Tom's Mad Blog
October 17th, 2017 | Posted in General
I just wrapped up participating in The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival, which was held Oct 13-15th in Kendal, Cumbria, U.K. This was the 5th year of the festival, and the first I have attended. It was a marvelous time and a very unique type of event. Much of the lovely town of Kendal was taken over by the Festival, with window/storefront displays and events all over the village. The main theater at the Brewery Arts Centre LICAF is not a comic con, it is a celebration of the art and writing in comics, both past and present. Yes, it has a “dealers room” of… READ MORE
October 16th, 2017 | Posted in MAD Magazine
One of the highlights of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival for me was the “MAD Vs. Viz” panel featuring the one and only Sergio Aragonés and myself representing MAD, and the very funny Graham Dury and Simon Thorp from the British humor magazine Viz, moderated by John McShane. John interviews Sergio and Graham Viz is a hilarious publication featuring a compilation of short comics by various creators, fake ads, parodies of tabloids and letters pages, and other features. It was founded in 1979, and at one time was the third biggest selling magazine in all of Britain. Its humor is often raunchy and politically… READ MORE
October 15th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: In the description of you for the Lakes Comics Festival, it calls you “the world’s greatest living caricaturist”. Seriously? Do you really believe that? A: I take it you assume I wrote that blurb, or that I even saw it to approve it before it was plastered all over the promotional materials for the show. You don’t know much about how these kinds of things work and the hyperbole sometimes used. I didn’t see that until they started making big announcements about the festival and by then it was too late to do anything about it. I was quite embarrassed and had I been… READ MORE
October 14th, 2017 | Posted in News
My second Orlando Florida caricature workshop is a go! Deposits are being accepted now on the Workshop page. The details: Dates: Dec 6-8th, 2017 Location: Quality Inn and Suites, 626 Lee Road, Orlando, FL Class size: Limited to 12 students Itinerary: Wednesday, Dec 6th: 1:00 pm- 6 pm: Lecture on caricature theory, drawing and exaggerating features, practical application; Demonstration of Tom’s MAD magazine illustration process Thursday, Dec 7th: 10:00 am- noon: Morning session- Exercises on observation and exaggeration of faces, caricature techniques Noon-1:00 pm: Lunch (included, provided onsite) 1:00 pm-3:00 pm: Afternoon session- Hands on drawing of multiple subjects, individual and class critiques 3:00 pm-… READ MORE
October 12th, 2017 | Posted in News
I’m in Jolly ol’ England for the The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal, on the edge of the Lake District, Cumbria, which kicks off tomorrow! I’ll be involved in several panels and doing a “Masterclass” about caricature, as well as a couple of signings and a some time at the National Cartoonists Society booth in the Clocktower. I’ll detail what kind of stuff I am going to have available, but here’s my schedule: Friday, Oct. 13th: 7:30 pm BAC Theatre: Quick on the Draw!- The legendary Sergio Aragonés will demonstrate his quick-fire genius together with superstars from the USA’s cartooning scene – Luke… READ MORE
October 11th, 2017 | Posted in Presidential Caricatures
I’ve gotten a number of inquiries as to when I will do a caricature of the 45th President to update my president’s poster: Well this is it, but it was not for the poster. I’ve actually licensed several of these individual images since I did them for various purposes. A publisher from the northwest recently licensed all of the them for an educational book about the U.S. Presidents, but they needed them in color and of course they needed Trump. So, I did the above sketch in the same style and colored all of them in. They are printing fairly small so the color is… READ MORE
October 10th, 2017 | Posted in News
I got home from New York Comic Con late yesterday to find several boxes of Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day awaiting me… a little late for NYCC but not for the Studio Store! I’ve just added both signed copies and signed copies with a sketch of Superman to the store, along with the “Stranger” Things cover print I debuted at NYCC. That and lots of other crap is available in the Studio Store. The holidays are coming soon, ya know. READ MORE
October 9th, 2017 | Posted in MAD Magazine
This year’s “Mad about MAD” panel at New York Comic Con was special in a number of ways. Oh, it had the usual hilarity lead by VP, Editor and Executive Grand Poo-bah John Ficarra and VP of Art Direction and Grand High Schmuck Sam Viviano. It also had a stellar line up of “The Usual Gang of Idiots” including editors Joe Railoa and Charlie Kadau, former editor Nick Meglin, living legend Al Jaffee, long-time writer Dick DeBartolo, cover artist Mark Fredrickson, and cartoonist Teresa Burns Parkhurst. What was really fantastic was the number of MAD contributors in the audience, who got shout outs from John.… READ MORE
