Tom's Mad Blog
December 11th, 2018 | Posted in MAD Magazine
In subscriber mailboxes already, digital format and comic books shops tomorrow, and on news stands everywhere today! Cover– Michael Koelsch A Listless Story (Desmond Devlin, Tom Richmond) A MAD Look at Christmas (Sergio Aragonés, Colors: Tom Luth) The MAD 20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of 2018 Hollywood Harassers (Mary Trainor, Terry Wolfinger) White House Corruption (Tammy Golden, Paul Wee) Detention Centers Put Children in Cages (Casey Boyd, Ed Steckley) Guilty of Being Black (Casey Boyd, Timothy Shamey) Michelle Wolf Hosts Correspondent’s Dinner (Tammy Golden, Scott Bricher) Marco Rubio Debates Parkland Students (Matt Cohen, Darío Brizuela) A Nuclear Screw Up (Desmond Devlin, Mark Fredrickson) Flotus… READ MORE
December 10th, 2018 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the panels from my piece in the next issue of MAD, dues out Wednesday! READ MORE
December 9th, 2018 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Besides your book, what books do you think should be on any artist/cartoonist bookshelf? It can be instructional or inspirational. A: Like many artists I’m a bit of an art book junkie, but like many artists far too many of the books I get end up decorating a shelf and and only skimmed or read once. There are a few that are pretty well thumbed on my bookshelves though. Here are some that I consider classics, and which are not left collecting dust on a shelf. I have included only instructional or reference books here, as “inspirational” books would be too numerous to list… READ MORE
December 7th, 2018 | Posted in General
Way back in February I posted a rare link to a Kickstarter campaign for a book that was to celebrate the art of “live” caricature, meaning the kind that s done in quick fashion from a live model at a theme park, fair, festival, event or on the street. The brainchild of artist Manny Avetisyan , “The Ultimate Guide to Modern Live Caricature” features multiple caricatures of the different subjects that show the incredible diversity of the artform. You’ll see caricatures that range from cartoony to realistic to the bizarrely abstract, and anywhere in between. It’s really cool to see how different artists interpret the… READ MORE
December 6th, 2018 | Posted in MAD Magazine
MAD #5 is the last issue of 2018, and as such it includes public disclosure of stats like circulation figures. According to the figures (via Mike Slaubaugh‘s excellent MAD Lists website), total paid circulation increased for the fourth straight year (122,908 to 133,924 to 139,725 to 150,195). A modest increase but still a nice trend upward, and an increase of almost 30,000 since 2015. More people reading is always better than less. In other list news, I still remain 373 issues behind leader Al Jaffee for most appearances in MAD (Al’s at 505). Assuming Al retires after this new issue is out, that I am… READ MORE
December 6th, 2018 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
Many of the items in my studio are souvenirs from my travels here and there, and this ubiquitous piece of broken marble is one of the oddest of the bunch. Back in 2009 I was honored to be one of ten cartoonists who traveled to Iraq and Kuwait with the USO to visit U.S. troops stationed there. One of the stops we made on the tour was Baghdad, where we drew for military personnel at various locations in the Victory Base Complex. Among the places in the VBC we visited was Camp Slayer, which contained Saddam Hussein’s very optimistically named “Victory Over America” palace. Saddam ordered… READ MORE
December 5th, 2018 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
My Phoenix workshop group did a sketch of the late president George H.W. Bush as one of our warmups on Saturday morning after the news of his passing. Here’s mine after a little tightening up. READ MORE
December 4th, 2018 | Posted in Freelancing
I haven’t done much work in the world of animation, just having done some simple character designs for segments on the “MAD” show on Cartoon Network and for a film called “I Want Your Money” in 2010. More recently I did a bunch of “turnarounds”, both full and partial, for a pitch for an animated show that didn’t get picked up. I thought I could now share a little of that artwork here. READ MORE
