Featuring this edition of the popular satirical Mad Magazine was a no brainer here at Mike’s Take being a life long fan of the cinema’s number 1 vigilante, Charles Bronson. Truthfully I never really bothered with Mad and it’s numerous editions aside from having this one edition tucked away alongside the October edition of 1982 when they picked up the sequel to poke fun at it under the title Death Which – Is – Which II.

Still it was a magazine commonly found at friends houses so most of us all knew the grinning face of Alfred E. Neuman which graced the covers of many editions and pocket novel versions.

So before getting into the comical satire of Death Wish let’s look at a few other movie references I found in this edition.

In the Good News – Bad News section we have a reference to Ingmar Bergman.

Under a collection of extremely THIN books we find cheap shots at both Ali MacGraw and Stephen Boyd while kind of paying tribute to Neil Simon.

Coinciding with the resignation of Richard Nixon there’s a layout devoted to a White House Garage sale. Among the throwaways you’ll find are personally signed items from both Sammy Davis Jr. and John Wayne. If I get to the sale early enough I’m buying both and I’ll even grab them sneakers that Wilt the Stilt wore. After all, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

Not confining itself to a lampoon of Death Wish, this edition also gives the reader a goofy rendition of the Omar Sharif/Julie Andrews spy thriller, The Tamarind Seed rechristened The Tommy-Red Seed.

Time to wrap it up with a Coles Notes gallery of images featuring Bronson, Hope Lange, Steven Keats, Stuart Margolin and Vincent Gardenia that fans of the original Death Wish are sure to get a kick out of.

Am I seeing things or is Kojak, aka Telly Savalas, taking over the case of Hope Lange’s murder? I don’t remember him the movie.

Like the film, this ends with that iconic image of Bronson pointing his finger like a gun at his next prey. Only difference here is that it could be you he’s gonna come gunning for.

Thanks for dropping in to have a look at this month’s selection for a retro movie mag from the past. See you in May with another selection from the vault here at Mike’s Take.