Merry Christmas to all, and Happy Holidays to those celebrating other occasions this time of year. I hope the season finds you happy and healthy in the company of family and friends.
For those looking for a little Christmas inspiration, this post from last year about a special Christmas gift that TV personality Rachel Ray gave our autistic daughter Elizabeth (without even knowing she did) says a lot about the simple power we all have to make the world a better place for those who need a little help.
Our usual smörgåsbord of cartoon, caricature and MAD related website, links, news articles and announcements!
I Like Both Kinds of Music: Country AND Western Dept.-
MAD artist Grey Blackwell and MAD scribe David Shayne collaborated with David’s brother Jon on this animated music video where “Merle Hazard” laments losing his girl for someone who is more “environmentally sensitive” and trys going green to lure her back.
I’m Smarter than This 5th Grader Dept.-
Smithson with the offensive drawing…
10 year old 5th grader Cullen Smithson got into a little hot water recently when his teacher, Karen Boudreau, 44, filed criminal charges against him over a drawing he did of her at school. That instantly caused a number of flashbacks for me concerning drawings I did of my teachers in school… but I was a little smarter than this kid. I didn’t draw them lying dead with a bullet hole in their head and me holding a smoking gun. I was more subtle.
Cullen’s drawing depicts Mulcahey Middle School teacher Boudreau and a girl named “Kailey” both with marks labeled “bullet wholes” (guess spelling isn’t Cullen’s strong suit) in them with him standing there (labeled “me”) next to a gun. There is also a large “HA HA” in the mix. Those goofy kids!
The story mentions a suspension but no details about it. It’s centered over the criminal charges the teacher filed and the boy’s mother’s outrage over it. Of course she immediately ran to the American Civil Liberties Union to enlist them to fight the charges. She is quoted in the story as saying: “he shouldn’t be treated like a criminal. He did not threaten. He was making a picture for himself. He wasn’t showing anyone. He didn’t go up to the teacher and give it to her. There were no threats.” I wonder if this lady reads the papers, or has ever heard of Columbine, Red Lake, Pine Middle School or about a dozen other incidents in the last 10 years where some kid takes a gun to school and starts shooting? I’d agree filing criminal charges is a bit over the top, but for all we know she demanded the kid get serious psychological counseling and his mom refused to do it, and the only recourse was getting the courts involved.
I’ll tell you what, I got sick of being dragged into the principal’s office everytime a drawing of a teacher surfaced around school. I endlessly expained to the principal that I only did the really funny ones, and I was insulted to be accused of the crappy ones.
MAD on the Move Dept.-
Someone on YouTube uploaded the first five plus minutes of the 1974 MAD television special which includes the opening sequence and the first segment “the automobile manufacturer of the year”. It looks to me like Angelo Torres did the art that was the basis for the “automobile” skit, but the animators obviously had to adjust things for the animation to work. Actually the animation itself is a lot more involved than you might think it would be.
A smörgåsbord of cartoon, caricature and MAD related website, links, news articles and announcements!
You Know What They Say About Guys With Big Heads Dept.-
A hilarious video demonstrating why caricaturists perhaps should not be police sketch artists… except in certain cases.
Put your Funny Where your Mouth Is Dept.-
The Pittsburgh area Toonseum is having it’s first public fund raiser in May… a worthy cause. Here are the details:
COMIC, CARTOON AND ANIMATION FANS UNITE!
You and your friends are invited to KA-BLAM! A party to benefit the ToonSeum
Your Host: Rob Rogers
When: Saturday, May 3rd, 7:30 – 11:30 pm
Where: ToonSeum, at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
10 Children’s Way Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Tickets: $35.00 in advance (ordering details to come)
The evening will feature:
Live music, DJ and dancing, caricature artists
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art Salon, demonstration by cartoonists, a silent auction
door prizes, food and drink by Pittsburgh favorites, and more!
Contact Info:
Joe Wos
Executive Director
ToonSeum
“A Museum With Character”
412-325-1060
joe@toonseum.com
www.toonseum.org
The mission of The ToonSeum is to celebrate the art of cartooning. Our goal is to promote a deeper appreciation of cartoonists and their work through hands-on workshops, community outreach,
cartoon-oriented educational programming and exhibitions of original cartoon art.
Let Friedman Ring Dept.-
MAD artist extraordinare Drew Friedman as an exhibit of his superb art opening this Thursday, March 27th at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. Drew will appear for a book signing and the opening of the exhibition of his original artwork on the 27th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. Visit here for all the details.
To PC is Human, to Mac… Divine Dept.-
Here’s an interesting link to a forum thread discussing the latest “Monkey theme” issue of MAD, issue #488… in a Mac computer forum of all places.
I’ve found that readers either loved or hated that issue. Seems these folks liked it. The most telling of the posts on the thread, however, is post #3 by “Abstract”:
They still make MAD?
Sigh….
While on the subject of MAD #488, it is exactly one year from right now when MAD #500 hits the stands. I started in #399, and #400 was a big deal at the time, so I hope they’ve got some fun stuff planned for #500.
As a kid in the 1970′s there were a few things I collected as much and as often as I could get my hands on them: Anything Star Wars but especially the bubble gum trading cards, Batman comics, Micronauts toys… but one thing I couldn’t get enough of was Wacky Packages stickers from Topps. My friends and I thought these parodies of popular products were hilarious. They are often associated with MAD Magazine, although they did not have any connection other than MAD artist Tom Bunk did some art for them recently. Other MAD artists may have contributed as well, but Tom’s the only regular one I am sure of.
This May a coffee table book about the Wacky Packages phenomenon will be releases which includes an interview with Art Spiegelman, the original artist and conceiver of the first series of Wacky packages. The book will feature images of all 232 stickers from series 1-7, circa 1973-74. Check out the official Wacky Packages website, from where you can preorder the book.
Another “cheat” as this is a pencil for a poster job. There may be a lot of cheating on the blog for the next two weeks or so. I have multiple large projects all coming to a head and once and it will be a serious challenge to keep the blog updated daily. The good news is I will have plenty of final art to share once it’s either published or public, or what have you.
