Tom's Mad Blog
October 13th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve been meaning to ask you about how and at what point during a project do you normally send your roughs to MAD for approval. And since your originals are “twice-size’ how do you scan your work? Just curious. A: The process goes this way: Sam Viviano, MAD’s Maddest Art Director, calls me to give me a heads up that I will be doing the art for a parody of some TV show or movie. This gives me a chance to go see the film or to get some episodes of the show to watch so I can familiarize myself with the subject. Yes,… READ MORE
October 11th, 2013 | Posted in MAD Magazine
MAD’s Editor-in-Chimp, John Ficarra Popmatters.com just posted a really insightful interview with MAD VP & Executive Editor John Ficarra (and yes, that is a bit of an oxymoron). All joking aside…and some would say MAD does that regularly…the article really examines how MAD has changed with the times, some of the thought processes behind the magazine’s approach to humor in the 21st century, and a look behind the scenes at some of the features in MAD #424. It’s actually one of the best looks into the magazine’s inner workings I’ve read in a long time… John must have had an intern do it. Speaking of… READ MORE
October 10th, 2013 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Clicky to Embiggen… Uproxx.com has an exclusive first look (I know… big deal!) of the splash page for the parody I did along with writer Desmond Devlin of the movie “Man of Steel”. The sneak peek includes a look at MAD‘s long history of lampooning Superman, starting with ‘Superduperman” in MAD #4. You’ll have to click the link to read the intro text to get the gag behind the title. After the issue is released on Oct. 23rd, I’ll post a few more panels from the parody. Seven pages! READ MORE
October 9th, 2013 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Better late than never today. This week’s subject for the “Sketch o’the Week” is the increasingly decrepit-looking Kevin Bacon. Does this make me only one degree separated from him? READ MORE
October 8th, 2013 | Posted in Tales from the Theme Park
So in this very occasional feature, the idea for which was stolen from writer extraordinaire Mark Evanier’s terrific blog, I will recount some thrilling tales of yesteryear from my days as a theme park caricature artist, which I did full time every summer for over 20 years. This first story is a gag I pulled more than a few times at the parks that I was reminded about from a comment that was made on my Facebook wall where the commenter said he “wished I wouldn’t draw people drooling.” This incident happened when I was managing the caricature art concession for Fasen Arts at Six… READ MORE
October 7th, 2013 | Posted in Monday MADness
Usually I don’t scan my final pencils in prior to inking, so most of the “pencils” I post here are actually the pencil roughs for a given job. The roguhs are what I would send to MAD for their review, but the final pencils would be the drawing I do on the actual boards, over which i ink and then erase the underlying pencils. This, however, is an example of the final pencils on a piece I did for MAD #422, October 2002 called “A Mad Peek Behind the Scenes on the Set of The Sopranos“. Fllowing are the inks and then the final color… READ MORE
October 6th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Hi Tom, please don’t get me wrong. We love your work but doesn’t it get a bit mechanical/ boring/ task like to do same kind of work day in and day out? I know you have chosen your favorite field of profession but since most of the work is almost same style/type do you ever give a thought about say becoming a painter/ artist as in painting exhibition? Does it ever crosses your mind that you (illustrators) have to deal in volumes to make a good living while say an abstract/contemporary art painter puts in less than half the time earns a lot more,… READ MORE
October 4th, 2013 | Posted in General
I had a few people email me about that “Gladiator” parody I did for Cracked waaaay back in 2000 to see if I had any more of it. Well, I do. Quite a bit in fact. There is a sad and interesting story behind that job. My artwork appeared in exactly four issues of Cracked, all published in late 1999/early 2000. The first two parodies I did I actually wrote myself, with some help on the second one by my pal Jim Batts. “God-Hilla”, a parody of the Mathew Broderick “Godzilla” film, appeared in Cracked #344. I wrote and drew that one as a sample… READ MORE
