Customer Reviews

MAD About Star Wars

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book as a present for a friend, and I was very tempted to keep it for myself. MAD humor might not be for everyone, and the jokes worked most of the time, except when they didn't (as was to be expected). What I hadn't expected at all was to find the book full of historical information, anecdotes, and other real-world stuff that helped place all the original jokes within the larger context of the Star Wars sub-culture and pop culture in general. Trying not to give anything away from the book, let's just say that at times reality surpassed fiction, and even MAD humor!

I do remember reading some of the original jokes more than 20 years ago, and I distinctly recall some of them being in color. I was disappointed to see many of them reproduced in black and white in this book -and in a somewhat smaller format. It's a minor fault, and I would have given this book five stars had I not seen the original material already. Overall, this is a good book, and it's definitely great for Star Wars fans of any level.

If you are a Star Wars nut, buy this book. If you are a MAD nut, buy this book! A collection of everything do to with Star Wars that was ever published in MAD magazine. What more is there to say? The notes in the margins are almost the best bit, with lots of Star Wars trivia and such that I never knew about, with some great links to the Web. The only very, very slight grumble I have is that the comics and cartoons are printed a bit smaller than the originals, which make it more difficult to read for oldies like me! This is a must have book though, whatever kind of nut you are.

The cover says it all... this book contains thirty years of "Star Wars"-related parodies from the pages of MAD, and if you're a fan of either the movies or the magazine, you're in for a treat.

One of the best things about this book is that the writers aren't afraid to really go after George Lucas and the stars of the films; they repeatedly take sharp jabs at Lucas's greed, the stiff acting, the merchandising run amok, etc. In contrast, many recent, high-profile "Star Wars" parodies in other media (i.e., "Family Guy," "Robot Chicken") have tended to have fun with the characters and specific scenes while being careful not to insult Lucas personally, probably out of fear of angering him. Ironically, Lucas doesn't seem to mind MAD's material at all; in fact, he's actually sent fan letters to MAD (which are included in this book), and he even wrote the book's introduction!

However, as the editor points out in several of the entertaining trivia pieces that accompany the articles, there was a good deal of repetition in MAD's "Star Wars" pieces over the years, and as a result, "MAD About Star Wars" can wear kind of thin if you try to read too much in one sitting. It's best to enjoy it a bit at a time.

It's great to have so much "Star Wars" humor together in one place, including parodies of all six movies, "Star Wars"-themed Fold-ins, and even a spoof of the "Star Wars" postage stamps. So go ahead and check it out, and may the farce be with you!

Over the years, Mad Magazine has pocked fun at the Star Wars movies, and the entire Star Wars phenomenon - from episode 4 to episode 3...er, you know what I mean. This book contains all of their Star Wars bits, including their wonderful parodies of the movies, their goofy one-liners, their hilarious covers, and even their funny fake posters. As an added bonus, this book contains numerous behind-the-scene anecdotes (did you know that George Lucas was a big fan of MAD's Star Wars' parodies?), interesting coincidences and numerous funny pictures.

Overall, I found this to be a great book. I loved seeing the parodies again, not to mention many cartoons and gags I never saw before! It kept me up late reading, trying to keep from busting out loud laughing (and earning the ire of my wife!). My fourteen-year-old son is a huge Star Wars fan, and like me he loved this book. We both give it our highest recommendations. Buy it!

Mad Magazine has recycled much of its old content for new paydays in collection books over the years. I think that Mad About Star Wars is one of the better collections - not just because it gathers nearly all things Star Wars that have appeared in their pages since the saga began, but because of the wonderful annotations and commentaries which make this book more like a DVD and a cultural history. It's nice to have all the in-jokes pointed out for those of us who were too slow to catch them the first time around. Learning about some of the whackier merchandising spin-offs was worth the price of admission by itself. The only thing that could have improved this book is hard covers.

STARS WARS via MAD magazine's perspective is intelligent, creative, and timely. It's a great way to increase your cultural literacy!

If you love Star Wars and the Mad crew this book is guaranteed to be a worthy purchase. The gags are timeless and the bits of trivia are delightful. If you're not a Star Wars or Mad fan then there is a possibility that you won't like this book but you should probably read it anyway.

This a great collection of recycled trash from the original issues. Since I have long lost what little mind I had, I feel that I am reading this for the first time.
I like the annotations (fancy word for the notes along the sides).

I will do just about anything to get my 9-year-old son to read, and this was a huge success. He read it cover to cover in 2 days, and he is generally indifferent to reading. Very funny (he read much of it to me, and I previewed it before giving it to him). There are a very few borderline-risque jokes (for example, in some parodies "Luke" is renamed "Lube"), but these go over his head. Very funny overall and great for anyone who loves Mad and Star Wars.