BLIMP SUNDAY

BLACK SUNDAY (1977)
dir: John Frankheimer

BLIMP SUNDAY
MAD #195, December 1977
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Mort Drucker

Dahlia (Marthe Keller) heads a Palestinian terrorist group called Black September. The goal of her group is to cause a big disturbance at a major event in America to attract attention to their cause.

Her boyfriend is a suicidal vet named Lander (Bruce Dern) who is a blimp pilot.

Fighting with a rival Israeli organization, Dahlia disguises herself as a nurse and poisons Officer Kabakov (Robert Shaw) in the hospital.

Lander and Dahlia test a device he made with the plastic explosives she had smuggled earlier inside some statues, and they plan to use it on a remote farm out in the desert. They convince the owner of the land they are there to take a picture.

Fasil (Bekim Fehmiu), another member of the organization, finds the Americans are on to their plan and calls it off. The authorities corner him and shoot him on the beach.

There's a tip something's going to happen at the Superbowl, which they can't cancel because of the crowd.

Since Lander is a pilot and plans to commit suicide anyway, the plan is to drive the blimp into the Superbowl stadium. He knocks out Farley, the designated pilot, and takes his place. He will detonate the device while they're floating above it. The Americans, with the aid of the Israelis, can't shoot the blimp down above the stadium because it would explode like the Hindenburg. They have to divert it so it's floating above the ocean and they can shoot it down there.

George Kennedy from the Airport series shows up because their Airport '77 parody is on the next page (you can find the post of it by clicking the link to it on the right) and because it has a similar ending to the previous Airport movie.

MAD's ending has the blimp being shot down over the ocean, but unfortunately it explodes over a ship.

BLECCH SUNDAY
Crazy #32, December 1977
w: Fred Wolfe (Paul Laikin)
a: Walter Brogan