Tom's Mad Blog
February 15th, 2013 | Posted in General
You have to love Stephen Colbert‘s comment about the paint stylings of former president George W. Bush: “That is a bold, artistic vision that says “faces are hard.'” The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive That reminds me of a Saturday Night Live skit from many years ago, right after the Unibomber was captured after this police sketch of him circulated around for what seemed like years: Of course no one in their right mind thought this would be of any help to those trying to identify and apprehend the Unibomber. That sketch could be of anybody. In… READ MORE
February 14th, 2013 | Posted in News
I will be speaking at the third annual Success in the World of Comics Seminar, happening this weekend in Annapolis, MD. These seminars are organized by Chad Carpenter and Bill Kellogg, the pair behind the wildly successful self-syndicated comic strip Tundra. When it comes to the business of cartooning in the 21st century, when these guys talk, aspiring cartoonists should listen. Here’s a complete lineup of speakers: Chad Carpenter –Creator of Tundra, the most widely self-syndicated strips in papers Bill Kellogg – The marketing guru behind Tundra; founder of Ink Bottle Syndicate Tom Gammill – Writer/Producer of The Simpsons, creator of The Doozies and the… READ MORE
February 13th, 2013 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Still under the gun today so my Sketch o’the Week is a very quick study of a guy who desperately needs a real name, Channing Tatum. READ MORE
February 12th, 2013 | Posted in General
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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
