Tom's Mad Blog
February 11th, 2013 | Posted in General
As a big fan of The Beatles and John Lennon, I’m happy to say a piece of my artwork is part of a new ebook entitled A Lennon Pastiche: Expressions from Fans of John Lennon, now available for download exclusively for the iPad. From the iTunes Bookstore: A Lennon Pastiche: Expressions from Fans of John Lennon is a fully immersive, interactive opus, chockful of art, music and poetry, culled from fans around the world. This is a pastiche, not a pistachio: there’s a m?¬©lange of music, a potpourri of paintings, a welter of words, a variety of videos, and a cornucopia of crazy stuff! This… READ MORE
February 10th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I love your background people. They all have distinct personalities. Do you keep files on faces, or just make them up? A: I know I have told this story a few times on the blog, but one of the most valuable pieces of advice I ever got on my cartooning came, independently,¬¨‚Ć from longtime MAD editor Nick Meglin and longtime MAD artist (and now fairly longtime MAD art director) Sam Viviano. Both told me that there was a disconnect in my early work between the caricatures I did of specific actors and the drawings I did of people who were not specific people but… READ MORE
February 8th, 2013 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Holy Veeblefetzer, Batboy! This gigantic 22″x 15″ coffee table book,¬¨‚ĆTales Calculated to Drive You MAD: Artist’s Edition is an absolute level 11- I GOTTA HAVE IT on a scale of 1-10 on the “Stuff Tom Wants” meter. I had no idea this was on the horizon, or I would have pre-ordered it long ago. The book features “nearly 20 incredible stories and a dozen classic covers” with at least one thing representing every issue of MAD from #1 to #18.¬¨‚Ć That sort of thing has been done many times, but this edition is unique because the art within is scanned from the actual original art… READ MORE
February 7th, 2013 | Posted in News
When I got back from my little vacation this week I had a whole pile of books to ship, and in the process of buying and printing postage labels I got a nasty surprise . . . the United States Postal Service had jacked up the price of International Priority Mail shipping…by a LOT. It used to cost me $16.95 to ship a book via a USPS International Priority Flat Rate Envelope. New cost: $24.95!! That’s nearly a 50% increase! Canada shipping went from $12.95 to $19.95. That’s OVER 50%!!! I don’t charge anything for handling, other than rounding the cost up to the whole… READ MORE
February 6th, 2013 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Better late than never today, even if I am doing another of my shameless plugs for the Limited Artist’s Edition of my book, complete with a caricature of YOU (or the person of your choice) drawn by me in a signed, numbered, limited-to-120-editions copy. To make it up to you, I will make this into a little lesson. Below is the main reference pic I used to draw Jayce here, and below that are the observations I made about his face, with corresponding mark-ups on the photo. Overall head shape: Long. Need to elongate head and the correspondingly narrow face. Narrow bridge of nose,… READ MORE
February 6th, 2013 | Posted in News
Way to go, Interwebs! The “When We Went MAD!” documentary Kickstarter made their goal early this morning, jumping up a little under $10,000 in one day…all from hundreds of individual supporters who either pledged or beefed up the pledge they’d already made. This film is really going to happen. Congrats to Alan Bernstein and co-producer Doug Gilford! Thanks to everybody who pledged! READ MORE
February 5th, 2013 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It is crunch time for the Kickstarter campaign to fund this sure-to-be-great documentary about MAD Magazine, and thanks to many supporters it’s within reach. There are only four days to go, and they are a little less than $8,000 short of their $50,000 goal. That’s close, but even if they reach $49,999.99, they need the full $50,000 if they are going to get a dime. That’s how Kickstarter works…if you don’t reach the goal, you get nothing. They have been stepping up their rewards for support levels. For example, now for $25 you get a physical DVD of the documentary and not just a digital… READ MORE
February 4th, 2013 | Posted in News
Clicky to Embiggen… I have been very remiss in not writing a remembrance of terrific humorous illustrator Bruce Stark, who passed away on Dec. 29th of emphysema at age 79. Bruce was one of those artists whose talent was even greater than the work the public typically saw, great as that was, would have indicated. I always admired his work, both the caricatures and the fantastic action and sports work he did. His art appeared frequently in TV Guide, Time, Fortune and Forbes magazines, as well as being a regular with the New York Daily News for 22 years (1960-1982). He also appeared in several… READ MORE
