Rescued from the remainder bin at Borders on L: 2006’s National Lampoon Magazine Rack, a compendium of the Humor Magazine’s satires of various publication over the years. I’ve made no secret of my fondness for magazine satire, but these leave me cold. The cover promises sophomoric humor for men, which I’m all for, but the book delivers neither, unless you consider “sophomoric” a code word for misogynistic.

Most of the inclusions are from National Lampoon’s “glory days” in the early 70s, making some of the choices quite dated. I thought that would be fun—a warped look at our industry as it was. The book might have achieved that, at least to some measure, if the volume was differently organized. Chapters are arranged by theme rather than date of original publication, blunting the historical voice of the offerings.

The biggest disappointment though is in what’s not included—the brilliant work of illustrator/writer Bruce McCall, whose pitch-perfect send-ups of publishing between 1900 and 1960 from NatLamp is found in Zany Afternoons (available used for as much as 200.00 on Amazon). My guess is he didn’t want to be included, and considering what else is here, who can blame him? Playdead seems an excuse to show naked women in submissive poses. Famine Circle tries to make starvation in Africa funny, and Negligent Mother, NatLamp’s satire of Working Mother seems so out-of-touch with the mainstream today, one marvels at the obliviousness that led to its inclusion.

Graphically, at least the earlier magazines show a attention to detail and editorial branding that later offerings lack. A cover of an Al-Jazeera TV Guide bumbles type in a way the real TV Guide would never do—Clunky boxes on the cover, artificially condensed typefaces and error laden text. Can you make fun of something if you’re obviously nowhere near as competent as the object of your ridicule? John Belushi answered that in the first National Lampoon Movie: “Don’t fuck with eagles unless you know how to fly.”