Tom's Mad Blog
May 13th, 2024 | Posted in MAD Magazine
We interrupt our chronological slog through my work at MAD because it was at this moment in our timeline, June of 2017, that we finally learned who would be the new editor of MAD once it moved out to Burbank a mere 6 months later from that point. Back in March of that year it had been announced that MAD was finally following the rest of DC Comics from NYC out to Burbank, but since that announcement took place there was no word on who would be the new editor nor who would be on staff. I knew that no one from the NYC staff… READ MORE
May 8th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
It’s another “famous movie moment” caricature sketch! This week features Al Pacino going full-on cocaine rage in “Scarface” in the “Say hello to my little friend!” scene. This is another good example of how, in the moment and with the expression/emotion being shown by the subject, a lot of the usual likeness landmarks of the subject have to be ignored. Typically when you think of Al Pacino, you think of heavy, sleepy eyelids, a long nose, a small mouth and very high and sharp cheekbones. This moment requires emphasis on the mouth and the gritted teeth, the squinted eyes, and angled back head. All that… READ MORE
May 6th, 2024 | Posted in General
Here we go with another nauseating step on the chronological crawl through my work for MAD Magazine. This was the 99th issue my work appeared in, and fittingly enough this piece, a spoof the the prime time TV game show “The Wall”, was written by the same guy who wrote the very first piece I ever had printed in MAD… MAD‘s MADdest writer Dick DeBartolo! This first appeared in MAD #546, Aug 2017. This also ended up being the last time I did the art on a Dick De feature. Of all the writers I worked with at MAD, Desmond Devlin was far and away… READ MORE
May 3rd, 2024 | Posted in General
Jerry Seinfeld‘s new movie “Unfrosted”, a fictional origin story of the “Pop-Tarts” breakfast pastry, was released for mass consumption today on Netflix. It happens that I did the art for another fake MAD cover prop ala “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, only this one was for “Unfrosted”. This, of course, did not necessarily mean the cover prop would actually be seen in the film. I’ve done a number of projects for film and TV that never got seen or used in the end product. However the cover does make a brief appearance in the film, with Melissa McCarthy‘s character reading an issue while working… READ MORE
May 1st, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week’s “famous movie moment” caricature sketch is Jack Nicholson as “Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep” on the stand in “A Few Good Men”. Nicholson has been in so many memorable movies that I could probably do a whole series of his famous movie moments, but this one came to mind first. One of the goals of these is for the exact moment in the film to play in your head when you see the caricature. That has a lot to do with getting the “presence” right, and exaggerating it. READ MORE
April 29th, 2024 | Posted in News
The National Cartoonists Society released their nominees for the 2024 Divisional Awards yesterday, and CLAPTRAP is nominated for “Book Illustration” alongside Landis Blair (Vers le Sud) and Danesh Mohiuddin (Princess Pru and the Ogre on the Hill). A huge honor! Many thanks to the NCS for the nomination! READ MORE
April 28th, 2024 | Posted in General
C2E2’s a wrap! Thanks to everyone who got a commission from me here on the virtual version of my table. If you missed it, I’ll do another one of these in October during New York Comic Con! READ MORE
April 26th, 2024 | Posted in General
My “Virtual C2E2 Artist’s Alley” table is now open! From now through the end of C2E2, you can order the same kinds of commissions at the same prices I charge when I do a comic con. The table will close at 5pm CDT on Sunday! Visit here for the different kinds of commissions I have available. All online orders will be completed in the order in which they were placed, so the sooner you commission me to do a drawing for you, the sooner you will get it! READ MORE
