaman,Barry Allen the Flash,and the second Black Canery form the first lineup of the Justice League of America.The JLA is the premiere superhero team of the DC universe.Inspired by the World War II superheroic team ,the Justice Society of American,these 5 heroes team up to fight off an alien invasion. This is the first public appearances of Martian Manhunter and Aquaman,who previously had kept their heroic deeds hidden to the general public. After seeing how well they work together the heroes decide to permanently team up anytime there is a threat too big for them to take care of on their own. Through out their first year in existence they are joined by Oliver Queen the Green Arrow,Ray Palmer the Atom,Batman and Superman.I got this trade in a lot,and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Now I ain't a big fan of Superman or Aquaman,I find both of them to be pretty boring no matter who is writing them. But in this mini series it is the first time I actually enjoyed the adventures of both heroes.Another thing that I enjoyed in this trade is the appearance of the Doom Patrol. Who are my favorite team from the silver age. The story by Mark Waid is great,and I loved how he peppered the story with references to alot of the old silver age JLA stories. The art by Barry Kitson,who I hadn't seen much of his artwork before,is very nice. I has a cleanness to it's line work that I liked. And Kitson has a energy to his art that makes the pages just pop.About the only negative,and really it isn't a negative to me. Is that now thanks to Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis this story is most likely not in continuity anymore. In the end this is a good trade to give to anyone that is a JLA fan,or who's only exposure to the JLA is the Superfriends or JLA/JLU cartoons. JLA year one gets a B.

I play way to many video games!

Chrono Trigger

Nintendo DS

Yes Chrono Trigger still my favorite RPG of all time. After a very sucky rerelease on the PS1,all fans of Chrono get a rerelease that is most ways is even better than the original SNES release. The basic story is a young man ,and various people he picks up along the way,try to stop the ultimate evil. After an accident they figure out how to travel through time,and visit various time periods. From the far far future to the stone age.Many different things makes this game stand out from the flood of RPGs on the market. One thing is how there really isn't any random encounters,the bane of most RPGs. Another is how once you level up enough you can do double or triple attacks in which you team up with one or two other members of your party and unless a much stronger attack.But the biggest thing that has made this game stand out,and the one that keeps me replaying it even now,is the multiple endings. Things you do in the past of future determine what ending you get. And lastly one feature that I think most RPGs should have now is New Game +. This is were after you beat the game,you can start over at the beginning but with all the levels and most of the equipment you had when you beat the game. This allows you to go through the game faster and is the key thing to allow you to get some of the alternate endings. Now the DS release has added a couple of extras that were not in either of the 2 previous releases. First is a new area you can explore,In this you end up becoming the heroes of a group of lizard/human hybrids. And you get some nice equipment. The other is the battle arena,where you train and fight your monsters against the computer or through wifi other players. A difference I noticed is that some items,and enemies have different names from the SNES release. Thankfully the major flaw of the PS1 release isn't present here. It seems cause of the PS1 release being on a CD the battles sometimes had horrid load times,but since the DS is a cart based system this version doesn't have this problem. Another nice extra is the game comes packed with a nice mini poster that on the other side has a map of the overworld.Chrono Trigger DS is one of the few games I paid full retail price for. And even now over a year since I bought it I still pull it out and play it at least a few days each month. Chrono Trigger DS earns a A+.

TPB winners 03

X-O Manowar Retribution

Art by Barry Windsor-smith,Sal Velluto,and Mike Manley

Story by Bob Layton,Jim Shooter,and Steve Englehart

X-O Manowar is the title that got me into the Valiant Universe. X-O is a barbarian who aquires a alien suit of armor,kinda a Conan in Iron Man's suit type of hero. This trade reprints the first 4 issues of the original X-O run. It also included a X-O Database comic that had various diagrams of X-O's armor. Kidnapped many years ago by a race of spider aliens,Aric lives for a few years as a slave on the alien mothership. But thanks to the help of another slave he gets a map to the spider aliens ultimate weapon. This is the X-O Manowar class armor. Aric manages to get the armor and escapes the ship and heads back to Earth,but it turns out he is now in the year 1993. Somehow even though only 2 or 3 years have passed while he was on the mothership,in realtime many decades have passed. So he is a man out of his time.Using his armor he fights back against the spider aliens and various other threats. Aric finds out that the spider aliens have been hiding on Earth for many years and have started up a multi-national company, Orb Industries. Aric with the help of a kinda sleazy weasel of a man manages to take over Orb and through this he slowly becomes used to the modern world.When I started reading X-O it was with issue 4,but thanks to not having a comic shop near me,I didn't manage to get issues with any regularity until around issue 15. And back in the early to mid 90's most Valiant back issues cost way more than I wanted to pay. The previously mentioned issue 4,which was the first appearnce of the Shadowman,I ended up selling for around $40.So when I finally got this trade sometime last year,it was the first time I got to read the first 3 issues of this series. And I was very impressed at how well written these issues are. One complaint about the various Valiant series back in the 90's was that the stories were great but the artwork wasn't that good. Well these 4 issues are proof of how wrong that was. Issue 1 has layouts by Barry Windsor-smith,finishes by Bob Layton and John Holdredge. The story in this issue is by Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart. And has a amazing Barry Windsor-smith cover that I would love a poster sized version of. The second issue has another very nice Barry Windsor-smith cover,and is penciled by Sal Velluto,inks by Bob Layton,Tom Ryder,and Kathryn Bolinger. Now this issue the art isn't as good as the first,but really there is few artist out there that can come close to BWS. Issue 3 has a cover by David Lapham,and is gotta be one of his earliest published pieces of comic art. The interior has again Shooter and Englehart doing the writing chores,and Sal on the pencils. The inks are by Tom Ryder and Ted Halsted. And the final issue reprinted in this trade,issue 4.Though there is no credit to who did the cover to my eyes it looks like another good Barry Windsor-smith cover.The writers are Bob Layton and Steve Englehart,with Mike Manley doing the pencils,and Ralph Reese and Tom Ryder slinging the ink. Issue 4 I have already mentioned has the cameo first appearance of Shadowman,but it also has a very early appearance of the Harbinger kids. Overall the art work while not as flashy as alot of the art coming out from Image and Marvel at the time is still very solid and to me at least more appealing. One nice thing is now you can find this trade on various auction sites for less than cover price,I think I paid about $3 with shipping for my copy. X-O Manowar Retribution trade paperback gets a B+.

TPB winner 04

Animal Man volume 1

Story by Grant Morrison

Art by Chas Truog and Tom Grummett

This is a trade paperback reprinting the first 9 issues of the best series coming out from DC comics in the late 80's. Before this series Buddy Baker AKA Animal Man was a mostly forgetten hero. He has the power to gain the ability of any near by animal. So he can have the strength of a gorilla, or the abiltity to regrown body parts like a lizard.What I love about Buddy is how he is a blue collar hero, since being a superhero doesn't pay that well He does stuntwork to earn money. The comic focuses on Buddy and his family,his wife Ellen,his son Cliff and his daughter Maxine.The first few issues find Buddy coming outta a semi retirement to help out a lab that does tests with animals. He soon finds out that this lab is doing horrible things to their test animals,and with the help of Bwanna Beast,another long forgotten hero,Buddy does his best to correct this wrong doing.These issues also have a funny scene were Buddy comes down stairs in his hero uniform ,but he has a black jacket on top of it. When asked by Ellen why he is wearing the jacket Buddy replies Well I need a place to keep my keys and money,and I feel kinda silly running around in spandex. This small touch is one of many that makes Buddy and his family seem more like real people and not just some charecters in a comic book. After the first animal testing storyline we get a handfull of done in one storys,but there is a underlying story that runs through these issues and many more to come. We see how since Buddy has a connection with animals he becomes a vegaterian,and how he becomes PETA's number 1 hero. We also get to see how Ellen and the kids deal with being the family of a superhero. Issue 5 is the acclaimed "Coyote Gospel" which is a Christ story with a Wile Coyote stand in. This issue is one that divides many people,some people think of it as the best issue of the series,and others hate it with a passion. I will admit that I like it but find it kinda preachy.The trade wraps up with an issue in which Buddy joins Justice League Europe,and since he is now a member of one of the biggest superhero teams,he gets all the perks. Which include a salary,and various home defense devices installed in his home,incase some supervillain wants to get back at buddy by attacking his family. This issue is full of humor and is a nice way to end this trade. One complaint I have heard about this trade is how you can tell it is part 1 of a longer storyline,which it is. But in my eyes it works good as a standalone. The story by Morrison is IMHO some of his best work. I am of the mind that when Morrison is working on a creator owned,or a b-list hero he is one of the best writers out there. But when you put him on an A-list title,he is pure shit. The artwork by Chas Truog for the first 8 issues is nothing to write home about,but isn't bad. It is just average. Issue 9 has very good artwork by Tom Grummett,and this is major step up from the previous 8 issues. The covers are all by Brian Bolland and each one is amazing. I would love to have a book that is just Bolland's various covers for this series,or end a series of posters of these covers. Animal Man Volume 1 gets an A.

Showcasing the Essentials 06

Mad for Decades

Written by Various authors

Art by Various artists

Mad Magazine has been for along time one of my favorite sources of parody and biting social commentary.And this is a hardcover reprint of 5 decades of the magazine.Divided up into 5 chapters,with each chapter focusing on a decade,this book is a good sampler of the best of Mad.It starts in the 50's and has the classic "Lone Stranger","Superduperman","Melvin of the apes" and others.Alot of the parodies in this decade have beautiful artwork by Wally Wood. One standout to me is "Starchie" a very funny parody of the Archie comics. Showing Starchie and Bottleneck as the bad apples most readers of the Archie comics wished they had been.It is full of subversive humor that takes the piss outta the squeeky clean image of the Archie Comics Group. The next chapter is of course the 60's.This is full of great sendups of the hippie culture and the entire Mod movement.My favorite is a great parody of "2001" which is titled "201 minutes of a Space Idiocy",a of course "Bats-man" a humorous take on the sixtie's favorite "Batman" tv show. Well anyone that has enough brains to read would know that the next chapter is the 70's. With many shots taken at disco and all various horrors that made up the 70's this is one of my favorite chapters in this tome.Next up is the chapter on the 80's,which is full of potshots taken at the greed and yuppies of the decade. And finally we close out the book with a chapter on the 90's. From grunge to gangsta rap nothing is left out. All through out the various chapters we get the many long running segments of MAD. Spy vs spy,the lighter side of...,and of course the amazing silent funnys from the man the myth the legend Sergio Aragones.This is a great "toliet" book. And can usually be found at most major bookstores on sale very cheap. Mad for Decades earns a perfect A+.