As promised, here is a sneak peek at some of the images I did for the “Punitive Damages: A Game of Extreme Justice” feature in MAD #512.

The video game “cover”

The premise of the article was an mock ad for a video game featuring the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, satirizing their decision to allow ultra-violence in video games being targeted at kids as a first-amendment protected right. In the game, the Justices are trying to get past various opponents and obstacles like:

Crazed protesters

Monster laws and amendments (yes… nod to Schoolhouse Rock!)

Fat, former politicians

Zombie Founding Fathers

Finally, the winner get’s new Justices for the next round… (click this one to embiggen)

An interesting feature… a bit of a departure from my usual stuff. Fun, though.

I chose this week’s sketch subject to make my wife The Lovely Anna and my youngest daughter, The Effervescent Gabrielle, happy as they are both big fans of the TV show Castle. Nathan Fillion is notoriously hard to caricature. His features are elusive in the same way a young William Shatner‘s features were… at different angles/expressions his face looks very different, almost like another person. His chin, for example, seems to seem quite large in any angle where his head is tilted back even slightly, but in a profile or more upright angle you see it is actually a rather small chin, but it sticks out quite far. There are other examples. I’ve found only a 3/4 angle works with this guy.

This from the editors of MAD via the official MAD Blog, The Idiotical:

The postcard you see below depicts MAD founder/publisher William M. Gaines, longtime editor Nick Meglin, and current (and also longtime!) editor John Ficarra “hard at work” in the old MAD office at 485 MADison Avenue. It was illustrated by the one and only Mort Drucker! (Yep, the very same Mort Drucker who used to draw covers for the Bob Hope comic book.)

We came across a big stack of them in the stock room, but as you can see, there was a limited number produced:

So, Do you want one of your own? You DO? Luckily, they’re easy to get: mail us a self-addresses STAMPED envelope that will fit the 3.5 x 5.5 inch card. We’ll pop one in there, seal it with a kiss and send it back your way. One per customer, and make sure it’s stamped!

Send it to:

Three Idiots Postcard
MAD Magazine
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Once we run out, that’s that! So stop reading this stupid blog and go find an envelope NOW!

Official press release:

It’s a SCAD, MAD, MAD, MAD Weekend

MAD Magazine artists come to Savannah

Panel discussion open to the public, Saturday, Nov. 12, 5 p.m.

Savannah, Georgia - The Savannah College of Art and Design and the Southeast Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society will present “IT’S A SCAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WEEKEND,” a special weekend celebration of the enduring influence of MAD Magazine’s cartoonists from Nov.11–13 at locations throughout SCAD in Savannah, Georgia.

Highlighting this conference will be “A SCAD, MAD, MAD, MAD Discussion,” a panel discussion with some of the original artists from MAD on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 5–6:30 p.m. at the Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St., Savannah, Georgia.  This panel will be free and open to the public.

“SCAD and the sequential art department are both honored and excited about the historical significance of hosting MAD Magazine artists with the National Cartoonist Society, Southeastern Chapter,” said SCAD sequential art chair Anthony Fisher. “This is truly a unique opportunity for students to meet and learn form master artists who have contributed to the advancements in the art form of sequential art and defined cultural satire for nearly 60 years.”

Self-dubbed “The Usual Gang of Idiots,” the legendary cartoonists scheduled to appear on the panel include:

• Jack Davis. Davis was one of the original cartoonists for MAD in 1952. He illustrated the very first story in the very first issue of MAD.
• Al Jaffee. With his first piece in 1955, Savannah-born Jaffee is MAD’s longest-running freelance contributor. He is best known for creating one of the magazine’s trademark features, the MAD fold-in. Every issue since April of 1964 has featured a Jaffee fold-in.
• Paul Coker, Jr. Coker has been a contributor to MAD since 1962 and has appeared in over 300 issues.
• Nick Meglin. Meglin is a former editor of MAD Magazine, a position he held for over thirty years.
• ‘Duck’ Edwing. Edwing began his career with MAD in 1961 and wrote Spy vs. Spy for about 12 years, along with his own feature, Tales from the Duckside.
• Sergio Aragones. Aragones has been at MAD since 1963. He distinguished himself with his “Marginal Thinking” strips, which were printed up, down, across, and around the corners of comic panels to fill in the margins.
• Sam Viviano.   Viviano began his MAD career as a freelance artist and while still illustrating articles also currently serves as  MAD’s art director.
• Tom Richmond. Richmond has been a regular contributor to the magazine since 2000.

This esteemed group of artists will also be working with SCAD sequential art students in workshops and portfolio reviews.

MAD was created in 1952 by the brilliant artist and writer Harvey Kurtzman and maverick publisher William M. Gaines.  The magazine quickly became known for its satirical look at all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures.  It’s been called revolutionary, subversive, surreal, hilarious, and a total waste of time. (The latter by its own editors).

#   #   #

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor’s and master’s degrees at distinctive locations and online to prepare talented students for professional careers. SCAD offers degrees in more than 40 majors. Visit scad.edu.

On news stands and in comic book shops today:

MAD # 512 (December 2011)

• Cover (Mark Fredrickson)
• The Fundalini Pages (Jeff Kruse, Bob Staake, Kit Lively, Scott Nickel, John Caldwell, Kevin Pope, Jacob Lambert, Ward Sutton, Tom Cheney, Barry Liebmann, Paul Coker, Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer, Sam Viviano, Anton Emdin, Rick Tulka, J.C. Duffy, Garth Gerhart)
• The Walking Dud (Desmond Devlin, Hermann Mejia)
• The MAD Obituary Pages (Jeff Kruse, James Warhola)
• Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions (Al Jaffee, Color: Tom Luth)
• A MAD Look At The Apocalypse (Sergio Aragonés, Colors: Tom Luth)
• Planet TAD!!!!! (Tim Carvell, Brian Durniak)
• Signs Your Tae Kwon Do Instructor May Be Over The Hill (John Caldwell)
• Movie Mashups We’d Hate To See (Uncredited)
• One Day On The Hudson River (What Really Happened) (Uncredited)
• Punitive Damages: A Game of Extreme Justice (Desmond Devlin, Tom Richmond)
• The MAD Vault- MAD #209, Sept. 1979 (Paul Coker, Peter Paul Porges)
• The Strip Club (Christopher Baldwin, Scott Nickel, Jacob Lambert, Noah Van Sciver, Joey Alison Sayer, Douglas Paszkiewicz)
• Recycling- It’s Everybody’s Job! (Dick DeBartolo, Gary Hallgren)
• Celebrity Rock, Paper, Scissors (Dave Croatto)
• Spy vs Spy vs Spy (Peter Kuper)
• Are You a Candidate for the Zit Hall of Fame? (Tom Cheney, Color: Carl Peterson)
• MAD Fold-In (Al Jaffee)
• Drawn Out Dramas (Sergio Aragonés)

My work in this issue was the art for a four page feature that is a parody of a video game that comments on a recent Supreme Court decision involving kids and game violence, written by Desmond Devlin. I will post a sneak peek of that Thursday.

What are you waiting for, clod?!? Go out and buy a fershlugginer copy already!

It took a solid week, but all orders for my book, The Mad Art of Caricature! (at least those placed through today at about 3:00 pm), have shipped. If you pre-ordered or ordered a copy, it is either already delivered or on the way!

For those who ordered the book with the “original sketch from the book” option, a handful will find a note in the package saying to expect their original art to come separately. This is because a handful of the sketches were too big to fit in the package with the book without being folded. Those are being shipped in a separate tube, and all those will be going out tomorrow.

Thanks again to all those who have ordered a copy. I’ve been getting quite a few emails from people who have gotten their books delivered, and everybody seems happy with their purchase. I am going to be adding a “testimonial” section to the order page shortly, so if you have praise for the book send it my way and I will include it on the order page.

Q: Now that you’ve self-published a book, can you share with us how to do it?

A: Wow, that would be a LOOOOONG blog post. I did a lot of research for this, including picking the brain of my friend and very successful self-publisher Steve Silver about printers, the process, etc. Much of it was a learn-as-I-went process, especially with the book designing. I had never used Adobe Indesign before, and by the end of the book’s assembly I had become an Indesign Jedi.

I could spend an hour or three on a long-winded post, but honestly Steve gave me one piece of advice that provided 95% of the knowledge and direction to accomplish my goals:

This book, Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, was my Bible throughout this process. I got it too late to help with the writing part, but when it came to registering the book with the Library of Congress, getting an ISBN number, getting through the printing process, preparing for the book’s release, promotion, etc., this book has invaluable advice and direction.

I heartily recommend it for anyone considering a self-publishing project.

Thanks to Grant Jonen 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!

My local chapter of the National Cartoonists Society, in conjunction with the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, are welcoming syndicated Pearls Before Swine cartoonist Stephan Pastis this weekend for a lecture on Friday and an appearance at the FallCon Comic Book Convention in St. Paul on Saturday.

Friday evening at 6:30 in the MCAD auditorium, Stephen will be doing a presentation about his comic strip work and his career, followed by a panel discussion on cartooning int he 21st Century featuring Stephan, myself, editorial cartoonist Paul Fell, syndicated cartoonist Jerry Van Amerongen (Ballard Street) and freelance illustrator James Hungaski. We will also all be at FallCon on the State Fairgrounds on Saturday, so look for us at the NCS booth.

I know Stephan pretty well, having literally been to the wars with him (in Iraq and Afghanistan on our cartoonist USO tours). He’s a funny guy and extremely bright, with a great story behind his start in cartooning. He was a courtroom lawyer for years, and cartooning was something he loved and wanted to do. Thanks to his persistence, talents and the encouragement of Charles Schulz, he ended up leaving the courtrooms completely and becoming a very successful cartoonist. He’s been nominated for “Cartoonist of the Year” several times by the NCS, and his strip has won numerous “Best Comic Strip” divisional awards. This will be a fun weekend.

The Friday night speaking event is open to the public, and of course so is FallCon, so come by and see us if you are in the Twin Cities area.

This week’s Sketch o’the Week is a quick study from a vintage picture of Pink Floyd front man Roger Waters.

Yesterday the shipment of printed copies of The Mad Art of Caricature! finally arrived. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the book and who have patiently waited for them to arrive and for shipping to begin. Well… it’s begun. Last night we printed labels, I signed and sketched in books, then got placed into shipping envelopes and stacked up. Today the first batch of pre-orders get shipped, and we should have all pre-orders shipped by next Monday. It will take that long to get caught up as we have about 500 pre-orders to get out.

That’s what 3,000 copies of a book looks like. I had to pick these up from the dock, load them into a truck by hand, then unload them into my garage by hand again. Lastly I’ll be moving them into the basement for controlled-temperature storage. That’s 4,791 lbs of books I moved yesterday… TWICE. No need to go to the gym this week. The Lovely Anna (who now goes by a new nickname: “Shipping and Handling“) helped unload them into the garage.

That’s me doing the first of about a billion Alfred drawings for those who ordered the book with that option. The original art is also ready to go for those who ordered that.

Thanks again for everyone’s patience. I’m looking forward to hearing what people think of the book once they get their copies!