National Lampoon Magazine — January 1979 (Depression Issue)

The January 1979 "Depression" issue of National Lampoon opens with a Sam Gross cover that is quietly devastating: a tiny, dejected man in a rumpled suit is being lifted off the sidewalk by an enormous bouquet of colorful smiley-face balloons — grinning, relentless, oblivious. A pencil box sits on a stand beside him. He is not smiling.

The gap between the balloons' forced cheerfulness and the man's complete misery is the entire joke — and it's a good one. January, post-Christmas, post-everything. The Lampoon understood the assignment.

Inside: What I Got for Xmas (Thanks a Lot), Psychopages, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Drunk, Jobs, Women, Life in the Big City, and a Special Cheer-Up Section. The Lampoon's idea of a pick-me-up.

Reading copy with honest cover wear — a well-loved issue. Great for display or filling out a run. Sold as-is.

• National Lampoon, January 1979
• "The Humor Magazine" — $1.50 cover price
• Cover illustration by Sam Gross
• Reading copy condition — honest wear
• Vintage collectible magazine, sold as-is