Sunday Mailbag- Met Fellow MADmen?

Q: On Monday you mentioned in your post that Dave Berg was one of “many” classic MAD artists you never got to meet. Who have you met, and who are the ones you most wish you had?

A: Back when I first got started with MAD in 2000 they still had an annual holiday party at the Society of Illustrators in NYC. The Lovely Anna and I went to a couple of those until they stopped, and there I was able to meet a number of old school members of the Usual Gang of Idiots, as well as many of the newer contributors like myself. I also met many MAD-men through the National Cartoonists Society at their annual Reuben Award Weekends. A few others I met here and there. An incomplete list of those I did meet:

• Ray Alma **
• Sergio Aragonés **
• Tom Bunk*
• John Caldwell
• Bob Clarke
• Paul Coker*
• Jack Davis*
• Dick Debartolo
• Mort Drucker*
• Don “Duck” Edwing*
• Frank Kelly Freas
• Mark Fredrickson*
• Drew Freidman
• Garth Gerhart
• Frank Jacobs
• Al Jaffee**
• Arnie Kogen
• Peter Kuper
• Barry Liebmann
• Hermann Mejia*
• Teresa Burns Parkhurst
• Kevin Pope
• Paul Peter Porges
• Irving Schild
• Angelo Torres*
• Rick Tulka*
• James Warhola
• Richard Williams

I’ve left out some of the really recent Idiots I’ve met at some of the comic-cons in the last few years like Kenny Keil, Kit Lively, etc since I think the questioner is more interested in the old guard. No doubt I’ve forgotten a few people I’ve met very briefly. Of those above, the ones with no asterisks I met once or twice at some MAD get together or another, but that’s it. Those with one asterisk I’ve actually spent some time with talking and getting to know a bit. Those with two asterisks  I’ve spend significant time with and/or corresponding with and know well enough to call them friends. Some longtime MAD folks like Nick Meglin and Sam Viviano I knoe quite well and are frankly very good friends.

Here’s a partial list of those I never met and now never will:

• Dave Berg
• George Woodbridge
• Don Martin*
• Wally Wood*
• Antonio Prohias*
• Jack Rickard*
• Norman Mingo*

and especially:

• Bill Gaines*

Those with asterisks I never had any chance of meeting, as they passed before I ever started with MAD. The others have gone since I started with the magazine and I never met them at any MAD events.

All in all I was pretty lucky to have gotten to meet so many of the classic MAD artists and writers while they were still around.

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!