CRYMORE VS. CRYMORE

KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979)
dir: Robert Benton

MAD #217, September 1980
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker

Drama about the divorde of Ted (Dustin Hoffman) and Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) who divorce and then battle over custody for their son Billy (Justin Henry).

Ted comes home to tell his wife Joanna about his new promotion and she announces she's unhappy with their marriage and leaving him.

Three-Mile Island was in the news that year as the site of a dangerous nuclear meltdown and DC-10s were considered very dangerous jet planes.

Ted becomes friends with Margaret (Jane Alexander), his neighbor who is also a single parent and may have influenced Joanna to leave. The son doesn't know Joanna has left yet and it's up to Ted to prepare breakfast for him and send him off to school.

Again there's the 'Kosher Spam in a box' sight gag like in the Kate and Allie parody a couple weeks ago. When I first saw it I thought maybe Mort Drucker didn't know what Spam was, now I wonder if it's some kind of in-joke.

Ted's boss (George Coe) is concerned his being a full-time father is eating into his work and recommends sending the boy to live with a relative.

Ted has a one-night stand with his secretary Phyllis from work (Jobeth Williams) and later gets in a fight with his son for not eating his dinner.

"Jordass" is a pun on "Jordache", a brand from the designer jeans craze of the late 70s and early 80s

Ted has to explain to his son why the parents are divorced and during a playdate with Margaret's son, Ted turns away for a second and Billy has fallen down and cut himself. Ted rushes him to the hospital and stas there while Billy gets stitches. Joanna returns, having been in California for a year to find herself, and now is suing for custody.

Ted is fired right before Christmas, making it doubtful that he can have any make and kind of claim for child custody and vows to his lawyer Mr. Shaunessy (Howard Duff) that he'll get another job in one day.

FINGER VS. FINGER
Crazy #74. May 1981
w & a: Dan Gutman

The Finger Family was a recurring feature in Crazy, the only of the black and white humor magazines to regular feature photo fumettis.

The centerfold for Crazy #68, November 1980

KREAMER VS. KREAMER
Sick Special #1, c. 1980
w: George Kashdan
a: Jack Sparling

The definition of “you had one job” is in Sparling's caricatures. Was he trying to draw Hoffman and Streep? His Dustin Hoffman looks more like David Brenner, maybe Tony Rosato. This doesn't look like Meryl Streep at all. Looks like the house is somewhere in a rural area or the suburbs instead of New York City.

Bert Lance was Carter's secretary of the treasury.

His office romance doesn't look like Jobeth Williams either. Maybe Jack Sparling was returning to his days doing cheesecake comics for GIs. She's a hooker here too.

Meryl Streep is also a hooker. I guess that's what humor magazine writers that worked for $20 a page thought of women.

KRUMMY VS. KRUMMY
Wacko #1, 1980
w: Darius Clegg (probably not his real name)
a: John Reiner

Dustin Hoffman was John Voight's companion Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy.

The doctor is drawn as Hawkeye from M*A*S*H, with martini.