MAD has had a number of international versions over the years, and I do not mean the U.S. issues translated into other languages.

MAD has basically franchised the magazine name and format to several international publishers over the years, and foreign editions have been previously (but no longer) published in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Hungary, Denmark, France, Canada (Quebec), Argentina, Norway, Finland, Italy, Mexico, the Caribbean, Greece, Iceland, Taiwan, Israel, and Turkey.

Currently, there are foreign editions of MAD published in Germany, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, France and now… the Netherlands. Actually there used to be a version of MAD published in the Netherlands that ran from 1964 to 1996. This new one will be starting over at issue #1.

The coolest thing about these international versions of MAD is that, while they do translate and reprint some content that MAD provides them from the U.S. editions, they produce a great deal of their own, original content which relates to the pop culture, politics and issues of their own countries. Brilliant illustrator Wouter Tulp is doing work for the new Dutch MAD, so their readers can expect some great art in their magazine.

or, as they say in the Netherlands:

Een Nederlandse Mad
Wie zit daar nu op te wachten?

In een tijd waarin oude successen worden afgestoft en door nieuwe mensen worden voortgezet, past de wederopstanding van de Nederlandse MAD prima. Waarom een nieuw concept proberen wanneer er in Amerika nog duizenden min of meer grappige pagina’s liggen te wachten om in beroerd Nederlands gerecycled te worden. En ook Nederland beschikt over de gebruikelijke bende idioten die, in een poging om de achterstallige huur te betalen, graag hun bijdrage willen leveren, dus zeggen wij… DOEN!

Eind dit jaar keert MAD terug en je kunt nu al je geld kwijt door een (goedkoop*) abonnement te nemen door HIER te klikken. Daar kun je ook het nu al fameuze eerste nummer bestellen.

*In vergelijking met een tank benzine.

Shameless Huckstering Dept.

Here’s what a few folks have to say about our limited edition, signed and numbered “Secret Agent Man” print:

I framed your print (awesome!) and showed a neighbor of mine.  She wanted to get one for her son for Christmas. I’ll be going to your website to place the order if you haven’t run out. – Kevin Richlin

The print arrived safe and sound, and is fantastic! It’s going to proudly hang in my Man Cave!- Grant Jonen

Just got my print—that was quick! Just wanted to say you did the printing right. Heavy, nice stock and excellent color. Great caricatures!- Rich Griffin

Moore’s butt chin makes me laugh everytime I look at it! Can’t wait to frame it up.- Tim Rivers

I love how you added little touches that say something about each actor’s portrayal of the character. Love my print!- Michelle Stevens

These are still available, limited to 250 prints each signed and numbered. I’ll even personalize it to you. I’ll even sign my own name (although if I signed “Sergio Aragonés” it would be worth much more). You can order a print HERE.

Q: Has anyone ever explained the real meaning of “IND” on the cover of MAD? I saw an interview where the answer was an acronym for “Stupidity is Timeless” but ????

A: For those not familiar with this, here is an example from a recent MAD cover:

There are a couple of MAD secrets that few know about, and the “IND” on the cover is one of them. Some have speculated that it is a tip of the hat to the cerebral nature of the thinking man’s MAD, forming the word “MIND” Others think it is an acronym for “Stupidity is Timeless” as pointed out above, which makes perfect sense since the actual acronym for that phrase, “SIT”, was too boring and dumb to put on the cover and therefore random letters worked better. Some speculate they are the initials of some of Bill Gaines’ closest friends, whom he owed money to and this was his way of paying them back. Others say it stands for “Independent”, meaning that MAD was its own master.

None of these are true.

The truth is that “IND” first appeared between the “M” and “A” on the cover of MAD #38, March 1958, the cover art of which was done by celebrity chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs, as shown:

Muggs was a notorious diva, and he and his handlers insisted on the insertion of that “IND” and the figure pointing at it from within the MAD logo on the cover of MAD #38, or he would refuse to do the cover artwork. What was missed by the MAD guys at the time was that Muggs’ contract, which was over 600 pages long, some of it written in Muggs’ own feces, stipulated that “IND” must appear on the cover of every subsequent issue of MAD as long as the magazine was in existence. Muggs’s lawyers pointed this out after the issue went to press and, much to the chagrin of the editors who missed that clause on page 406 of the agreement, every issue of MAD has had “IND” on it ever since (although not always between the “M” and “A”). What the “IND” really stood for only Muggs knows for sure, but it was overheard that it was an acronym for some simian slur directed at Cheetah, the chimpanzee from the Tarzan films who Muggs always felt overshadowed his own success. Muggs is actually still alive and retired in Florida as of this writing, but MAD scholars who have made the pilgrimage to Citrus Park, FL to beg the aged ape for the meaning of “IND” are only met with snorts, fart noises, and hooting, finally being chased out of the room ducking hurled excrement.

So, like Max Korn and more recently the trash can with the men’s jacket draped across it that appears sometimes in the pages of MAD, the real meaning of “IND” might never be known for certain.

Thanks to David Lubin for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!

Lucille Ball would have been 100 years old today. She was arguably the biggest female television star in the history of the medium.

Photo: Joshua Anderson; caricature: Court Jones

I’ve been meaning to link to this for some time. Wired Magazine did an article last month examining how caricatures can help scientists better understand how the human brain recognizes faces. It talks about the work being done by Sinha Laboratory for Vision Research at MIT on the Hirschfeld Project, where researcher Pawan Sinha is studying how humans recognize facial features through caricature. The idea is to apply this to facial recognition software. The author of the article attended last year’s convention of the International Society of Caricature Artists, and both interviewed several prominent members and got a number of caricatures drawn that illustrate the article. Go read it. Fascinating stuff.

Click for a closer look at Sam’s NCS bio

Illustrator, caricaturist and long-time member of the National Cartoonists Society Sam Norkin passed away on Saturday, June 30th from natural causes. He was 94. Sam was known for his caricature illustrations from the world of theater, dance, opera, music performances and just about every other type of entertainment taking place on a stage. His work appeared in Variety, Backstage, the New York Daily News and countless other magazines and newspapers over a career that spanned seven decades. Sam also did live caricatures at events and fundraisers, where he was known to be able to crank them out in under five minutes. Although many caricature illustrators got their start doing live work at parties, fairs and theme parks, it’s rare to see one of Sam’s accomplishments keep doing the live work. Much respect for that.

I never got the pleasure of meeting Sam. He never attended a Reubens in the time I was a member to my knowledge. He was an icon in the caricature world, however. Rest in Peace.

And now for something a little different.

Several years ago The Lovey Anna and I went to Paris for our anniversary. While we were there we visited the Lourve, and I brought my sketchbook along. I did an obligatory study from a Da Vinci painting, but really got fascinated by Jacques-Louis David‘s Le Sacre de Napoléon (the Coronation of Napoleon). This is a gigantic painting, 20′ a 32′, showing the coronation of Napoleon, and every single figure in it is unique and practically breathing with life and personality. Several of them were real people, including a few that weren’t actually at the ceremony, but even the “fillers” are stunning in their individuality. Many of them border on caricature in their slightly exaggerated expressiveness.

I came across these two sketches recently. The upper is from Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, and the lower is from the David painting. The depicted figure is Tallyrand, Napoleon’s grand chamberlain.

Last month was one of the craziest months I have ever had in the studio. Besides the theme park operations in full summer swing, I did a six page parody for MAD, a two pager for Sports Illustrated Kids, several spot illustrations for Penthouse, a bunch of work for the ongoing project for comedian Jeff Dunham, art for two episodes of the MAD animated show for WB Animation/Cartoon Network and two poster illustrations for The Marlin Company, plus most of the art for the book… oh, yeah… and Comic-Con. Whew.

Right now I have nothing on the drawing board except the few illustrations I need to place and do captions for on the very last of the book, which goes to press on Aug. 15th. I’ve been turning down jobs in order to free up the first two week in August to wrap it up and get the files to the printer. Everything in on track for a timely arrive of the printed copies in mid-September as promised, and then a crazy week of shipping all the pre-orders I have received so far. Thanks to everyone who has placed an order!

Here is the art for one of the two Marlin posters I did last month, click either for a closer look:

Finished art

a peek at the pencil rough

This fall I will be speaking at the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning being held on September 14th-16th in… you guessed it… Kenosha, Wisconsin. The festival is being organized by Anne Hambrock, wife and right-hand-woman to creator of the syndicated comic strip The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee John Hambrock, who will be one of the participating cartoonists.

Besides John and myself, the festival will feature Between Friends creator Sandra Bell Lundy, creator of Pooch Cafe Paul Gilligan, editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune Scott Stantis, creator of The Norm and head of Jantze Animation Studios Michael Jantze, and John Read, the publisher of “Stay Tooned” magazine and the curator of “One Fine Sunday in the Funny Pages” exhibit.

John’s “One Fine Sunday in the Funny Pages” exhibit, featuring the originals of 130 comic strips and cartoons that all appeared in newspapers on Sunday, April 11th, 2010, will be shown at the  H.F. Johnson Gallery of Art. Other events and presentations for the Festival will take place at Carthage College, The Kenosha Public Museum, and the University of Wisconsin at Parkside.

Check out the festival’s website for the complete schedule and information on attending.