47. “Cliff-Hanger Justice”

February 3, 1999

Q: I have been trying to find the issues that featured the “Wile E. Coyote vs. Acme Corp.” trial. It was a very funny trial of the Acme Corp selling defective products. I believe it ran in the late ’70’s early 80’s and it was at least three parts.

A: The title was “Cliff-Hanger Justice,” by Joey Green. It ran in three parts in the August, September, and October ’82 issues.

Comments

One of the covers was of a smiling Japanese construction foreman overseeing the replacement of the 'R' in Chrysler with an 'L' in the background. Chrysler had recently been bailed out by the Federal Govt.

—Andy

October 15, 2005 11:02 am

i remember this issue and the article....very funny. there is something similar that i found on-line. see these links http://www.lectlaw.com/files/fun19.htm http://www.torinfo.com/justforlaughs/coyote_v_acme.html

—djv

January 30, 2007 7:46 am

in 1990, Ian Frazier ripped this idea off and re-packaged it for the New Yorker. It later became the title of a collection of his essays.

—h gibson

October 20, 2011 1:27 pm

A lot of people seem to have had this idea. I just got hold of a book from 2006 called "The Acme Catalog" by Charles Carny and Scott Glass (Chronicle Books). It was done with Warner Bros. blessing and involvement.

—Mark

October 20, 2011 1:33 pm

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