Atlas April, Day 8: Don't be MAD about cheap imitations!

As we head into our second sensational week of body-building advertisements, let's glance away from Charles Atlas, leader in the field, to a competitor's ad that certainly isn't copying the approach of the Atlas comic strip come-on in the least, my goodness, no, they're entirely different. (cough)


Joe Weider advertisement from DC Comics cover-dated December 1974
Joe Weider might defend that ad as "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!" i hope that's also the case for this Mandrake the Magaician spoof from an issue of MAD so early on, it's still in color!


from "Manduck the Magician" in MAD #14 (EC, August 1954), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by Will Elder, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda
Elder even managed to get his usual chicken fat reference in! Mmmm, chicken fat.

NOTE: This feature is to be discontinued after I was contacted by Charles Atlas, Inc. I'll delete these soon.