#1: Is God Dead?
#2: Bert And Ernie
"Moment of Joy," shows the puppets cuddling while watching an image of Supreme Court justices on television, implying the TV friends are a same-sex couple, following coverage of this week's rulings on two landmark gay marriage cases. Some loved the cover while others such as the Right-leaning National Review ran it under the headline "Innocence. Lost." and Flavorwire's Tyler Coates wrote the image "infantilized" the gay rights movement.
#3: OJ Simpson
#4: Adolf Hitler
Chosen for Time's 'Man Of The Year' for having the most influenced on past events even if it was for better or worse. The cover picture is Hitler playing "his hymn of hate in a desecrated cathedral while victims dangle on a St. Catherine's wheel and the Nazi hierarchy looks on." We can all see how this would spark outrage.
#5: MAD Magazine Flips The Bird
Not only is this my favorite MAD cover of all time, but it's also one of the most controversial, for what are probably pretty obvious reasons. Newstands and grocery stores across the country refused to sell it, returning stacks of unsold copies to the magazine, where they were put in storage. So many, in fact, that 30 years later, MAD ran a deal that gave copies out free to readers who signed up for subscriptions.
#6: Hassidic Jewish man and a black woman kissing
Hassidic Jewish man and a black woman kissing. It came after tensions between the two groups spurred intense riots in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.New York's Hasidic community was outraged. One rabbi called it a "a tasteless publicity stunt" and "unrealistic" while another called it "nauseating." Also, some referred to it as racist? That makes no sense.
#7: Lieutenant William Calley Jr
Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a U.S. Army platoon leader who was convicted of murdering 109 unarmed, innocent South Vietnamese civilians in the Mỹ Lai Massacre, posed with Vietnamese children for the November 1970 cover of Esquire magazine. A murderer on the cover? You bet it made people angry.
#8: The Passion Of Kanye West
The 'Jesus Walks' singer sparked a religious row after appearing in a crown of thorns with blood trickling down his face on the front of music bible Rolling Stone. The outspoken star claims he has a lot in common with Jesus as both men had to "fight for recognition and success".
#9: Dog And A Gun
#10: James Farley
Vietnam helicopter crew chief James C. Farley with his hand on a jammed machine gun while wounded pilot Lieutenant James E. Magel was dying beside him.
#11: Muhammad Ali
This smart rendition of Muhammad Ali was created to illustrate his martyrdom to his cause after he refused to join the US military due to his religious beliefs and was subsequently stripped of his heavyweight boxing title. The piece was done after the same manner as "The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian", a popular theme through medieval art but most recognizable in the painting by Andrea Mantegna.
#12: VietCong prisoner
Paul Schutzers captured this arresting image of a VietCong prisoner being taken prisoner by American forces during the Vietnam War. Photography and news coverage like this helped to turn the American public against the Vietnam war.Â
#13: Twin Towers
This cover was a graphical as well as an editorial success. The magazine succeeded in creating a fitting and classic memorial to the victims of the tragedy and the buildings themselves in true upscale New Yorker fashion.Â
#14: Golfweek, January 19, 2008: The Noose that Hung an Editor
This cover was born out of the comments of a golf anchorman, Kelly Tlighman, that fellow players should "lynch (Tiger Woods) in a back alley" and the subsequent feature story that was published in that edition of Golfweek. The editor of this story was fired after it was published.
#15: The Brangelina Twins
