Tom's Mad Blog
December 22nd, 2020 | Posted in General
Here’s my top nine posts in Instagram for 2020. I saw a lot of growth in followers mostly thanks to the “Tom’s Daily Coronacature” thing I did for 100 consecutive days starting last March when we were all stuck in our homes. It’s been a tough year for everybody, but I’m grateful for those who follow me on social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) and here on Tom’s Mad Blog. Thanks for following along! I’m planning on posting more sketches and original pieces in 2021. READ MORE
December 21st, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Each Monday I’m doing an installment of a complete, chronological look at every job I did for MAD over my 20 year run for the magazine, complete with whatever stories, anecdotes, or milestones, might apply along with the full article. This Monday MADness installment is a look at my fifth appearance in MAD, which was also my first ever movie parody in the magazine. This was a spoof of the film “Traffic”, entitled “Traff-eccch!” written by longtime MAD writer Arnie Kogen for MAD #405, May 2001. This was also the first color movie parody to appear in MAD since the comic book days. I know… READ MORE
December 18th, 2020 | Posted in General
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to post this ugly bastard, but needs must. I’ll most likely be back on Monday for another stirring edition of my chronological look back at my MAD work. Have a great weekend! READ MORE
December 17th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
MAD #17 just came out this month, billed as the “Sergio Aragonés Tribute” issue. It’s all Sergio from front to back cover, except a new fold-in by Johnny Sampson which is a Sergio tribute in itself. Most of it is reprints of classic Sergio, but there are a few new pieces by him. What MAD #17 really is is a “so long and thanks for all the fish” forced farewell to a cartooning giant. The image above is the last panel of what is purportedly the final original “A MAD Look at…” feature by Sergio from MAD #17… and it broke my heart. In a way it’s… READ MORE
December 16th, 2020 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
No time for a “Daily Coronacature” again today, so here’s a peek at one of my annual “Holiday Caricature” commissions. This is one of the few that was of famous people as opposed to personal ones of family/friends of the buyer. I’m not sure why Bruce Springsteen is being analyzed by Sigmund Freud, but I just does the draws that I’m told to draws. This is done with brush pens and copic markers on bristol. READ MORE
December 15th, 2020 | Posted in General
It is believed that the first piece of art was painted on the wall of a cave by early humans. The second piece of art was also painted on the wall of a cave, but the prehistoric person that painted it was heard to complain that “they just don’t make this paint like they used to.” So began a long tradition of artists complaining that the art supplies they make today are no where near as good as the ones they used to make…or they don’t make them anymore…Or they aren’t available, etc. Art supplies are discontinued, formulas changed, manufacturing methods altered, materials switched, etc.… READ MORE
December 14th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Each Monday I’m doing an installment of a complete, chronological look at every job I did for MAD over my 20 year run for the magazine, complete with whatever stories, anecdotes, or milestones, might apply along with the full article. This week’s installment is a look at my fourth appearance in MAD, which was my first TV/movie parody. The subject was TV show “Malcolm in the Middle” entitled “Malcontent in the Muddle” written by my CLAPTRAP co-hort, Desmond Devlin for MAD #403, March 2001. I made no secret to MAD art director Sam Viviano that I REALLY wanted to do a movie or TV show… READ MORE
December 13th, 2020 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Could you always do whatever you wanted with MAD? Did you ever get suits threatened by some of the content holders for going too far? How often did the editor/publisher tell you to pull back on the content? I certainly could NOT to whatever I wanted with MAD, although I seldom had any gags or ideas I wanted to do cut. This was not because the MAD editors would let anything fly, but more because I quickly understood what they would allow and what they would not. I didn’t “push the envelope” very often since what they would allow was quite enough to do… READ MORE
